When Edgar Wright and Marvel parted ways in a very public split related to script changes for Ant-Man, the beloved British helmer soon announced that he’d be taking on a much smaller-scale project for his next gig: crime-thriller Baby Driver, which Wright wrote for Working Title Films. Now, that film has taken a major leap forward with word that The Fault in Our Stars lead Ansel Elgort is in discussions to star.
Elgort, who came out of absolutely nowhere to co-star in the Carrie remake then quickly snag major roles in the Divergent franchise, teen sensation The Fault in Our Stars and Jason Reitman’s (meritless) Men, Women & Children, will play a getaway driver who relies on his own soundtrack to make him the best driver in the game. When he ends up in over his head working for a crime boss, he finds that the doomed heist he’s a part of has the potential to destroy everything he cares about.
The actor reportedly won the role over the likes of Logan Lerman (The Perks of Being a Wallflower) and John Boyega (Attack the Block, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens), which gives you an idea of just how impressed Wright must have been by him. With that in mind, we’re certainly excited that he is close to signing on.
Baby Driver, which was previously described as “a collision of crime, action, music and sound,” immediately seems much more in line with Wright’s past work, which includes Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End, than a big-budget, studio blockbuster like Ant-Man. As distressing and frustrating as it was to watch Wright walk away from a movie he had spent years working on, the director will certainly have full creative control over this new pic – and given his track record, that’s a very exciting thing indeed. With Elgort leading up the cast, and co-financer Sony distributing through Tri-Star, we’ll certainly hear more about a release date soon enough.