Two new movies are opening in wide release this weekend:
Expected to top the weekend box office is the horror thriller The Purge directed by James DeMonaco, produced by Michael Bay and Jason Blum and starring Ethan Hawke and Lena Headey. The film’s original score is composed by Nathan Whitehead. Back Lot Music has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score earlier this week. For the full album details, visit our soundtrack announcement. Also check out ASCAP’s We Create Music Blog, Film Music Media and Blumhouse Production’s official blog for interviews with the composer.
Also opening wide is the comedy The Internship directed by Shawn Levy and starring Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Rose Byrne and Max Minghella. Christophe Beck (The Hangover, The Muppets) who has previously collaborated with Levy on such films as Cheaper by the Dozen, The Pink Panther and Date Night has composed the film’s original score. No soundtrack album has been announced at this point. The comedy follows two salesmen whose careers have been torpedoed by the digital world and who talk their way into a coveted internship at Google. To learn more about the 20th Century Fox release, visit the official movie website.
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) 
Opening in most theaters is the sci-fi adventure After Earth directed by M. Night Shyamalan and starring Will Smith and Jaden Smith. The film’s music is composed by James Newton Howard (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, The Village) who regularly works with the director. Sony Masterworks has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score digitally earlier this week. The CD version is currently set to be released on June 11. Check out 
Also opening wide is the heist thriller Now You See Me directed by Louis Leterrier and starring Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Isla Fisher, Melanie Laurent, Woody Harrelson, Michael Kelly, Dave Franco and Common. Brian Tyler (Iron Man 3, Fast Five, The Expendables) composed the film’s original score. Glassnote Records has released a soundtrack album featuring selections from Tyler’s score, as well as Two Door Cinema Club’s Sun, Phoenix’s Entertainment and a remix of Tyler’s score by Robert DeLong. Check out 
Expected to top the weekend box office is the sci-fi sequel Star Trek Into Darkness directed by J.J. Abrams and starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, Benedict Cumberbatch and Peter Weller. The film’s music is composed by Abrams’ regular musical collaborator Michael Giacchino (Up, Lost). A soundtrack album featuring the composer’s music is now available digitally from Varese Sarabande and will be released on CD next week. For audio clips and the full album details, check out 
Opening in limited release is the indie comedy drama Frances Ha co-written and directed by Noah Baumbach and starring Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver and Michael Zegen. ABKCO Records will release a soundtrack album featuring four tracks from classic film scores by composer Georges Delerue, Paul McCartney’s Blue Sway, David Bowie’s Modern Love, T. Rex’s Chrome Sitar and more next week. Also included is a track by Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips who scored Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale. For the full album details, check out 
Last night, Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI), held its annual Film & TV Awards at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Cliff Martinez was honored with the Richard Kirk Award, which is bestowed on composers who have made significant contributions to the realm of film and television music. The composer whose film scoring credits include ten films directed by Steven Soderbergh, including Sex, Lies & Videotapes, Traffic, Solaris and Contagion, as well as such movies as Drive, The Lincoln Lawyer, Arbitrage and The Company You Keep was presented the award by the night’s hosts, BMI President & CEO Del Bryant and BMI Vice President, Film/TV Relations Doreen Ringer-Ross. Several of Martinez’s friends and collaborators congratulated him via a tribute video, including Soderbergh, Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Harmony Korine (Spring Breakers) and Nicolas Winding Refn, director of Drive and the composer’s most recent project Only God Forgives.
The board of the Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) unanimously elected Emmy-winning composer Ashley Irwin as President for the 2013-2015 term. The Australian composer has been a board member since 2008 and has served on the Performing Rights Committee and as the Chairman of the Seminar Committee for the last four years. He succeeds TV composer Dan Foliart (7th Heaven, The Secret Life of the American Teenager) in the office who is stepping down after 10 years of service. Irwin is best known for his collaborations with Bill Conti on numerous Oscar shows and such features as Rocky Balboa, as well as his work with Clint Eastwood on films including J. Edgar and Hereafter. 
Opening in most theaters is the new film adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby directed by Baz Luhrmann and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton, Isla Fisher, Elizabeth Debicki and Amitabh Bachchan. Craig Armstrong who previously scored the director’s Moulin Rouge! and Romeo & Juliet has composed the film’s original score. Interscope Records has released the official soundtrack album, which features Jay-Z’s original track No Church in the Wild, as well as his hit song 100$ Bill. Also included are the original songs Over the Love by Florence + the Machine and Young and Beautiful by Lana Del Rey, as well as songs by Beyonce x Andre 3000 (collaborating on Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black), Fergie + Q Tip + 
GoonRock, Coco O. of Quadron, Gotye, Nero and Sia, Jack White (who performs U2′s Love Is Blindness), Bryan Ferry and Emeli Sande. Check out 
Riz Ortolani has been selected as the 13th recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award at the the closing-night gala of the World Soundtrack Awards at the Ghent Film Fest on October 19, 2013. The Italian composer is best known for his scores to numerous spaghetti westerns and international films including the 1980 horror film Hannibal Holocaust and the British drama The 7th Dawn. Ortolani received a Grammy and an Academy Award nomination for the song More from the 1962 documentary Mondo Cane and was honored with another Oscar nomination for writing the title song for the 1970 western Madron. His music was recently featured in several films directed by Quentin Tarantino, including Django Unchained and Inglorious Basterds. 
Guaranteed to top the weekend box office is the superhero sequel Iron Man 3 directed by Shane Black and starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall, Stephanie Szostak, James Badge Dale, Jon Favreau and Ben Kingsley. The film’s original music is composed by Brian Tyler (Eagle Eye, Fast Five, The Expendables). Hollywood Records has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score earlier this week. Check out 
Opening in limited release is the romantic comedy Love Is All You Need co-written and directed by Susanne Bier and starring Pierce Brosnan, Trine Dyrholm, Sebastian Jessen, Molly Blixt Egelind, Paprika Steen, Kim Bodnia and Christiane Schaumburg-Muller. The film’s original score is composed by Johan Soderqvist who has previously collaborated with the director on such films as After the Wedding and Brothers. A soundtrack album will be released later this month. Check back on this page for updates. Also visit