Baby Driver

Baby Driver is a 2017 American action thriller written and directed by Edgar Wright, starring Ansel Elgort as Miles, a young getaway driver known as Baby who uses music to manage his tinnitus and concentrate while driving. He works for criminal organiser Doc (Kevin Spacey), who recruits different crews to carry out armed robberies around Atlanta. Hoping to leave his criminal life behind, Baby begins a relationship with waitress Debora (Lily James), but his plans become increasingly complicated when he is drawn into another dangerous operation. The film also stars Jon Hamm as Buddy, Eiza González as Darling, Jamie Foxx as Bats and CJ Jones as Baby’s deaf foster father Joseph. Its car chases and action sequences were carefully choreographed to songs selected by Wright, with much of the action performed on actual streets rather than recreated in a studio.

Baby Driver (2017) was filmed mainly in and around Atlanta, Georgia, with additional locations in Gainesville, Forest Park, Dunwoody and Juliette. Principal photography took place between February and May 2016, with Downtown Atlanta providing most of the film’s urban locations. Although Wright originally wrote the screenplay with Los Angeles in mind, the production moved to Atlanta for financial reasons, and he subsequently rewrote parts of the story to incorporate the city’s actual geography. Filming included more than 40 street closures, with several major sequences requiring temporary access to Interstate 85. Among the principal locations were the Candler Building, Healey Building, Peachtree Center, Pratt-Pullman Yard and the Georgia World Congress Center parking garages.

The opening robbery takes place outside the Candler Building at 127 Peachtree Street NE in Downtown Atlanta. Completed in 1906 for Coca-Cola businessman Asa Griggs Candler, the seventeen-storey Beaux-Arts building was one of the tallest structures in the city when it opened. In the film, it represents the fictional First Bank of Atlanta, where Buddy, Darling and Griff (Jon Bernthal) carry out an armed robbery while Baby waits outside in a red Subaru WRX. The entrance used for the bank faces John Wesley Dobbs Avenue, while Baby’s parked car is positioned across the street at 140 Peachtree Street NW, beside Margaret Mitchell Square. As the others enter the bank, Baby listens to “Bellbottoms” by the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, lip-syncing and playing an imaginary drum solo behind the steering wheel before the robbers return and the escape begins. The Candler Building was subsequently converted into a hotel, opening as The Candler Hotel in October 2019.

The opening car chase was filmed across several Downtown Atlanta streets and a section of Interstate 75/85. After leaving the bank, Baby drives towards Cone Street and Marietta Street, eventually reaching Centennial Olympic Park Drive. At the intersection with Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, he avoids a police spike strip near the then-unfinished Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The chase continues through the Downtown Connector, where Baby confuses a pursuing police helicopter by driving alongside two other identical red Subarus. The sequence ends near Spring Street, where he reverses into a narrow alley beside a parking garage at 721 Spring Street NW, performs a rapid turn and escapes before the police can locate him. Wright and his crew filmed the individual sections on different streets, using careful planning to make the pursuit appear continuous. For the motorway footage, production vehicles travelled together under police supervision, and sections of the interstate had to be closed on separate occasions to complete the required shots.

After the robbery, Baby returns to Doc’s headquarters at the Healey Building, 57 Forsyth Street NW. The historic sixteen-storey office building, completed in 1914, provides the exterior of the criminal organiser’s meeting place. Its entrance is featured at the beginning of the film’s opening-credits sequence, when Baby leaves the building to buy coffee for Doc and the other criminals. He walks along Forsyth Street while listening to “Harlem Shuffle” by Bob & Earl, dancing, spinning and interacting with objects and pedestrians as he makes his way through the neighbourhood. At approximately 63 Forsyth Street, he crosses the road and narrowly avoids an approaching car before continuing towards Poplar Street.

The coffee shop at the end of Baby’s walk is the former Slice Downtown pizzeria at 85 Poplar Street NW, which was temporarily transformed into an Octane Coffee shop for the production. The location appears when Baby enters, places an order and briefly notices Debora passing outside. The sequence was filmed as an extended continuous shot, with the route, movements of background performers and details in the surrounding streets coordinated to the music. Posters, graffiti and signs along the route incorporate words from the song, allowing the real buildings and pavements to become part of the choreography. The production used actual streets around the Healey Building rather than constructing a separate outdoor set for the sequence.

Baby’s home with Joseph was represented by the Odd Fellows Building at 250 Auburn Avenue NE in Atlanta’s Sweet Auburn Historic District. The six-storey building, completed in 1912, originally housed the offices and meeting spaces of African American fraternal organisations and became an important commercial centre in the neighbourhood. In the film, Baby lives in an apartment where he looks after Joseph, records fragments of conversations and creates music using tape recorders and other equipment. The building’s exterior establishes their home, while the apartment scenes show the close relationship between the two men and Joseph’s growing concern about Baby’s involvement with Doc. The location becomes especially important when Baby begins making preparations to leave Atlanta and eventually arranges alternative accommodation for Joseph.

One of the film’s central locations is Bo’s Diner, where Baby meets Debora. The restaurant was created inside a former Denny’s at 5116 Georgia Highway 85 in Forest Park, south of Atlanta. The building was no longer operating as a regular restaurant when the production arrived, allowing the filmmakers to redecorate the interior and exterior as a traditional American roadside diner. Its curved windows, counter, booths and entrance are visible throughout the scenes involving Baby and Debora. The pair first meet when Baby hears Debora singing “B-A-B-Y” by Carla Thomas while working. They discover that their names are associated with songs and begin talking about music, leading to a relationship that develops over several visits. The diner returns during the final section of the film, when Baby attempts to collect Debora and escape Atlanta but discovers that Buddy has arrived ahead of him. Following the production, the property operated for a period as Uncle Chucky’s Diner before closing again.

Baby’s interest in music also takes him to Criminal Records at 1154 Euclid Avenue NE in Little Five Points. The independent record shop, established in 1991, was used for the scene in which Baby searches for a copy of Carla Thomas’s “B-A-B-Y” after hearing Debora sing it at the diner. The shop’s shelves, record displays and browsing areas appear as he examines the available music. The location was particularly appropriate for the character because Baby collects records and spends much of his free time discovering and recording music. The production used the real record shop rather than a specially constructed retail interior.

The film’s second major robbery takes place at the fictional Perimeter Trust bank, represented by a commercial building at 84 Perimeter Center East in Dunwoody, north of Atlanta. Here, Baby waits in another getaway car while Bats, Eddie No-Nose (Flea) and JD (Lanny Joon) enter the bank wearing masks depicting actor Mike Myers. The robbery goes wrong when an armed civilian intervenes, firing at the fleeing criminals before pursuing them in his own vehicle. The building is situated close to Ashford Dunwoody Road, which appears as Baby escapes from the car park and attempts to lose the pursuing driver. Unlike the opening robbery in central Atlanta, this sequence begins in a suburban commercial district surrounded by office buildings, car parks and wider roads.

The pursuit following the Perimeter Trust robbery continues onto the Buford Highway Connector, a section of Georgia State Route 13 north of Downtown Atlanta. The road was used for the sequence in which Baby manoeuvres his car around a large truck while being chased by the armed civilian. The production temporarily closed sections of the connector to allow the stunt drivers to perform dangerous manoeuvres without ordinary traffic. Additional pursuit footage was filmed on Freedom Parkway near the Jackson Street Bridge, where the pursuing vehicle is forced off the road. The chase then moves into Downtown Atlanta, including Andrew Young International Boulevard and Piedmont Avenue, where the robbers steal another car after becoming trapped in traffic. The group eventually reaches a parking garage at AmericasMart, 75 John Portman Boulevard, where Baby swaps vehicles to escape detection. These separate locations were edited together to create a fast-moving chase through the Atlanta road network.

Following the failed robbery, Baby is instructed to dispose of a vehicle containing JD’s body. The scene was filmed at C&L Used Auto Parts, 570 Glenn Street SW in Atlanta, where the car is taken to an industrial crusher. The scrapyard’s machinery and surrounding stacks of damaged vehicles are visible as Baby watches the car being destroyed. The location marks the end of his second robbery for Doc, after which he believes his financial debt has finally been repaid and that he can leave the criminal organisation behind.

Baby and Debora’s developing relationship is also shown at Splash Laundromat, 2459 Piedmont Road NE in Atlanta. The laundromat appears when Baby takes Debora to listen to “Debora” by T. Rex, the song he has been eager to share with her. They sit together among the washing machines while coloured clothes rotate behind the glass doors, creating a distinctive backdrop to their conversation. The production used the actual laundromat, incorporating its rows of machines and fluorescent-lit interior into the scene. It is one of the film’s quieter locations, appearing between the increasingly violent robberies and showing the couple spending time together away from Baby’s criminal associates.

After leaving Doc, Baby briefly obtains legitimate employment as a pizza delivery driver. The restaurant used for these scenes was Goodfellas Pizza & Wings at 615 Spring Street NW in Midtown Atlanta. Baby is shown collecting pizzas and making deliveries while adapting his driving skills to an ordinary job. The business provides the setting for his attempt to establish an independent life, away from the robberies that have dominated his work for Doc.

With money earned from his new employment, Baby takes Debora to dinner at Bacchanalia, then located at 1198 Howell Mill Road NW in Atlanta’s West Midtown neighbourhood. The restaurant, known for its fine dining, provides the setting for their evening together as they begin discussing a future beyond Atlanta. Their dinner is interrupted when Doc arrives outside and demands that Baby participate in another robbery, threatening him if he refuses. The location therefore becomes the point at which Baby realises that repaying his debt has not secured his freedom. Bacchanalia subsequently relocated to 1460 Ellsworth Industrial Boulevard in 2017, meaning the restaurant occupies a different property from the one seen in the film. Following the confrontation, Baby drives Debora to her home at the Myrtle Street Apartments, 921 Myrtle Street NE in Midtown, where they speak outside before parting.

The preparations for the final robbery take the criminals to Pratt-Pullman Yard, an abandoned industrial complex in the Kirkwood neighbourhood of Atlanta. The facility was originally developed as a railway maintenance site and later became associated with the Pullman Company, which repaired passenger railway cars there. Its large brick industrial buildings, open yards and disused railway structures provided the setting for a clandestine weapons deal. In the film, Baby accompanies Buddy, Darling and Bats to meet an arms dealer known as the Butcher (Paul Williams). The meeting takes place inside one of the abandoned industrial buildings, where Bats becomes suspicious of the sellers and opens fire, triggering a violent gunfight. The production used the real warehouse interiors and surrounding industrial grounds, which had already appeared in other major productions, including The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013).

The final robbery targets a United States post office rather than a bank. The exterior was filmed at Dahlberg Hall, 30 Courtland Street SE, a building associated with Georgia State University in Downtown Atlanta. The entrance and neighbouring streets appear when Baby and the others arrive to steal money orders. Before the robbery, Baby has visited the building with Doc’s nephew to examine its security arrangements, where he meets a friendly employee. On the day of the crime, he attempts to warn her away from the building, but the situation deteriorates after he refuses to help Bats escape. The post office’s exterior is therefore central to both the preparation and the disastrous outcome of the robbery.

The interior of the fictional post office was filmed in a completely different city. The production used the former Regions Bank building at 111 Green Street SE in Gainesville, northeast of Atlanta, converting the vacant bank into a functioning post office set. The interior scenes include Baby and Doc’s nephew inspecting the premises before the robbery, while the building’s existing layout was adapted with postal counters and other furnishings. Filming took place during March 2016, and the local newspaper The Gainesville Times reported on the transformation of the former bank. The exterior in Atlanta and interior in Gainesville were combined to represent the same fictional building, despite being approximately 55 miles apart.

The robbery ends with a confrontation outside the post office, followed by a pursuit through the surrounding Downtown Atlanta streets. Baby abandons the getaway vehicle after deliberately preventing Bats from escaping and is forced to flee on foot. During the chase he passes through the Mall at Peachtree Center, at 231 Peachtree Street NE, where the police pursue him through the shopping concourse. The building’s escalators, passages and retail areas appear as Baby attempts to evade his pursuers by changing his appearance and moving through the crowded interior. Designed as part of architect John Portman’s extensive Peachtree Center development, the complex contains interconnected office towers, shops and pedestrian bridges. The production used these existing features to extend the chase beyond the surrounding roads and into the city’s commercial buildings.

One of the film’s most important final locations is the parking garage at the Georgia World Congress Center, 103 Mangum Street SW. The multi-storey structure provides the setting for the violent confrontation between Baby, Debora, Doc and Buddy after the final robbery. Doc initially agrees to help the couple escape and leads them towards their car, but the group is attacked by criminals seeking revenge for the failed weapons deal. Buddy subsequently arrives in a stolen police vehicle, kills Doc and pursues Baby through the parking garage. The confrontation continues across several levels as Buddy uses his vehicle and firearms to trap Baby and Debora. The sequence culminates when Debora attacks Buddy with a crowbar and Baby shoots him, causing him to fall from the upper level of the structure. The production used the real parking garage and its ramps, concrete floors and open sides for the action.

After escaping Atlanta, Baby and Debora drive towards the countryside in an attempt to begin a new life. Their journey ends at the Jerry Wadley Memorial Bridge near Juliette in Monroe County, approximately 70 miles southeast of Atlanta. The bridge crosses the Ocmulgee River and provides the setting for the police roadblock where Baby finally surrenders. As the couple approaches the bridge, they discover that the police have blocked their route. Debora prepares to drive through the barricade, but Baby stops her and decides to accept responsibility for his actions. He gets out of the car and walks towards the waiting officers while Debora remains behind the wheel. The location is also close to Juliette’s Whistle Stop Café, which became famous through the filming of Fried Green Tomatoes (1991).

The film’s concluding prison sequence was filmed at Georgia Diagnostic and Classification State Prison, at 2978 Highway 36 West near Jackson, Georgia. Following his conviction, Baby is sentenced to twenty-five years in prison, with the possibility of parole after serving five. The prison exterior appears during the final sequence, in which Baby is released and reunited with Debora, who is waiting outside in a car. The scene echoes an earlier imagined escape in which the couple drive away together, leaving the ending open to interpretation as either a future event or a continuation of Baby’s fantasy. The correctional facility is a real Georgia state prison that opened in 1968 and was used to provide the institutional setting for the final moments of the film.

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