Ford has recruited some serious Hollywood talent to tell the story of how its legendary F-150 Raptor came to life. Ben Affleck directs the new promotional film, while fellow actor Jon Bernthal takes the starring role behind the wheel of the high-performance pickup.
Titled Project Raptor: Based on a Ford Story, the short film follows the engineers who developed Ford’s desert-running truck. The project brings together Hollywood actors and the actual Ford employees responsible for creating the original Raptor.
The collaboration makes sense because both actors are genuine Raptor enthusiasts. Affleck owns two examples, while Bernthal has three, including an original first-generation truck.
The film, released through the Ford Racing YouTube channel, combines dramatic desert-driving footage with the story of a project that nearly never reached production. It also gives several Ford engineers an unexpected opportunity to appear alongside Hollywood stars.
The Ford Raptor Was Nearly Canceled Six Times
The Raptor story began in 2006, when a small group of Ford engineers wanted to create a production pickup capable of tackling demanding desert terrain at high speeds. Their idea was to bring Baja-inspired performance to an everyday road-legal truck.
Convincing Ford’s management wasn’t easy, especially as the automotive industry struggled through the financial crisis of 2008. According to the engineers, the project was canceled six separate times before finally receiving approval.
Their persistence eventually paid off, with the original F-150 SVT Raptor reaching customers around 2010. Its success later helped establish an entire family of performance-oriented Ford trucks and SUVs.
Real Ford Engineers Get Their Hollywood Moment
Rather than relying entirely on actors, Affleck included engineers Derek Bier, Tim Smith, and Chris Paiva in the film. They also helped the production team recreate the development environment and supplied authentic components from the original program.
The attention to detail extended to filming the driving sequences. According to the Detroit Free Press, the Raptor being filmed was moving so quickly that the crew used another Raptor equipped with a camera rig to keep up.
Bernthal Introduced Affleck To The Raptor
The actors’ connection to the truck began years earlier on the set of The Accountant. Bernthal reportedly gave Affleck a ride in his Raptor, helping turn him into a fan of Ford’s off-road pickup.
That shared enthusiasm eventually led to the new campaign, produced by Artists Equity, the studio co-founded by Affleck and Matt Damon. The finished film celebrates the engineering team behind a truck that survived repeated setbacks to become one of Ford’s most recognizable performance vehicles.