Fernando Velazquez is composing the music for the upcoming horror comedy Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. The film is directed by Burr Steers (17 Again, Charlie St. Cloud, Igby Goes Down) and stars Lily James, Bella Heathcote, Sam Riley, Jack Huston, Douglas Booth, Matt Smith, Charles Dance and Lena Headey. The movie is based on the 2009 novel by Seth Grahame-Smith (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Dark Shadows) and is a new take on Jane Austen’s classic tale of the tangled relationships between lovers from different social classes in 19th century England, which is faced with a new challenge -an army of undead zombies. Steers has also co-written the screenplay with David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter). Brian Oliver & Tyler Thompson (Black Swan, Rush, The Woman in Black) are producing the project with Allison Shearmur (Cinderella), Sean McKittrick (Donnie Darko, Bad Words), Natalie Portman, Annette Savitch and Marc Butan (Confidence, Get Over It). Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is set to be released on February 5, 2016 by Screen Gems/Sony Pictures.
Velazquez also has Guillermo Del Toro’s Crimson Peak starring Charlie Hunnam, Jessica Chastain, Mia Wasikowska and Tom Hiddleston coming up. The composer is also reteaming with director J.A. Bayona on the upcoming fantasy drama A Monster Calls. The film stars Liam Neeson, Felicity Jones, Lewis MacDougall, Sigourney Weaver, Toby Kebbell and Geraldine Chaplin. The movie is based on the novel of the same title by Patrick Ness and centers on a 12-year-old boy who attempts to deal with his mother’s illness and the bullying of his classmates by escaping into a fantastical world of monsters and fairy tales that explore courage, loss and faith. River Road’s Bill Pohlad (12 Years a Slave, The Tree of Life) & Mitch Horwits are executive producing the project with Participant Media’s Jeff Skoll & Jonathan King and Lionsgate Motion Picture Group’s Patrick Wachsberger. Velazquez and Bayona have previously collaborated on the features The Orphanage and The Impossible. A Monster Calls will be released on October 14, 2016 by Focus Features.
Given Steers’ previous films, I’d have totally expected Rolfe Kent for this movie (and how amazing would *that* have been?), but Velazquez is a good choice, too. I might have to see the film, now. (I would’ve if Kent was scoring, tbh.)