Edgar Wright Contributed One Thing To Top Gun: Maverick
Edgar Wright helped pick music for Top Gun: Maverick.
When it comes to electric musical movie moments, Edgar Wright definitely knows his stuff, and Top Gun: Maverick producer and co-writer Christopher McQuarrie seems to agree. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Wright revealed that McQuarrie asked him for suggestions on a song for the bar scene in Top Gun: Maverick. Wright suggested Foghat’s “Slow Ride” and they clearly went with it, as that’s the song that appears in the movie.
Edgar Wright choosing “Slow Ride” for a Top Gun: Maverick scene wasn’t the deciding factor that made that film such a runaway success, but it certainly didn’t hurt. Top Gun: Maverick ended up being a massive movie for Tom Cruise, breaking his personal record for his best opening weekend and becoming his first blockbuster to smash past the $1 billion box office mark. Top Gun: Maverick still holds the title of the highest-grossing movie of 2022 and will likely only have to fend off Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Avatar: The Way of Water to maintain it.
It makes total sense that Christopher McQuarrie would approach Edgar Wright for a musical needle drop suggestion in Top Gun: Maverick. Wright’s filmography is littered with great musical moments and movies like Baby Driver and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World make especially good use of his flair for incorporating music with film. There really aren’t too many directors that do it better than Wright in this particular aspect of filmmaking.
When Edgard Wright isn’t making great musical suggestions for Top Gun: Maverick, he’s helping the aspiring filmmakers of the world who want advice from someone who definitely knows what they’re doing. He recently collaborated with BBC Maestro to put together a four-hour course about the filmmaking process. If you’re looking to start a career in filmmaking or if you just want to learn about how it’s done from a master, it seems like this will be a great course to check out.
Of course, Edgar Wright is still making his own movies and not just suggesting songs for Top Gun: Maverick-level blockbusters. His most recent effort was 2021’s Last Night In Soho which starred Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Diana Rigg, and Rita Tushinham. The film followed an aspiring fashion designer who is able to enter the 1960s, where she meets an aspiring singer.
While Last Night in Soho was far from Edgar Wright’s most financially lucrative movie (it was released during the pandemic after all) it was well-liked by critics and audiences. Presumably, his next film will be a much bigger success for the critically acclaimed director. Wright is lined up to helm and co-write an adaptation of Stephen King’s The Running Man, which depicts a dystopian version of the United States.
The Running Man is still in the early stages of development, but we’ll be sure to let you know when there’s more news about it. In the meantime, make sure to check out Last Night in Soho and Edgard Wright’s BBC Maestro class. You might as well check out Top Gun: Maverick again too so you can be that friend who drops a behind-the-scenes fun fact when “Slow Ride” starts playing.
