We already expected the slate of 2017 summer blockbusters to feature some rocking soundtracks, given that two titles set to be released include James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 and Edgar Wright's Baby Driver. As it turns out, however, the action thriller Atomic Blonde needs to be on movie music fans' radars as well, as director David Leitch touted the film's use of classic rock n' rock tracks when I had the chance to speak with him last week. Discussing the influence of the comic the movie adapts, the filmmaker revealed,
The comic was definitely a great starting off point, sort of graphic sensibility of it, and the noir sensibility. But I wanted to take noir and flip it on its head; make it with color. And add a soundtrack that moves you into an era where it sort of lives... There is Queen in the movie. And David Bowie, Depeche Mode... so many great '80s tracks in the film. I think people are going to be running out to buy the soundtrack.
David Leitch was in Las Vegas last week to promote Atomic Blonde as part of Focus Features' presentation at CinemaCon, and I had the opportunity to interview him on the press line before the show. After talking about the film as his first solo directorial effort (he co-directed John Wick with Chad Stahelski), I asked him about the source material (Antony Johnston and Sam Hart's The Coldest City), and he used that as a launching point to talk about the film's use of music to accompany Charlize Theron kicking all kinds of ass.
Written by Kurt Johnstad, Atomic Blonde's titular heroine is Agent Lorraine Broughton (Charlize Theron) - a Cold War spy. She is given the impossible mission of recovering an important document from Berlin, and with only the local station chief (James McAvoy) as her only ally, she simultaneously tries to carry out her mission and survive. You can watch the trailer for the film below... but know that it will be a different Queen song, not "Killer Queen," that is used in the final cut of the feature:
When used properly, an amazing piece of music can mean everything in an action sequence, which makes only makes Atomic Blonde that much more exciting. The film is already riding high on buzz following its world premiere at the SXSW Film Festival a few weeks ago, and we are very ready for it's arrival to domestic theaters.
You can watch my full interview with David Leitch below, where we discuss not only his work on Atomic Blonde, but also the latest developments from pre-production on Deadpool 2. Check it out!
While we don't yet know the release date of the soundtrack, Atomic Blonde will be arriving in a theater near you on July 28th
