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.
Category: Film Music News
Bret McKenzie to Write Songs for Disney’s ‘Bob the Musical’
Bret McKenzie has been tapped to write original songs for Disney’s upcoming musical comedy Bob the Musical. The film is set to be directed by Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) Tom Cruise is in talks to star in the movie a regular guy who, after a blow to the head, suddenly can hear the inner songs of everyone’s heart as his reality is instantly turned into a musical, much to his dismay. Michael Chabon (Wonder Boys, John Carter) is writing the screenplay and Tripp Vinson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose), Chris Bender (We’re the Millers), JC Spink (The Butterfly Effect) and Beau Flynn (San Andreas) are producing the project.
Weekly Film Music Roundup (July 24, 2015)
Three new movies are opening nationwide this weekend:
Opening in most theaters is the sci-fi action comedy Pixels directed by Chris Columbus and starring Adam Sandler, Kevin James, Michelle Monaghan, Peter Dinklage, Josh Gad and Brian Cox. The film’s original music is composed by Henry Jackman (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Big Hero 6, X-Men: First Class, Wreck-It-Ralph). Varese Sarabande has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score. Check out our previous news article for the full album details. Also visit Music Times and Bam! Smack! Pow! for recent interviews with Jackman about his work on the project.
Also opening wide is the boxing drama Southpaw directed by Antoine Fuqua and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams, Forest Whitaker, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Naomie Harris, Oona Laurence and Rita Ora. James Horner (Avatar, Titanic, A Beautiful Mind) composed his last film score for the film, which is also dedicated to the composer. Sony Classical has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s music. Click here to check out the full album details. A separate soundtrack featuring the songs from and inspired by the film, including Eminem’s Phenomenal, as well as tracks by 50 Cent, The Weeknd, The Notorious B.I.G., Slaughterhouse is also available. Check out our previous article for more information.
Stephen Trask to Create ‘The King of Comedy’ Musical
Composer Stephen Trask is teaming up with writer Chris D’Arienzo (Rock of Ages) to create a musical based on Martin Scorsese’s 1982 feature The King of Comedy starring Robert De Niro, Jerry Lewis, Tony Randall, Diahnne Abbott and Sandra Bernhard about an aspiring comedian who kidnaps a talk show host in the hopes of forcing his way onto television. New Regency is backing the project, which is being eyed to premiere on Broadway. Trask is best known for composing the music for the stage musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch and its film version.
Van Alexander (1915 – 2015)
Variety is reporting that Van Alexander died this afternoon at age 100 at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He composed scores for several 1960s sitcoms including Bewtiched, I Dream of Jeannie, Hazel, The Donna Reed Show and Dennis the Menace. Throughout his career, Alexander earned three Emmy Award nominations for his music direction for The Wacky World of Jonathan Winters and The Golddiggers, as well as for his music for 1970s Gene Kelly’s Wonderful World of Girls. His film scoring credits include The Atomic Kid, Baby Face Nelson, Andy Hardy Comes Home, 13 Frightened Girls, Strait-Jacket and Girls Town.
‘Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’ Score Preview
Composer Joe Kraemer has published the first track from his score for the action thriller Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation. Listen to the cue Moroccon Pursuit written by the composer who previously composed the music for director Christopher McQuairre’s features Jack Reacher and The Way of the Gun after the jump. La-La Land Records will release the official soundtrack album for the film, which is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation stars Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames, Rebecca Ferguson, Alec Baldwin and Sean Harris.
Weekly Film Music Roundup (July 17, 2015)
Two new movies are opening nationwide this weekend:
Opening in most theaters is the superhero movie Ant-Man directed by Peyton Reed and starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Peña, Judy Greer, Tip “TI” Harris, Wood Harris, Jordi Mollà and Michael Douglas. The film’s original music is composed by Christophe Beck (Frozen, Elektra, Edge of Tomorrow, Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Hollywood Records has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score and other music from the Marvel Studios production. Check out our previous article to and click here to listen to Beck’s main title theme from the film. Also visit Film Music Magazine and Movieweb for interviews with the composer about his work on the project.
Also opening wide is the romantic comedy Trainwreck directed by Judd Apatow and written by Amy Schumer who also stars in the movie alongside Bill Hader, LeBron James, Brie Larson, Tilda Swinton, John Cena and Ezra Miller. Jon Brion (Magnolia, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Punch Drunk Love, The Other Guys) who previously scored Apatow’s This Is 40 has composed the film’s original music. No word yet on a soundtrack release. Trainwreck follows a commitment-averse woman who is trying to get past her self-sabotaging ways. To learn more about the Universal Pictures release, visit the official movie website.
2015 Emmy Nominations Announced
The nominations for the 67th Emmy Awards were announced this morning. Here are the music-related categories:
Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Original Dramatic Score):
Chef’s Table – Francis Mallman – Music by Duncan Thum
House of Cards – Chapter 32 – Music by Jeff Beal
Outlander – Sassenach – Music by Bear McCreary
Penny Dreadful – Closer Than Sisters – Music by Abel Korzeniowski
The Paradise – Episode 8 – Music by Maurizio Malagnini
Tyrant – Pilot – Music by Mychael & Jeff Danna
Danny Elfman to Be Named Disney Legend at D23 Expo
Disney announced today that Danny Elfman is among this year’s Disney Legends honorees, which will be named and honored during D23 Expo 2015 at 10 a.m. on Friday, August 14, in Hall D23 at the Anaheim Convention Center. The event will be hosted by Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger, and will include special musical performances. Elfman’s work for Disney include the musical The Nightmare Before Christmas, for which he composed the score and songs an provided the singing voice of Jack Skellington, as well as such features as Alice in Wonderland, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Dick Tracy, Good Will Hunting, Frankenweenie and Oz the Great and Powerful.
Christophe Beck’s ‘Ant-Man’ Score Preview
Marvel and composer Christophe Beck have released the composer’s main title theme for the studios’ latest superhero movie Ant-Man. Check out the full track after the jump. A soundtrack album featuring Beck’s music from the film will be released digitally this Friday, July 17 by Hollywood Records and physically on August 7. Visit Amazon to pre-order the CD and check back on this page for the full album details later this week. Ant-Man directed by Peyton Reed and starring Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Corey Stoll, Bobby Cannavale, Michael Pena, Judy Greer, Tip Harris, David Oastmalchian, Wood Harris, Jordi Molla and Michael Douglas will be released July 17, 2015 by Walt Disney Pictures.