Henry Jackman has been tapped to score the upcoming thriller Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. The film is directed by Edward Zwick (Glory, The Last Samurai, Legends of the Fall) and stars Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders, Aldis Hodge, Madalyn Horcher, Danika Yarosh, Patrick Heusinger, Holt McCallany and Robert Knepper. The movie is based on Lee Child’s book Never Go Back and follows the title character as he returns to the headquarters of his old unit, only to find out he’s now accused of a 16-year-old homicide. Zwick has also written the screenplay with Marshall Herskovitz based on an original script by Richard Wenk (The Equalizer). Cruise is producing the Skydance Media production with Don Granger (Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation). The 2012 original Jack Reacher movie directed by Christopher McQuarrie was scored by Joe Kraemer. Zwick has previously collaborated with composer James Newton Howard on his last four features, including Blood Diamond, Defiance, Love & Other Drugs and Pawn Sacrifice. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is set to be released on October 21, 2016 by Paramount Pictures.
Jackman also recently scored Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War, which will be released on May 6. He also composed the music for Nate Parker’s drama The Birth of a Nation, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and was picked up by Fox Searchlight for a theatrical release on October 7, 2016.
I love Jackman, but…… What the heck happened to James?
You mean Joe (Kraemer)?
The score to the original was great.
No James Newton Howard? What a shame, he´s really good for that kind of stuff IMHO.
Interesting that Kraemer wasn’t invited back – Tom Cruise himself was full of praise for his score for the first movie.
But what happened to JNH? His collaboration with Zwick produced some of his best scores of the last years, like Blood Diamond and Defiance.
Not that I’m complaining, though. I love JNH, but, for thrillers like this, his scores are usually very boring (Salt, Bourne Legacy…)
Dream situation would be: James Newton Howard had to drop out of this because he’ll be too busy scoring a huge trilogy for James Cameron…. fingers crossed!!
Darn!!! Why?
I don’t know, that could be amazing, and I think it makes perfect sense. JNH would be a perfect replacement for James Horner. He’s got the skills and a great sensibility. If I were James Cameron I would hire JNH.
I agree to that 100%, but I need facts as to what happened.
Ugh! No offence to Jackman (his Uncharted 4 score rocks!) but this is Kraemer’s franchise. His score for the first movie captured the tone of both film and books perfectly. He crafted themes that resonate and should have continued through the franchise (I wonder if HJ will adopt any of them). Really disappointing news…