James Newton Howard (The Hunger Games, The Sixth Sense, King Kong, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Signs, The Fugitive) has been tapped to score the upcoming drama News of the World. The film is directed by Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy/Ultimatum, United 93, Captain Phillips) and stars Tom Hanks, Helena Zengel, Michael Covino, Fred Hechinger and Thomas Francis Murphy. The movie based on the best-selling 2016 novel of the same title by Paulette Jiles is set in the days following the Civil War and centers on the the unlikely friendship between Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd, an early precursor to today’s newscasters, and a 10-year-old girl he is tasked with bringing to her relatives. Luke Davies (Lion, Catch-22) wrote the original screenplay with revisions by Greengrass. Hanks is also producing the project with Gary Goetzman (Where the Wild Things Are, Mamma Mia!) for Playtone, alongside Gregory Goodman (X-Men: First Class, I Heart Huckabees) and Gail Mutrux (Donnie Brasco, Nurse Betty) for Pretty Pictures. Howard has previously scored several features for Playtone, including Charlie Wilson’s War, Larry Crowne and Parkland. News of the World is currently set to be released in theaters nationwide on December 25, 2020 by Universal Pictures.
The composer also has Disney’s Jungle Cruise (currently scheduled to be released on July 21, 2021) coming up and is also attached to return for the third installment in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them series.
Finally
Actually, Jungle Cruise is coming July 30th, 2021 (next year), not July 21st, 2022.
Paul Greengrass + James Newton Howard… Great news! Can’t wait!