Quincy Jones passed away yesterday at age 91 at his home in Bel Air. The composer, songwriter and record producer wrote numerous scores and songs for film over a six decade spanning-career. His film scoring credits include Richard Brooks’ In Cold Blood, Sidney Lumet’s The Wiz and Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple, for all of which he received Academy Award nominations, as well as Norman Jewison’s In the Heat of the Night, Sam Peckinpah’s The Getaway and Peter Collinson’s The Italian Job. In 1967, he was the first Black composer to be nominated in the Original Song category for The Eyes of Love from Banning.
Category: Film Music News
Jake Kasdan’s ‘Red One’ to Feature Original Song ‘Christmas Magic’ by Laufey
Grammy Award-winning Icelandic singer/songwriter Laufey has recorded an original song for the action adventure comedy Red One. The track, entitled Christmas Magic, is co-written by Laufey & Spencer Stewart and will be featured in the movie directed by Jake Kasdan and starring Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, Bonnie Hunt, Kiernan Shipka,Kristofer Hivju, Wesley Kimmel, Nick Kroll and J.K. Simmons. The film (scored by Henry Jackman) follows North Pole’s Head of Security who must team up with the world’s most infamous bounty hunter in a mission to save Christmas.
Diane Warren to Produce and Write Original Songs for Disney Branded Television’s ‘How We Became the Biggest Band in the World’
Diane Warren is writing original songs for the upcoming Disney Channel/Disney+ original series How We Became the Biggest Band in the World. The Honorary Academy Award-winning songwriter also serves as executive producer on the show, which stars Lumi Pollack, Carmen Sanchez, Ruby Marino and Nathaniel Buescher. The drama follows three members of a mega-famous pop group, Electric Bloom, as they look back and tell the story of their band and friendship, starting with the day they all met in middle school.
Michael Bearden Named Music Director for 97th Oscars
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences today announced the creative team for the 97th Oscars, including music director Michael Bearden who joins the team for the first time. Bearden has worked with more than 520 music artists, most notably Whitney Houston, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, Lady Gaga and as Michael Jackson’s final music director. he earned Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Music Direction for the Super Bowl LI Halftime Show featuring Lady Gaga and One Last Time: An Evening with Tony Bennett and Lady Gaga. He has served as a music director for the Grammy Awards, Primetime Emmy Awards, The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor Awards, and as a musician and arranger for several Kennedy Center Honors and Oscars shows.
Weekly Film Music Roundup (October 25, 2024)
Opening in theaters nationwide this weekend is the superhero movie Venom: The Last Dance written and directed by Kelly Marcel and starring Tom Hardy, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Juno Temple, Rhys Ifans, Peggy Lu, Stephen Graham and Alanna Ubach. The film’s original music is composed by Dan Deacon (Hustle, Ascension, The Changeling, Rez Ball, Twixt, All Light, Everywhere, Wedding Season, Strawberry Mansion). Sony Classical has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score today. Check out our previous news article for the full album details and to learn more about the movie, which is being released by Sony Pictures.
Also opening wide is the thriller Conclave directed by Edward Berger and starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Sergio Castellitto, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini. Volker Bertelmann (All Quiet on the Western Front, Hotel Mumbai,Lion, Patrick Melrose, The Old Guard, The Crow, One Life, Adrift) has composed the film’s original music. Back Lot Music has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score today. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full album details and for more information about the Focus Features release.
‘The Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim’ to Feature Original Song by Paris Paloma
English folk-pop artist 
Paris Paloma has recorded an original song for the upcoming anime feature The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. The track, entitled The Rider, written by Phoebe Gittins (who co-wrote the project’s screenplay with Arty Papageorgiou and Jeffrey Addiss & Will Matthews) & composer David Long and performed by Paloma, will be featured in the movie directed by Kenji Kamiyama and starring Brian Cox, Gaia Wise, Luke Pasqualino, Miranda Otto, Lorraine Ashbourne, Benjamin Wainwright, Yazdan Qafouri, Laurence Ubong Williams, Shaun Dooley, Jude Akuwudike, Michael Wildman, Bilal Hasna and Janine Duvitski.
Weekly Film Music Roundup (October 18, 2024)
Opening in theaters nationwide this weekend is the horror sequel Smile 2 written and directed by Parker Finn and starring Naomi Scott, Kyle Gallner, Rosemarie DeWitt, Miles Gutierrez-Riley, Peter Jacobson, Raúl Castillo, Lukas Gage, Ray Nicholson and Dylan Gelula. The film’s original score is composed by Cristobal Tapia de Veer (The White Lotus, Utopia, The Third Day, The Girl with All the Gifts) who previously scored the 2022 original movie. Interscope Records has released a soundtrack EP featuring the original songs from the movie performed by Scott (as her character Skye Riley) last Friday. A separate score album is expected to be coming out next week. Click here to check out the project’s music team credits and click here for the full details of the song EP and to learn more about the Paramount Pictures release.
Also opening nationwide is the comedy Goodrich written and directed by Hallie Meyers-Shyer and starring Michael Keaton, Mila Kunis, Lauren Benanti, Carmen Ejogo, Kevin Pollak, Michael Urie, Danny Deferrari, Nico Haraga, Viven Lyra Blair and Andie MacDowell. Christopher Willis (The Death of Stalin, The Personal History of David Copperfield, Veep, Schmigadoon!,The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, Old Dads) has composed the film’s original music. No word on a soundtrack release. Click here to check out the project’s music team credits and check out our scoring assignment announcement for more information about the movie, which is being released by Ketchup Entertainment.
Jerskin Fendrix Named Film Composer of the Year at World Soundtrack Awards
Jerskin Fendrix was named Film Composer of the Year at the 24th World Soundtrack Awards, tonight’s closing event of the 51st Ghent Film Festival, for his scores for Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things (for which he also received an Academy Award nomination earlier this year) and Kinds of Kindness. He was also the winner in the Discovery of the Year category. Natalie Holt was honored as TV Composer of the Year today for her score for the second season of Marvel’s Disney+ series Loki. She has previously been nominated twice in the category and also received a Discovery nomination in 2021. Billie Eislish and Finneas O’Connell won the award in the Original Song category for What Was I Made For? from Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, for which they also received an Academy Award this year.
Weekly Film Music Roundup (October 11, 2024)
Opening in theaters nationwide this weekend is the animated documentary Piece by Piece directed by Morgan Neville and featuring the voices of Pharrell Williams (who also wrote the movie’s original songs), Gwen Stefani, Jay-Z, Missy Elliott, Kendrick Lamar, Timbaland and Justin Timberlake. The film’s original score original score is composed by Michael Andrews (Donnie Darko, Freaks & Geeks, Daddy’s Home, Bridesmaids, Bad Teacher, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Funny People). Columbia Records has released a soundtrack album featuring the songs from the animated feature today. Click here for the full album details and to learn more about the Focus Features release.
Also opening wide is the biographical drama The Apprentice directed by Ali Abbasi and starring Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Strong, Maria Bakalova and Martin Donovan. Martin Dirkov (Holy Spider, Shorta, Border, Knocking, Holiday, The Charmer) has composed the film’s original score and David Holmes (Ocean’s Eleven, Killing Eve, Out of Sight) & Brian Irvine (Ordinary Love) have contributed additional music. Filmtrax/Atlantic Screen Music has released a soundtrack album featuring the composers’ score today. Check out our previous article for the full album details and for more information about the movie, which is being distributed by Briarcliff Entertainment.
Weekly Film Music Roundup (October 4, 2024)
Opening in theaters nationwide this weekend is the psychological thriller Joker: Folie à Deux directed by Todd Phillips and starring Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Catherine Keener, Brendan Gleeson and Zazie Beetz. The film’s original score is composed by Hildur Guðnadóttir (Joker, Chernobyl, A Haunting in Venice, Women Talking, Tar, Sicario: Day of the Soldado). WaterTower Music has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score last Friday (click here for the full album details) and Interscope Records has released a separate soundtrack featuring the songs from the Warner Bros. Pictures release performed by Phoenix & Gaga, as well as a track by Nick Cave today (click here for more more information).
Also opening wide is the drama White Bird directed by Marc Forster and starring Ariella Glaser, Orlando Schwerdt, Helen Mirren, Gillian Anderson and Bryce Gheisar. Thomas Newman (American Beauty, Finding Nemo, The Shawshank Redemption, Skyfall, Road to Perdition, The Horse Whisperer) has composed the film’s original music. Lakeshore Records has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score, as well as an original song today. Check out our previous news article for the full album details and to learn more about the Lionsgate release.