Automotive product placement in film and TV series is nothing new, but Land Rover has gone the extra mile and teamed up with Hulu to create a unique Range Rover Sport for a new TV show. The futuristic custom-built Range Rover Sport will appear in "The First," a new science-fiction drama from House of Cards creator Beau Willimon airing on the Hulu streaming service about a crew of astronauts attempting to become the first humans on Mars.
The show stars two-time Academy Award winner Sean Penn, whilethe one-off Range Rover Sport will be driven by Natascha McElhone who plays a visionary aerospace magnate called Laz Ingram.
"We are excited to partner with Hulu for this fantastic series," said Michael Curmi, Brand Experience Director, Jaguar Land Rover. "With the show set in the near future, it was an exciting challenge to work with Westward Productions and Hulu to create a vision of what a Range Rover Sport might look like in the 2030s and to have it featured throughout the series."
Many of the custom Range Rover Sport's futuristic features were added in post-production, including fully autonomous driving capabilities, an exterior Smart Light Bar that acts as a 360 degree sensor that enhances the occupant experience by communicating with other vehicles and reading the road surfaces, and an optional steering wheel that can retract into the dashboard.
While Land Rover's vision of the Range Rover Sport in the 2030s doesn't look drastically different to the current model, the automaker says the custom SUV's "bold forms and reductive styling create a very aerodynamic version of the current Range Rover Sport that exudes intelligence and power". Wraparound Privacy Glass can change reflectivity from a virtually opaque mirrored surface to a traditionally transparent window in seconds, though it isn't clear if this will be a practical or CGI effect in the show.
The futuristic Range Rover Sport also features coach doors and "an intelligent interior that can change shape, density and form to act as a passive safety system" as well as traditional communication, entertainment and climate control functions. In the series, the Range Rover Sport is also fully electric and has a variable suspension system. All episodes of The First are now streaming on Hulu, or you can catch a brief glimpse of the custom Range Rover Sport in the show's trailer below.
