You may have seen a United 777 recently parked at London Stansted Airport. No, United is not starting service to STN.
But, as part of its wider partnership with Sony Pictures, United is playing a role in the new movie Spider-Man: Far From Home.
Watch the trailer closely at 0:48:
There, you’ll see a United 777. I’m told that several United employees served as extras and that the movie will feature United’s new Polaris Business Class seat. One FA even had a line. San Francisco Flight Attendant Tammy Harris said:
It was extremely surreal. I was in my element because I was on the plane in uniform, but not really, because I’m not an actor. Hopefully, I’ll have my two seconds of fame and all will be well.
I hope she makes the cut as well!
Filming took place both in Newark (EWR) and London Stansted (STN). It isn’t clear if United flew a special service directly to STN or if it just flew from Heathrow across town to Stansted, which would have made a heck of a flight.
United took five engineers along to essentially “dismantle” the aircraft when needed by the director. LAX Aircraft Maintenance Supervisor Fernando Melendez stated:
When we parked the plane at Stanstead, there were lights and cameras surrounding us. It was like the plane was the star of the movie. Each day, we would work with the assistant director; he would go through and say, ‘Okay, for this shoot we need these seats, or these panels removed,’ so they could get the camera angles. Pretty much, the airplane was our responsibility; we opened it in the morning and closed it at night. We were the first ones there and the last ones to leave every day.
CONCLUSION
I’m not generally a big Spider-Man fan, but I’ll watch this movie just to see the United product placement. How about you?
No.
I don’t care much about the product placement, but seeing as my son is now obsessed with Spider-Man, I guarantee you it’ll be playing at our house at some point. 🙂
Would have been a cool experience!
In the old USSR, Russians would watch the few news footage from the West not to listen to the Soviet reporter but to see the street and cars. Same with United. I saw a James Bond film because I wanted to see the modified 747 with paired engines (like a B-52 bomber has). The paired engines were fake.
That 747 is real! It’s parked at Dunsfold Aerodrome in UK, the same airfield where Top Gear has their test track.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_747_G-BDXJ
This is exactly what Singapore wishes they had done with Crazy Rich Asians.