Alica Keys has recorded an original song for Davis Guggenheim’s upcoming documentary He Named Me Malala. The song is entitled Story to Tell and is performed by the Grammy Award-winning singer/songwriter and produced by Rick Rubin. The track will be included on the official soundtrack album for the film, which also features the movie’s original score by Thomas Newman and will be released on October 2, 2015 by Sony Classical. Visit Amazon to pre-order the CD. Keys has previously contributed original songs for the features The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and 12 Years a Slave, as well as The Inevitable Defeat of Mister Pete, which she also co-scored.
Category: Film Music News
Weekly Film Music Roundup (August 21, 2015)
Three new movies are opening nationwide this weekend:
Opening in most theaters is the action thriller Hitman: Agent 47 directed by Aleksander Bach and starring Rupert Friend, Hannah Ware, Zachary Quinto, Ciarán Hinds and Thomas Kretschmann. The film’s original music is composed by Marco Beltrami (World War Z, The Wolverine, Scream, The Hurt Locker). La-La Land Records will release a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s music next week. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full album details and to learn more about the 20th Century Fox release.
Also opening wide is the action comedy American Ultra directed by Nima Nourizadeh and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Topher Grace, Connie Britton, Tony Hale, John Leguizamo, Bill Pullman and Walton Goggins. Marcelo Zarvos (The Affair, Ray Donavan, Remember Me, Enough Said) has composed the film’s original score. No word yet on a soundtrack album. American Ultra follows a seemingly hapless and unmotivated stoner whose small-town life with his live-in girlfriend is suddenly turned upside down when he finds out that he is actually a highly trained, lethal sleeper agent. For more information about the Lionsgate release, visit the official movie website.
Amy Dunning Named Head of Music at Lionsgate
Amy Dunning has been named head of music of Lionsgate’s motion picture group. She will oversee all creative and production aspects of music for Lionsgate’s film scores, songs and soundtracks. Among the projects she is currently working on are the studios’ upcoming features Allegiant: Part 1, Gods Of Egypt, Now You See Me: The Second Act, John Wick 2, La La Land Power Rangers, The Odyssey, Robin Hood: Origins and Monopoly. Dunning previously served as senior VP at Downtown Music Publishing and also served as VP of film music at 20th Century Fox, where she oversaw the music for such movies as Life of Pi, Juno, (500) Days of Summer, Chronicle, The Heat and The Wolverine.
World Soundtrack Awards 2015 Nominations Announced
The World Soundtrack Academy has announced the nominees for the 2015 World Soundtrack Awards to be presented in three categories: Film Composer of the Year, Best Original Score of the Year and Best Original Song Written Directly for a Film. The winners will be announced at the World Soundtrack Awards & concert on Saturday, October 24, the closing night of the Ghent International Film Festival. Here are the nominations:
Film Composer of the Year
Bruno Coulais
3 Hearts, Diary of a Chambermaid, Fly Away Solo, Gemma Bovery, Mune le guardien de la lune, Song of the Sea
Alexandre Desplat
Everything Will Be Fine, The Imitation Game, Tale of Tales, Unbroken
Shakira to Record Original Song for Disney’s ‘Zootopia’
Disney announced at the studios’ D23 expo event that Shakira is recording an original song for the Disney Animation Studios’ feature Zootopia. The song is entitled Try Everthing and will be featured in the movie directed by Byron Howard (Tangled) and Rich Moore (Wreck-it Ralph). Shakira will also be among the film’s voice cast, which also includes Jason Bateman and Ginnifer Goodwin. The movie follows a con-artist fox who teams up with a bunny cop to crack a missing mammal case.
Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez to Write Songs for Disney’s ‘Gigantic’
It was announced today at Disney’s D23 fan expo that Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez will be writing original music for Disney Toon Studios’ upcoming feature Gigantic. The film will be directed by Nathan Greno (Tangled) and produced by Dorothy McKim (Meet the Robinson). The movie is based on the Jack and the Beanstalk fairy tale is set in Spain during the Age of Exploration and follows Jack as he discovers a world of giants hidden within the clouds.
Weekly Film Music Roundup (August 14, 2015)
Two new movies are opening nationwide this weekend:
Expected to top the weekend box office is the biographical drama Straight Outta Compton directed by F. Gary Gray and starring O’Shea Jackson Jr. as Ice Cube, Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre, Jason Mitchell as Eazy-E, Aldis Hodge as MC Ren, Neil Brown, Jr. as DJ Yella and Paul Giamatti as N.W.A.’s manager Jerry Heller. The film’s original score is composed by Joseph Trapanese (Insurgent, Oblivion, Earth to Echo). Dr. Dre has released his first record in 16 years inspired by the movie last Friday. Visit Amazon to order the album. To learn more about the film, which chronicles the rise of the hip hop group N.W.A., check out our previous news article.
Also opening wide is the film adaptation of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Henry Cavill, Armie Hammer, Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki, Jared Harris and Hugh Grant. Daniel Pemberton (Steve Jobs, The Counselor) has composed the film’s original music. WaterTower Music has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score, as well as the songs from the movie by artists including Roberta Flack, Nina Simone, Peppino Gagliardi, Louis Prima & more. Click here for the full album details and check out our soundtrack preview here. Also visit Film Music Magazine, Film.Music.Media, We Are Movie Geeks and Film Music Society for interviews with Pemberton and click here for a video featurette about the composer’s music.
Weekly Film Music Roundup (August 7, 2015)
Four new movies are opening nationwide this weekend:
Opening in most theaters is the superhero movie Fantastic Four directed by Josh Trank and starring Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara, Jamie Bell and Toby Kebbell. The film’s original music is composed by Marco Beltrami (Scream, The Wolverine, World War Z, 3:10 to Yuma) and Philip Glass (The Hours, Notes on a Scandal, Candyman). Sony Classical has released a soundtrack album featuring the composers’ music digitally last week and a CD version is set to come out on August 14. Check out our previous news article for the full album details and visit Amazon to check out audio samples.
Also opening wide is the thriller The Gift directed by Joel Edgerton who also stars in the film alongside Rebecca Hall and Jason Bateman. Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans (Enemy, Martha Marcy May Marlene, The One I Love, The Wolfpack) have composed the film’s original music. Sony Classical has released a soundtrack album featuring the composers’ score digitally today. A CD version is also available overseas. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full album details.
Weekly Film Music Roundup (July 31, 2015)
Two new movies are opening nationwide this week:
Expected to top the weekend box office is the action thriller Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Alec Baldwin and Sean Harris. The film’s original music is composed by Joe Kraemer (Jack Reacher, The Way of the Gun). Paramount Pictures and La-La Land Records are releasing a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s music. Check out our previous article for the full album details and to listen to audio clips. Also visit Film Music Magazine, NPR and HeyUGuys for interviews with Kraemer about his work on the project.
Already playing nationwide since this past Wednesday is the comedy reboot Vacation written and directed by Jonathan Goldstein & John Francis Daley and starring Ed Helms, Christina Applegate, Leslie Mann, Skyler Gisondo, Steele Stebbins, Chris Hemsworth, Chevy Chase and Beverly D’Angelo. Mark Mothersbaugh (The LEGO Movie, 21/22 Jump Street, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs) has composed the film’s original score. WaterTower Music has released a soundtrack album featuring the songs from the film by such artists as Lindsey Buckingham, The Feud, Seals and Crofts, JD McPherson, Jarina De Marco, Christopher Blue, as well as a track by Mothersbaugh. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full album details and to learn more about the Warner Bros. Pictures release.
Meghan Trainor to Record Original Song for ‘The Peanuts Movie’
Meghan Trainor announced that she is recording an original song for the upcoming animated feature The Peanuts Movie. The track is called Better When I’m Dancin’ and will mark the singer/songwriter’s first original song for a movie. Epic Records will release the official soundtrack album for the film and has set a release date to October 23, 2015. The Peanuts Movie. Christophe Beck has recently been recording his original score for the film on the Alfred Newman Scoring Stage at the Fox lot in Los Angeles.