Edgar Wright's getaway film, shot in Atlanta with practical stunts and a red Subaru WRX, grossed $227 million worldwide and earned awards recognition for its editing and sound.
Baby Driver is a 2017 action film directed by Edgar Wright about a getaway driver who wants to leave crime behind. It was shot in Atlanta, built on practical car stunts and grossed $227 million worldwide. Its editing and sound work earned awards nominations.
Baby Driver is a 2017 action film from writer-director Edgar Wright, following a young getaway driver who wants out of crime. Its car chases were built with practical stunts, in-camera work and careful planning rather than heavy digital effects. The film earned $227 million worldwide and drew Academy Award nominations for its editing and sound.
What is Baby Driver about?
Baby Driver follows Baby, a young Atlanta getaway driver who works for the crime boss Doc to clear a debt. He wants to leave that life behind for his girlfriend Debora, a diner waitress, but a final robbery pulls him back in. Music gives him an escape from the tinnitus that followed a car crash which killed his parents.
Between jobs Baby remixes snippets of recorded conversations and looks after Joseph, his deaf foster father. Having paid off his debt, he quits crime and starts delivering pizzas. Doc then pays for a dinner date and coerces Baby into one last job, a Post Office heist.
The crew is made up of Buddy, his wife Darling and Bats, a sadistic henchman. At a rendezvous to buy illegal arms, Bats kills the undercover dealers, and Doc is furious. The heist goes ahead.
During the job, Bats kills a security guard, and Baby refuses to drive away. Police later kill Darling, and Buddy blames Baby for her death and vows revenge. Baby shoots Buddy at Bo's diner and flees with Debora.
At the safe house Doc gives cash and an escape route, then kills the Butcher's henchmen. Buddy has Baby at his mercy until Debora subdues him with a crowbar. Baby is sentenced to twenty-five years, with parole after five. Debora sends postcards throughout his imprisonment, and he is released five years later.
Real cars, planned stunts and a soundtrack that keeps pace with every getaway.
How were the car chases filmed?
The car sequences were planned closely before shooting, with Wright relying on physical stunts rather than digital substitutes. Jeremy Fry was the stunt driver, and Darrin Prescott coordinated the vehicle stunts. Rehearsals at the Atlanta Motor Speedway came first, and filming then centred on the central business district.
| Element | Detail |
|---|---|
| Getaway car | Red Subaru WRX, chosen after Wright first sought a Toyota Corolla |
| 180 in and 180 out | A forward and reverse maneuver, shot in five or six takes |
| Freeway chase | Eight-hour window on I-85 with 50 production vehicles and a police motorcade |
| Car sound | Eight days of recording at Atlanta Motor Speedway, with about six microphones per vehicle |
| Visual effects | 430 shots created by DNEG with a workforce of 120 artists |
| Climactic garage | Filmed digitally on an Arri Alexa |
The getaway cars were written to be nondescript, as the screenplay required. Wright first sought a Toyota Corolla, but the studio said the car could be a little sexier, and the production chose a red Subaru WRX instead.
Choreography and sound design
Ryan Heffington oversaw the choreography, a first foray into film for him. He synchronised the movement of actors and stunt performers in the sequences built around the music. The Harlem Shuffle sequence used 50 to 60 extras on its first day of shooting, and its sound work was completed in 25 takes.
Sound was as demanding as the driving. The audio team spent eight days recording car sounds at Atlanta Motor Speedway and fitted about six microphones to each vehicle to capture onboard sound.
Visual effects and music
Few visual effects were used, because Wright favoured practical, in-camera stunts. DNEG created 430 visual effects shots with 120 artists, supervised by Stuart Lashley and Shailendra Swarnkar, and used Nuke to animate the car chase scenes that could not be captured in camera. Molinare also produced effects shots for the film.
The soundtrack relied on licensed music, with up to 36 tracks licensed for the film. Danger Mouse and Kid Koala composed the only original tracks, and 30th Century Records issued the album on June 23, 2017.
How long did Baby Driver take to develop?
The idea dates to 1995, when Wright was 21 and living in suburban London. It was sparked by Orange, the 1994 album from the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. The film was shot between February and May 2016, and it reached cinemas in 2017 after years of development.
Wright's first vision was a car chase preceded by a dance sequence set to Bellbottoms. That early idea was far from a finished project, and it changed as the film took shape.
The 2003 Mint Royale video for Blue Song, which cost GBP 25,000, became an unexpected success. Wright saw it as proof of concept for Baby Driver. Shaun of the Dead (2004) then began a long working relationship with Working Title, and by 2007 Wright had signed a multi-picture deal with the studio.
Pre-production stalled while The World's End (2013) and Ant-Man (2015) took precedence. Wright spent time with ex-career criminals to research the work of bank robbers.
Why was Atlanta chosen as the setting?
Los Angeles was the original setting, but production costs there were too high. Atlanta was chosen for its generous transferable tax credits, and Georgia tax subsidies helped finance the film. The state's film office says the production added $30.1 million to the local economy.
Principal photography lasted four months, from February to May 2016, mostly in the central business district. Filming also took place in Gainesville and rural Monroe County.
Wright cited Vanishing Point (1971), Heat (1995) and Reservoir Dogs (1992) as influences on the film's look. The film's approach relied on practical filmmaking, with visual effects used only when needed.
The film was shot mostly on 35mm Kodak film stock with Panavision Panaflex cameras. Bill Pope was director of photography, and Baby Driver was his third film with Wright after Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and The World's End. The climactic garage scene was filmed digitally on an Arri Alexa instead.
Who makes up the cast?
Ansel Elgort stars as Baby, the getaway driver. Elgort was hired after a taped audition in which he lip-synced to the Commodores' 1977 single Easy, and the song was added to the soundtrack.
Lily James plays Debora, a waitress at Bo's Diner who becomes Baby's girlfriend. Kevin Spacey plays Doc, the kingpin of the crime syndicate to whom Baby owes a debt. Jon Hamm plays Buddy, a former stockbroker and Darling's husband, and Eiza Gonzalez plays Darling, the only woman in the crew.
Jamie Foxx plays Bats, a sadistic henchman, while Jon Bernthal plays Griff, the crew's security henchman. CJ Jones plays Joseph, Baby's deaf foster father.
How did critics respond?
Critics were broadly positive. Rotten Tomatoes recorded 92% approval from 395 reviews, with an average of 8.1/10, and Metacritic gave the film 86 out of 100 from 53 critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave it an A-, and 57% of the opening-night audience were men.
The praise was not universal. Empire's Terri White called the film a car-chase opera, while Richard Brody of The New Yorker found the dialogue functional.
How much money did Baby Driver make?
Baby Driver grossed $227 million worldwide, with $107.8 million from the United States and Canada and $119.1 million from other territories. It ranked as the 42nd-highest-grossing film of 2017, and the studios recorded a net profit of $51.5 million after marketing costs.
The film premiered at South by Southwest on March 11, 2017, and its release was brought forward six weeks, to June 28, 2017. The North American opening weekend brought in $30 million from 3,226 theaters, placing second behind Despicable Me 3.
The second weekend dropped 36.7% to $13 million. In the United Kingdom the film opened with GBP 3.6 million from 680 cinemas.
Awards and recognition
Baby Driver received three Academy Award nominations, for editing, sound editing and sound mixing. At the 71st BAFTA awards it won Best Editing from two nominations, and at the 23rd Critics' Choice Awards it won Best Editing as well.
Wright also won the Audience Award for Best Director at South by Southwest in March 2017.
What does colour mean in Baby Driver?
Colour works as a code for character in the film. Baby starts out in drab tones, while his peers wear strong colours: Bats is tied to red, Darling to purple and pink, and Buddy to blue. As the story darkens, Baby's wardrobe shifts to grey and bloodstained white shirts.
Wright regards Baby's moral shift as the crux of the film.
Sound supervisor Julian Slater dissected each musical cue into a tempo map, so that sound effects could be timed to the music. That method is why the sound design moves with the songs rather than sitting beneath them.
Is there a sequel to Baby Driver?
Not yet. Speculation about a sequel began in December 2017, and Wright conceived three drafts by January 2021. As of 2025, a Baby Driver sequel remains tentatively planned rather than confirmed.
Production timeline
- 1995: Wright conceives the idea while living in suburban London, aged 21.
- 2003: The Blue Song video for Mint Royale, made for GBP 25,000, shows the concept can work.
- 2004: Shaun of the Dead opens a run of collaborations with Working Title.
- 2007: A multi-picture deal with the producers is signed.
- 2013 and 2015: Pre-production waits while The World's End and Ant-Man come first.
- February to May 2016: Principal photography runs for four months in Atlanta.
- March 11, 2017: The film premieres at South by Southwest.
- June 23, 2017: The soundtrack arrives from 30th Century Records.
- June 28, 2017: The general release is brought forward by six weeks.
- December 2017: Speculation about a sequel begins.
- January 2021: Three sequel drafts have been conceived.
- 2025: A sequel remains tentatively planned.
