Walt Disney Pictures has announced Los Angeles Philharmonic musical director Gustavo Dudamel as the conductor of the James Newton Howard‘s score for the studios’ upcoming fantasy adventure The Nutcracker and the Four Realms. The movie is directed by Lasse Hallstrom (Chocolat, The Cider House Rules) and stars Keira Knighley, Mackenzie Foy, Misty Copeland, Morgan Freeman and Helen Mirren. The film is based on the classic ballet by Peter Tchaikovsky and the story by E.T.A. Hoffmann and follows a young girl who receives a nutcracker doll from her godfather on Christmas Eve and finds herself thrust into a fantastical world. Dudamel has previously served as a guest conductor on Star Wars: The Force Awakens (scored by John Williams) and made his feature film scoring debut on 2014’s The Liberator. The Nutcracker and the Four Realms will be released on November 2, 2018 by Walt Disney Pictures.

  1. Justin Boggan says:

    I remember a few months ago I saw his name as composer for the film. Clearly a mistake. But Disney sure did take their time revealing this.

    Assuming he didn’t do any additional material (score or source wise).

  2. ubirajara says:

    I really liked his score for The Liberator. He should get more movies to score, since he’s clearly a very talented composer.

    • Thomas says:

      Err, no – he’s not. The Liberator was a lazy pastiche score.

  3. Zach says:

    Seems like Disney might be taking the Fantasia track for this…what with announcing a conductor. Looks like there might be scenes of the orchestra playing.