Jamie Foxx has compared British filmmaker Edgar Wright to Quentin Tarantino, saying his latest film is a culmination of his previous movies.
Baby Driver is Wright’s first film in four years and stars The Fault In Our Stars’ Ansel Elgort as the music-obsessed getaway driver of the title, while Foxx, Kevin Spacey and Mad Men’s Jon Hamm play the criminals he chauffeurs.
Wright, who is responsible for Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz, said the idea for the heist film came to him before he had even made Spaced, the TV show that earned him a devoted fan base.
He told the Press Association: “I had been thinking about doing it for a long time, the idea goes back before Spaced and Shaun Of The Dead.
“The music is a huge part of it, without it it wouldn’t be the same movie.
“We cleared it all before we started shooting but that meant on the set we could play the songs so the actors could hear them.”
Foxx, who won praise for playing the title role in Tarantino’s Django Unchained, added: “I had seen Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz, he’s amazing but I say this, when Quentin Tarantino did Django Unchained that was all of his movies coming together and I think this is all of Edgar’s movies coming together.
“This is, to me, his best. He’s got the perfect cast, the perfect script and he executed it perfectly.
“He has all of the ingredients, even though it’s original.
“He has the excitement, it’s an old-fashioned movie, action, love, good guys and bad guys.”
Spacey, who plays the mastermind behind a string of bank robberies, said Wright was a fearless filmmaker.
He said: “He’s not afraid, he’s not afraid to tell a story and to tell it musically.
“He’s a rare director who has the movie cut in his head already, he chooses the music so early on, it’s kind of amazing, there aren’t many directors who work the way he works.”
Downton Abbey star Lily James, who plays the diner waitress Baby falls in love with, was hitting the red carpet before heading to Glastonbury.
She said: “He’s such a genius, he’s this crazy movie lover who has seen every single film.
“And that is why his filmmaking is so brilliantly skilled because he has such an incredible reference, he knows exactly what his vision is and has the coolest flair of any filmmaker I’ve worked with.”
Baby Driver is released in UK cinemas on June 28.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here