Theodore Shapiro is writing the music for the upcoming HBO drama Game Change. The movie is directed by Jay Roach (Austin Powers, Meet the Parents) who collaborated with Shapiro on last summer’s comedy Dinner for Schmucks. The film is based on the book by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin and centers Senator John McCain’s run for president in the 2008 election. Game Change stars Ed Harris as John McCain, Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin and Woody Harrelson as McCain’s senior campaign strategist and adviser, Steve Schmidt. Peter MacNicol and Ron Livingston are co-starring. The project is written by Danny Strong (Recount) and produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman. Shapiro has previously worked with HBO on 2007’s HBO Voyeur Project, a theatrical multimedia experience and marketing campaign for the cable network. No release date has been announced yet for Game Change, but it is expected to air this fall on HBO.

As previously announced, Shapiro also has David Frankel’s The Big Year starring Owen Wilson, Jack Black and Steve Martin coming out later this year. Also coming up for the composer is Aardman’s animated feature The Pirates! Band of Misfits, which had its voice cast (including Hugh Grant, Salma Hayek and Brendan Gleeson) announced this week.