‘Great Gatsby’ Soundtrack Sales Zooming Up Billboard 200
Baz Luhrmann‘s ambitious 3D Great Gatsby pic isn’t just raking in the dough in theaters. Its Jazz Age-meets-Jay-Z mash-up soundtrack has been climbing the charts fast after Tuesday’s release. According to SoundScan, early projections pegged first week sales at 90,000-95,000 copies but now the album’s headed toward 100K by Sunday and could notch a #2 debut on the Billboard Top 200 when official results come in next week. Luhrmann, exec producer Jay-Z, and executive music producer Anton Monsted gambled on slotting anachronistic new tracks and covers by contemporary hip-hop and pop artists into the 1920s-set F. Scott Fitzgerald tale. Luhrmann even used Jay-Z’s 2001 hit “Izzo (H.O.V.A.)” in a scene in which a carful of partiers groove as they zoom over the Queensboro Bridge. But that’s nothing new for the director whose Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge similarly made bold genre-bending musical choices to chart-topping effect. The Gatsby soundtrack features songs by Will.i.am, Fergie, Q-Tip & GoonRock, Coco O. of Quadron, Emeli Sandé and The Bryan Ferry Orchestra, Lana Del Rey, Florence & The Machine, Jack White, Nero, Sia, and The xx. Beyonce & Andre 3000′s Amy Winehouse cover is some sort of blasphemy to my ears (and to Winehouse’s dad Mitch, who took to Twitter to publicly rail against it), but judge for yourself; here’s a sampler of the soundtrack:
Related stories
Hot Trailer: Baz Luhrmann’s ‘The Great Gatsby’
‘The Great Gatsby’ To Open Cannes Film Festival; Speculation About Competition Titles Begins
Hot Trailer: ‘The Great Gatsby’
Get more from Deadline.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter
