Simon Franglen is currently recording his music for the upcoming The Magnificent Seven remake. The score is based on themes that late composer James Horner wrote before he passed away last summer. The movie is directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, King Arthur) and stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio, Lee Byung-hun, Manuel Garcia Rulfo, Martin Sansmeier, Haley Bennett and Peter Sarsgaard. The film is based on the 1960 classic western of the same title, which was itself based on Akira Kurosawa’s Seven Samurai and follows seven gun men in the old west who gradually come together to help a poor village against savage thieves. Roger Birnbaum (Rush Hour, The Vow, The Count of Monte Cristo) and Todd Black (The Pursuit of Happyness, A Knight’s Tale, The Equalizer) are producing the project. Franglen has collaborated with Horner as an arranger, score producer and synth programmer on numerous scores over the last seven year, including Avatar, The Amazing Spider-Man, The Karate Kid, Wolf Totem and The 33. He also produced the late composer’s last score for Fuqua’s Southpaw. The Magnificent Seven will be released on September 23, 2016 by Sony Pictures.
Simon Franglen Scoring Antoine Fuqua’s ‘The Magnificent Seven’
Posted: March 11, 2016 by filmmusicreporter in Film Scoring AssignmentsTags: Antoine Fuqua, James Horner, score, Simon Franglen, Soundtrack, The Magnificent Seven
James completed the score based on the script before he died. His score should be used. It was a gift for Antoine that he was never able to give to him. His agents had to give to him.
Simon Franglen is one of the people behind the Music from James Horner. He is a member of his music department. So.. you will hear the music from James Horner in this movie!
I think Antoine Fuqua was overstating things by saying that Horner composed a full film score before he even saw footage. At most Horner probably composed several themes and a demo suite, which is what Franglen is working with.
Hopefully more will be revealed once the film comes out in the fall.
This guy worked on every project James has done on the last few years, so, he is a man that James trusted. I’m pretty sure he will treat whatever material he has written with the greatest respect.
And also, we can’t forget, Horner wrote his score based on the script, and a movie certainly suffers a lot of changes between this and the final theatrical cut. So, it appears that Franglen will just adapt the music to better fit the movie. I guess it will be much like John Williams and William Ross on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Anyway, I’m looking foward to listen to it – a final masterpiece of the maestro.
I think it is great. also, If AVATAR 2 wasn’t so ambitious a project, I would recommend that he be drafted for that gig.