Premiering on Tuesday, January 16, is the new CW drama Black Lightning developed by Samil Akil & Mara Brock Akil based on the DC comic books character created by Tony Isabella & Trevor Von Eeden and starring Cress Williams, Nafessa Williams, China Anne McClain and Christine Adams. The show’s original music is composed by Kurt Farquhar (The King of Queens, Moesha, The Perfect Game, Stitchers). To learn more about the series, which centers on Jefferson Pierce (aka Black Lightning) as he is pulled back into vigilante life, visit the official show website.
Premiering on Wednesday, January 17, is the FX original series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story starring Darren Criss, Edgar Ramírez, Penelope Cruz and Ricky Martin. Mac Quayle (Mr. Robot, American Horror Story, Scream Queens) who previously scored the first American Crime Story season The People v. O.J. Simpson has composed the show’s original music. For more information about the drama, which will air Wednesday nights on FX, visit the official show website.
Premiering on Friday, January 19, is the dance comedy Step Sisters directed by Charles Stone and starring Megalyn Echikunwoke, Eden Sher, Lyndon Smith, Gage Golightly, Nia Jervier, Alessandra Torresani, Marque Richardson, Naturi Naughton and Matt McGorry. The film’s original music is composed by Laura Karpman (Paris Can Wait, Step) & Raphael Saadiq (Underground, Insecure). The comedy, which follows a black sorority leader who agrees to help a rhythmically challenged sisterhood win a step dance championship, will be available to stream on Friday on Netflix.
Also premiering on Friday is the Netflix original movie The Open House directed by Matt Angel & Suzanne Coote and starring Dylan Minnette, Piercey Dalton and Patricia Bethune. Joseph Shirley has composed the film’s original music. The thriller revolves around a mother and her teen son who move to a relative’s vacant vacation home, where eerie and unexplained forces conspire against them. The movie will be available to stream this Friday exclusively on Netflix.
Premiering in the U.S. on Saturday, January 20, is the natural history docu-series Blue Planet II presented and narrated by David Attenborough. The show’s original music is composed by Hans Zimmer (Gladiator, The Dark Knight, The Lion King, Inception), Jacob Shea (Planet Earth II) and David Fleming (The Perfect Guy) for Bleeding Fingers Music. Silva Screen Records has released a soundtrack album featuring the composers’ score when the series premiered overseas last fall. Check out our previous news article for the full album details and to learn more about the show, which is premiering stateside on BBC America.
Also premiering on Saturday is the Lifetime original movie Cocaine Godmother: The Griselda Blanco Story directed by Guillermo Navarro and starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, Carlos Rodriguez, Juan Pablo Espinosa, Raul Mendez, Jenny Pellice, Alejandro Edda, Jonah Stark, Jaden Rain, Dagan Nish, Lauren Guci, Warren Christie and Darcy Laurie. Eduardo Aram (El Chapo) has composed the film’s original music. The drama tells the story of drug lord Griselda Blanco, a pioneer in the Miami-based cocaine trade. Visit Lifetime’s official website for more information.
Missing from last weeks TV music roundup was the anthology series Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams. Among the show’s composers are Olafur Arnalds (Broadchurch, Gimme Shelter), Cristobal Tapia de Veer (Utopia, The Girl with All the Gifts, National Treasure), Mark Isham (Crash, Once Upon a Time), BT (The Fast and the Furious), Bear McCreary (10 Cloverfield Lane, The Walking Dead) and Harry Gregson-Williams (The Chronicles of Narnia, Shrek, The Martian) who also composed the main titles theme. Click here to check out the titles sequence and to learn more about the series, which premiered on January 12 on Amazon Prime.
Also missing from last week’s roundup was the comedy The Polka King directed by Maya Forbes and starring Jack Black, Jenny Slate, Jason Schwartzman, Jacki Weaver, Vanessa Bayer and J.B. Smoove. The film’s original score is composed by Theodore Shapiro (The Devil Wears Prada, Ghostbusters, Tropic Thunder). Lakeshore Records has released a soundtrack album featuring the songs from the movie performed by the Jack Black Polka Band. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full album details and to learn more about the film, which premiered this past Friday exclusively on Netflix.
