Hans Zimmer is scoring the History Channel’s upcoming mini-series The Bible. The 10-hour/five-part docudrama is created and executive produced by Mark Burnett (The Voice, Survivor) and Roma Downey (Touched by an Angel) and will cover the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, including stories from Noah’s Ark and the Exodus to Daniel in the Lion’s Den to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Keith David (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Platoon) is narrating the series, which stars Roma Downey, Diogo Morgado, Sean Teale, David Rintoul, Amber Rose Revah, Peter Guinness, Greg Hicks and Simon Kunz. Burnett and Downey are executive producing the project with Richard Bedser, Dirk Hoogstra and Julian P. Hobbs. Zimmer has previously written music for Burnett’s reality show The Contender. The Bible is set to premiere on March 3, 2013 on The History Channel and will also be released on Blu-Ray and DVD in April. (A+E Networks)
As previously reported, Zimmer’s other upcoming projects include Man of Steel, Ron Howard’s Rush, Gore Verbinski’s The Lone Ranger and Akiva Goldsman’s Winter’s Tale.
This could be pretty epic. You go, Hans! Hope there’ll be a soundtrack release.
Finally, a Zimmer score you can look forward to! It’s going to be the most badass bible-film ever!
But the series itself looks pretty cheap and poorly directed.
Probably because all the money went to Hans and his clones
Well friends, last year Debney took on Hatfield & McCoys for History and got a lot of Emmy attention. This is no different. Smart move. The real question is would HZ and Debney have even considered these projects 5 years ago?……
Debney is given nothing – only shitty comedies nobody cares about. He basically hit the rock bottom. Hatfields & McCoys are something like a blessing for him, I would guess. On the other hand, Zimmer still continues to score major blockbusters and he is the top choice for many directors. He composes for these little projects because he wants to, not because he needs money.
So no, that’s not the real question. Debney and Zimmer have nothing in common.
With all due respect, discussion is a good thing. However, I disagree about Debney. Having a building on Barham is not hitting rock bottom. The Emmy bump cannot hurt either, much like it will be rewarding for Hans (whose music I adore) in the next Emmy cycle. Also calling this project “little” is not fair either, regardless of the budget, HZ will provide epic, stirring work. In closing, I am not sure if you are working here in town (LA) as a composer, but if so, I believe you would read my rhetorical query a little differently. This is not a slight, by any means, as all of our opinions are salient, however, the light falls a little differently perspective-wise if you are…
I meant no disrespect for you nor for John Debney. None at all. I’m sorry if it sounded like that.
Although Debney is not one of my favourite composers, I often find his music good and enjoyable. By the “rock bottom” I only meant the quality of the movies he provides his music for (you must admit, those are pretty terrible in recent years), not his financial situation. I simply asume he would like to get his hands on better projects.
Also, I didn’t want to imply that Hans Zimmer (he IS one of my favourites) would put less effort into his work only because it’s a TV production. Once again, I was only assuming that he accepts this kind of projects because he finds them somehow interesting. Other big composers would inmediately turn them down.
And lastly, I am no composer, nor I live in America. I’m a just a fan of movie scores 😉
Thank you for such a collaborative, thoughtful and honest answer. I agree with you on these things. Yes, for me as well, HZ is an absolute favourite. Another interesting observation is that now History Channel and other smaller cable networks are not only producing more ambitious projects in scale, but also hiring A-list composers for them. Studios used to make many more films, alas not as much anymore, hence the other avenues of creativity and opportunity…
You’re right, the differences between TV and cinema are disappearing. For example, my favourite score of this year isn’t even from the movie. It’s Djawadi’s Game of Thrones – Season 2 (HBO is not exactly a “small cable network”, but you get my point 😉 ).