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)." Waits voices Eyera, Gunn’s one-eyed alien partner, and Venus Nova’s songs in the movie are written and produced by Kimbra.
In an interview with Animation Magazine, Bird, who wrote the story decades ago, 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.
This is not Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly, another new Netflix film. 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.
