Quentin Tarantino’s Music Recommendation to Edgar Wright Inspired the ‘Last Night in Soho’ Movie Title
Edgar Wright is the beloved filmmaker behind big titles such as Shaun of the Dead and Baby Driver. His long-anticipated Last Night in Soho suffered from coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic-related delays. Wright’s fans are incredibly excited to finally experience his newest movie. Wright recently recalled in an interview that he came up with the Last Night in Soho thanks to a music recommendation from legendary filmmaker Quentin Tarantino.
Quentin Tarantino has stories behind his soundtracks
Tarantino is known for having very distinctive music in his movies. He handpicks each and every song used in his movies. Many of them come from his own massive music collection. These songs build the setting and atmosphere for the given movie. He emphasizes the importance of selecting the right songs for his movies.
For example, Dick Dale’s “Misirlou” in Pulp Fiction‘s opening credits starts the movie off with a bang. Meanwhile, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood features a collection of music from 1960s radio to perfectly establish the time period. Tarantino has a vast knowledge of film, but he’s also rather well-versed when it comes to music knowledge.
One music recommendation gave Edgar Wright the ‘Last Night in Soho’ movie title
Wright spoke about the process of coming up with a title for Last Night in Soho with Total Film. He expressed that he has always had a fascination with 1960s London, even though he never experienced it himself.
Wright was trying to come up with a movie title for Last Night in Soho but was having some difficulty. His first ideas included Red Light Area and The Night Has a Thousand Eyes. However, they were a bit too close to other movie titles.
The filmmaker said that the Last Night in Soho title came from a particular conversation with Tarantino. The initial conversation was regarding Tarantino’s movie Death Proof. They were talking about Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick, and Tich’s 1968 song “Hold Tight!” Tarantino personally recommended Wright to listen to their song “Last Night in Soho.”
Wright said he then realized his movie title was “staring [him] in the face.” Tarantino called the song “the best title music for a film that’s never been made.” Wright ended up taking that challenge.
Quentin Tarantino responds to the Edgar Wright using the ‘Last Night in Soho’ title
Wright didn’t get the chance to talk to Tarantino about naming his movie Last Night in Soho. He was working on Once Upon a Time in Hollywood at the time, which kept him ridiculously busy. Wright later asked Tarantino if it was acceptable that he took the idea from him. Tarantino told him that the idea originated from filmmaker Allison Anders, but that “only [Wright] could make that movie.” So, there’s no bad blood here.
Last Night in Soho is currently enjoying generally positive reviews from critics. The movie opens in theaters Oct. 29 for audiences to finally check out Wright’s latest movie.
