Two new movies are opening nationwide this weekend:

Expected to top the weekend box office is the action adventure sequel Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Rachel McAdams,Stephen Fry, Jared Harris and Noomi Rapace. The film’s music is written by Hans Zimmer and produced by Zimmer & Lorne Balfe. WaterTower Music has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score. For the full details, including audio clips, visit our previous article. For a behind-the-scenes video from the recording of the score, click here and also check out two junket video interviews with Zimmer on Trailer Addict. For more recent interviews with the composer talking about his music for the sequel, visit Collider, MTV, ARTISTdirect and The Playlist.

Also opening wide this week is the family movie sequel Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chip-Wrecked directed by Mike Mitchell  and starring Jason Lee, David Cross, Jenny Slate, Justin Long, Matthew Gray Gubler, Jesse McCartney, Amy Poehler, Anna Faris and Christina Applegate. A soundtrack album featuring the movie’s songs performed by The Chipmunks & The Chipettes has been released on Atlantic Records. For more information and audio clips, check out our soundtrack announcement. The film’s score is composed by Mark Mothersbaugh and no score album has been released.

Opening in around 400 theaters including over 300 IMAX venues before opening nationwide next weekend is the action thriller sequel Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol directed by Brad Bird, produced by J.J. Abrams and starring Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Tom Wilkinson, Paula Patton, Ving Rhames, Josh Halloway, Anil Kapoor and Simon Pegg. Michael Giacchino has written the score for the film. A soundtrack album featuring the composer’s music has been announced by Varese Sarabande and will be released on CD on January 10, 2012 and is already available digitally on iTunes. For the full album details, visit our previous news article. For a recent audio interview with Giacchino talking about second Mission: Impossible score, visit Film Music Magazine.

Also opening in limited release is the black comedy Carnage based on the Tony-winning play God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza, directed by Roman Polanski and starring Jodie Foster, Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz and John C. Reilly. The film’s music is written by Alexandre Desplat. Since the composer has only written music for the opening titles and end credits of the movie, no soundtrack album has been announced, but visit YouTube to listen to some of Desplat’s score for the film. Also check out Broadway World for a recent interview with Desplat, in which talks about his work on his second collaboration with Polanski among his other recent projects.