18 years ago, Scarlett Johansson released Anywhere I Lay My Head, her unexpected debut album made up of Tom Waits covers. Now, the actress is co-starring in the new animated Netflix movie Ray Gunn with the legendary singer-songwriter.
Ray Gunn is directed by Brad Bird, who did The Impossibles and Ratatouille. Here’s the synopsis: “In Metropia, a gigantic city in an alternate future as seen from 1939, private eye Raymond Gunn (Sam Rockwell) is drawn into a case involving aliens, murder and a multimedia star named Venus Nova (Scarlett Johansson).”
In an interview with Animation Magazine, Bird explained that the inspiration behind Ray Gunn involves the B-52s:
It has a very strange origin. It all started with me misunderstanding a song! The first time I heard the song “Planet Claire” by the B-52s, I thought it was cover version of Henry Mancini’s famous Peter Gunn theme song. Then, I realized that it sounded like a 1950s sci-fi movie. So, I thought that’s not Peter Gunn, it’s Ray Gunn. So, then I figured here’s detective’s name, someone we associate with detective movies from the ’30s and ’40s. I wondered what it would be to imagine the future as seen from 1939. That’s where it all started.
The first trailer is out now, and it features a slowed-down version of “6 Underground” by Sneaker Pimps. Watch below.
Ray Gunn hits theaters 12/4 and Netflix 12/18.
