West Dylan Thordson has composed the original score for the upcoming psychological thriller Split. The film is written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Signs, Unbreakable) and stars James McAvoy, Anya Taylor-Joy, Betty Buckley, Jessica Sula and Haley Lu Richardson. The movie centers around a man who endures a major loss and becomes compelled to abduct three teenage girls. Shyamalan is also producing the project with Jason Blum (Paranormal Activity, The Purge, Insidious) for his production company Blumhouse and Marc Bienstock. The director has previously collaborated with James Newton Howard on most of his features, while his last movie and first project for Blumhouse didn’t feature an original score expect for a piano theme during the film’s epilogue, which was written by Paul Cantelon. The filmmaker previously used Thordson’s cover of the Bob Dylan song The Times They Are A’Changin at the end of his 2006 feature Lady in the Water. Split will be released on January 20, 2017 by Universal Pictures. Visit the official movie website for updates.
Thordson who previously contributed music for David O. Russell’s Joy, Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher and the docu-series The Jinx has also recently scored the drama In the Radiant City. The film is written and directed by Rachel Lambert and stars Michael Abbott Jr., Marin Ireland, Paul Sparks, Madisen Beaty, Celia Weston, Jon Michael Hill and Deirdre O’Connell. The movie revolves around a prodigal son’s return to his family and hometown, and the demons stirred by his arrival. Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter, Mud, Midnight Special) has produced the film with Sonny Mallhi. The drama recently premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and is currently awaiting a distribution deal.
No more JNH? Quite disappointing…
Shyamalan’s new low budget movies can’t afford to pay JNH, or an orchestra, which is unbelievably sad. He wrote some of the best scores of his career for Shyamalan movies, both the good ones and the crappy ones.