Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver is set to be the director’s most commercially successful movie-to-date, with his biggest ever box office opening. The action-packed crime caper stars Ansel Elgort, Jaime Foxx, Jon Hamm, Kevin Spacey, Lily James and Eiza González, and tells the story of a tinitus-suffering getaway driver – with an eclectic music taste – who is trying to leave the criminal world behind by doing the infamous “last job.”

The film’s a glittering example of how music can be as important to a movie as the script (and enhance every scene when expertly applied), and with amazing reviews it’s no wonder more people are heading to see it in movie theaters than first predicted.

Baby Driver has so far taken a reported $21 million over the weekend, with an estimated five-day box office total of $30 million since its release on Wednesday. According to The Wrap, Baby Driver had been predicted to earn $15-20 million during its first five days but thanks to the wide-spread critical acclaim, the Tristar and Working Title-produced film has exceeded expectations.

Wright’s previous box office record was held by Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, which managed to secure just $10.6 million during its opening weekend back in 2010. The British director’s earlier films Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007) and The World’s End (2013) – AKA The Three Flavor Cornetto Trilogy – failed to break the $10 million mark at the US box office, earning $3.3 million, $5.8 million and $8.8 million during their opening weekends. The Ansel Elgort-led film will no doubt see its $34 million budget recoup shortly, having been released in 3,226 theaters, and has already beaten the worldwide box office earned by Wright’s directorial debut, Shaun of the Dead.

As well as being the director’s most commercially successful movie, Baby Driver is also his best-rated on Rotten Tomatoes. It had briefly held a 100% fresh rating, and is still doing pretty excellently at 97%. That’s 5% higher than his second best-rated film, Shaun of the Dead, and 16% higher than Ant-Man, the Marvel film Wright was set to make before leaving the project in 2014.

This early success of Baby Driver is certainly a positive one as it proves there is a hunger for well-written, original films. Over the last few years we’ve seen a torrent of movie remakes and blockbuster sequels that seem to leave little room on studios’ slates for new films like this and Baby Driver is more than new. It’s as unique a film as you can get.



ScreenRant