Three new movies opened in wide release this past Wednesday:

The film released in most theaters this Thanksgiving weekend is the new movie adaptation of The Muppets directed by James Bobin and starring Amy Adams, Jason Segel and Chris Cooper. The film’s score is written by Christophe Beck and Bret McKenzie serves as the project’s music supervisor and has also written several songs for the movie. To find out more about McKenzie’s work on the film, check out interviews in the New York Times, TWoP and The Hollywood Reporter. A soundtrack album featuring the songs from the film has been released on Walt Disney Records. To find out more about the album, visit out our previous article. No release of Beck’s score has been announced at this point. To learn more about Beck’s contributions to the film, check out an article in Variety.

Also opening wide is the family movie Hugo directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Asa Butterfield, Chloe Moretz, Sascha Baron Cohen, Jude Law, Emily Mortimer, Ben Kingsley, Ray Winstone and Christopher Lee. Howard Shore has composed the music for the film. A soundtrack album including the composer’s score has been released on his own label Howe Records last Tuesday. For more information and audio clips, visit our soundtrack announcement. Also check out Shore’s official website for an interview with the composer about his work on the film and a recent article in Variety to learn more about his latest collaboration with Scorsese.

The third wide release of the weekend is Aardman Animation’s fourth feature film Arthur Christmas directed by Barry Cook and featuring the voice talent of James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Ashley Jensen. The film’s music is composed by Harry Gregson-Williams. A soundtrack album featuring the score from the movie has been released on Madison Gate Records and is available digitally and as an Amazon on demand CD-R. For the full soundtrack details, visit our previous news article. For an interview with the composer about his work on the project, visit Animated Views.

Opening in limited release this weekend is the drama My Week with Marilyn directed by Simon Curtis and stars Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Redmayne, Judi Dench, Dominic Cooper, Emma Watson, Julia Ormond, Derek Jacobi and Dougray Scott. Conrad Pope has written the score for the film and Alexandre Desplat has composed the main theme of the movie. Pianist Lang Lang is performing on the score. Sony Classical has released a soundtrack album including the score and several songs from the movie. Audio clips and more details can be checked out in our soundtrack announcement. For an interview with Pope about his music for the project, visit Film Music Magazine.

Also opening in limited release this week is the thriller A Dangerous Method directed by David Cronenberg and starring Viggo Mortensen, Keira Knightley, Michael Fassbender and Vincent Cassell. The movie marks the second release of the week for composer Howard Shore. A soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score, as well as Richard Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll performed by Lang Lang is available on Sony Classical. To listen to audio clips and find out more the release, visit our previous article.

Opening today in New York and Los Angeles is the romance The Artist directed by Michel Hazanavicius and stars Jean Dujardin, Berenice Bejo, John Goodman, James Cromwell, Missi Pyle and Penelope Ann Miller. Ludovic Bource has composed the original music for the film and is considered to be one of the frontrunners to receive a nomination in the Best Score category at next year’s Academy Awards. Sony Classical has released the soundtrack album featuring Bource’s score. To check out audio clips and find out more about the album, check out our soundtrack announcement. Also visit Variety for a short article about the composer’s work for the film.

Receiving an awards qualifying-run this weekend before a wide release next year is the cop drama Rampart directed by Oren Moverman and starring Woody Harrelson, Ben Foster, Steve Buscemi, Ice Cube, Sigourney Weaver, Anne Heche, Cynthia Nixon and Robin Wright. The film’s score is composed by Dickon Hinchliffe (Winter’s Bone). Lakeshore Records will  be releasing a soundtrack for the movie on December 27, 2011 (available for pre-order on Amazon). No word yet on the content of the album, but check back on this site for an announcement in the next couple of weeks.