Variety senior film writer Matt Donnelly spoke with director Edgar Wright (“Scott Pilgrim vs. The World,” “Baby Driver”) along with Sparks band members Ron and Russell Mael, about the creation of their new documentary in the Variety Studio presented by AT&T TV at Sundance Film Festival.
“We’ve always been sort of hesitant,” Russell said about why there has not yet been a Sparks documentary. “What [Wright] does in his films, if he could bring that sensibility into telling the full story about Sparks, it couldn’t go wrong.”
“The Sparks Brothers” is Wright’s first documentary and is a love letter to Los Angeles-born band, who have churned out 25 rebelliously artistic albums over a decades-long career. The film dives into the group’s rich archive and is uplifted by animations and interviews that include Beck, Flea and Patton Oswalt.
“At a Sparks concert in 2017, I was standing with [filmmaker] Phil Lord and I was doing this whole spiel about how the only thing holding Sparks back from being as big as they should be was some kind of overview and Phil said ‘You should make that movie,’” Wright, a lifelong fan, explained. “And then I pitched it to Ron and Russell that night backstage and that was the vocal contract. Two and a half years later, here we are.”
In addition to the forthcoming psychological horror film “Last Night in Soho,” Wright revealed the sequel to “Baby Driver” is on his list of projects to come.
“It’s written,” Wright assured. “I’ve actually written three drafts of it.” Watch the full interview above.
