Two new movies are opening wide this week:

anchorman-2Expected to top the weekend box office is the comedy sequel Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues directed by Adam McKay and starring Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Paul Rudd, David Koechner, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, James Marsden and Kristen Wiig. The film’s original score is composed by Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau (Casa De Mi Padre, Bachelorette). The duo has also composed the film’s original songs, including Doby (co-written with Ferrell and McKay), which is up for an Academy Award nomination in the Best Song category (click here to listen to the track). Republic Records has released a soundtrack album featuring the songs from the film. For the full album details, check out our soundtrack announcement.

walking-with-dinosaursAlso opening wide is the 3D family action adventure Walking With Dinosaurs directed by Neil Nightingale & Barry Cook and which follows two brothers looking to follow in their father’s footsteps, which leads them to a showdown with dinosaurs in the Arctic. Paul Leonard-Morgan (Limitless, Dredd) has composed the film’s original music. A soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score is in the works and expected to be released in 2014. Check back on this page for the album details. To learn more about the movie, check out our previous news article.

248311id2b_Her_Advance_Unrated_27x40_1Sheet_JpegOnly.inddOpening in limited release before expanding nationwide on January 10 is the sci-fi romance Her written and directed by Spike Jonze and starring Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, Chris Pratt and Scarlett Johansson. The film’s original music is composed by Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett has provided additional music. The movie also features the original song The Moon Song written by Karen O (Where the Wild Things Are) and Jonze. No soundtrack album has been announced at this point. Check out our previous article to learn more about the movie.

the-pastOpening in New York and Los Angeles is the French/Iranian co-production The Past (Le passe) directed by Asghar Farhadi (A Separation) and starring  Bérénice Bejo, Tahar Rahim, Ali Mosaffa, Pauline Burlet, Elyes Aguis, Jeanne Jestin, Sabrina Ouazani, Babak Karmi and Valeria Cavalli. Sacha Galperine and Evgueni Galperine (The Family) have composed the film’s original music. No soundtrack album has been released. The Past opened at this year’s Cannes Film Festival where Bejo was awarded as Best Actress. The Golden Globe-nominated movie is being released in the U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics. To learn more about the drama, visit the official movie website.

maidentripAlso opening in select cities is the documentary Maidentrip directed by Jillian Schlesinger about 14 year-old Dutch teen Laura Dekker who was in the news a couple of years ago when Holland’s equivalent to child protective services intervened when they tried to stop her from taking a solo sailing voyage around the world alone. Ben Sollee has composed the film’s original music. sonaBLAST! Records will release a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s music on January 14, 2014. Visit Amazon to listen to audio clips. Maidentrip premiered at this year’s SXSW Film Festival and is being distributed by First Run Features.