Porsche is working with Lucasfilm to create a spacecraft. Image courtesy of Porsche
German automaker Porsche is taking its sports cars into space through a collaboration to celebrate Lucasfilm’s upcoming release.
Together, the film production company and the car brand are building a spacecraft that will be revealed during the December premiere of “Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker.” Porsche is the latest carmaker to align with a film franchise on a fantastical vehicle, giving the brand the chance to showcase its ingenuity and innovation.
“Developing a spacecraft with clear Porsche design DNA is exiting and challenging,” said Michael Mauer, vice president Style Porsche at Porsche AG, in a statement. “Even though they do not seem to share many elements at first glance, both worlds have a similar design philosophy.
“The close collaboration with the Star Wars design team inspires and fascinates us – I’m sure that both sides can draw major benefits from this exchange,” he said.
Into space
For the project, Porsche and Lucasfilm will be meeting multiple times in their respective headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany and San Francisco to design the ship. Over the next few weeks, the teams will also build a model of the spacecraft.
A video published by Porsche shows members of both teams collaborating and discussing the similarities between the fictional space vehicles and sport cars.
Porsche is working with Lucasfilm
“The worldwide appeal of the Star Wars and Porsche brands is shaped decisively by their iconic designs,” said Doug Chiang, vice president and executive creative director of Lucasfilm, who is responsible for overseeing all designs for the Star Wars franchise, in a statement.
“We are bringing together two worlds with this project: the exotic film design of a galaxy far, far away and the precision work that goes into developing emotive Porsche sports cars,” he said. “This collaboration promises to produce an innovative design that will blend the best of both brands to create an exciting new starship worthy of Porsche and Star Wars.”
In addition to displaying the ship at the Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker premiere, Porsche will be showcasing its Taycan, ahead of its retail debut in 2020.
In September, Porsche has revealed its first fully electric vehicle, with a focus on eco-friendly driving that extends beyond the engine.
The Porsche Taycan will be the first Porsche with an option for leather-free interiors, as consumers increasingly seek out alternatives to animal-derived materials. The car also incorporates recycled materials, furthering the sustainable positioning of the Taycan (see story).
Similarly to Porsche, Toyota Corp.’s Lexus showed its vision of mobility 700 years in the future through a creative partnership for the big screen.
The automaker aligned itself with filmmaker Luc Besson’s production company EuropaCorp, with the first product of this collaboration visible in the director’s science fiction feature film “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.” The spacecraft created, while fictional, enabled Lexus to highlight its innovation and forward-thinking attitude (see story).