What do The Rock, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Rian Johnson have in common? If you guessed Disney, you're missing out on the latest news - which is all about Simon & Garfunkel. Though Miranda and Dwayne Johnson's Moana connections and Rian Johnson's directing The Last Jedi make all three men Disney darlings, wacky director Edgar Wright has roped them into a new (fake) idea, inspired by the title for his film Baby Driver.
Baby Driver, which follows a young man who must listen to music in order to perfectly execute his insane getaway driving stunts, borrows its title from Simon & Garfunkel's eponymous song. The film debuts in June. Likewise, 500 Days of Summer director Marc Webb is slated to release The Only Living Boy in New York, another S&G-inspired title, later this summer. Luckily, Edgar Wright noticed these similarities, and decided to get the Internet involved.
On Friday, the director took to Twitter to propose "The Simon And Garfunkel Song Title Cinematic Universe" (so named by Empire film writer John Nugent). Check out Nugent's encapsulation of the entire hilarious exchange, with guest appearances by Marc Webb, Rian Johnson, Lin-Manuel Miranda, and Dwayne Johnson, below. You can also see his hilarious callout for Variety, who then went on to "break" the story.
Amazing. The Simon And Garfunkel Song Title Cinematic Universe is growing; The Rock confirms he will star in 'I Am A Rock'. pic.twitter.com/rmTC0v6yOd— John Nugent (@mr_nugent) May 26, 2017
Hey @Variety, I am surprised a whole day has gone by without a report about the Simon & Garfunkel Cinematic Universe. https://t.co/9395YVre3j— edgarwright (@edgarwright) May 26, 2017
Simon & Garfunkel actually owe a portion of their astronomical success to the big screen, since famed director Mike Nichols licensed their music for The Graduate after obsessively listening to their discography for two weeks. That famed movie birthed unexpected classic "Mrs. Robinson," which the duo actually offered to Nichols as a third option, after he turned down their first two original songs for the picture. It's no secret that Webb is a fan of using Simon & Garfunkel in his movies already, since "Bookends" is a memorable part of the much-beloved 500 Days of Summer soundtrack.
Of course, fans may be interested in seeing all of the director/picture pairs described above, but many may want to know - does Gillian Robespierre's Obvious Child get a spot here, or just half of one, since her title is just a Paul Simon song? Certainly, befuddled, pregnant stand-up Jenny Slate would only improve this already hilarious brainchild. Fans may expect nothing less than this level of endearing ridiculousness from Wright though, since this is the same man who brought us Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
This is obviously a joke, but if it ed the ranks of recent Twitter-inspired movie ideas, we wouldn't exactly be mad. And we don't think any Wright/Webb/Johnson fans would be, either.
Next: Seth Rogen & The Lonely Island Making Fyre Festival-Like Movie
Source: Variety
