The arthouse short film, titled Le Fantome, stars Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen as an assassin who falls for the leading “lady” – the Ford Edge – and is designed for online digital and social platforms but will be supported by clips to be shown on television and in cinemas.

The Ford Edge will replace the Territory on the Australian market but will not arrive until 2018.

The film was created by Ford’s bespoke agency GTB, directed by English MTV director Jake Scott (son of Ridley Scott and nephew of the late Tony Scott) and starring Mikkelsen who may be better known for playing the Bond villain Le Chiffre in Casino Royale.

It is the first major project for Ford Motor Company’s advertising agency GTB that was previously known as Team Detroit. It adopted the name GTB (Global Team Blue) in May and is the umbrella agency for Team Detroit, London-based Blue Hive (which handles Ford’s overseas marketing), and Minneapolis-based Retail First (Ford dealer advertising).

GTB operates in six continents and has 49 offices, including Melbourne. Its headquarters are in Dearborn.

Team Detroit was created in 2006 as a conglomeration of six sibling agencies – JWT, Young & Rubicam, Wunderman, Ogilvy & Mather, MEC and Mindshare – to handle Ford’s now-$A3.3 billion marketing account.

The film was shot in Croatia, the same location as some Game of Thrones scenes, and written by GTB creative team Julian Watt and Bryn Attewell.

Mikkelsen is set to appear this year in Star Wars: Rogue One and Marvel’s Dr Strange. The cast of the Ford film includes Barbara Steele, the 78-year-old actor who starred in a series of gothic horror films in the 1960s and 70s.

By Neil Dowling