Dario Marianelli has been hired to score the upcoming animated feature Kubo and the Two Strings. The film is directed by Laika president and CEO Travis Knight and features the voices of Matthew McConaughey, Charlize Theron, Rooney Mara, Ralph Fiennes, Brenda Vaccaro and Art Parkinson. The movie is set in mythical ancient Japan and centers around Kubo who lives a quiet, normal life in a small shoreside village until a spirit from the past turns his life upside down and he must locate a magical suit of armor once worn by his late father, a legendary Samurai warrior. Marc Haimes and Chris Butler are writing the screenplay and Knight is producing the project with Arianne Sutner (ParaNorman).
Category: Film Scoring Assignments
Frederik Wiedmann Scoring ‘Justice League: Gods and Monsters’
Frederik Wiedmann is composing the music for the upcoming DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation film Justice League: Gods and Monsters. The film is directed by Sam Liu and features the voice talent of Benjamin Bratt, Michael C. Hall, Paget Brewster, Jason Isaacs, C. Thomas Howell and Tamara Taylor. The movie is set in an alternative universe, where Zod is Superman’s father, Batman is a vampiric Man-Bat, and Wonder Woman is the child of Ares, God of War. Alan Burnett has written the screenplay and Bruce Timm serves as the producer.
John Ottman & David Buckley to Score Shane Black’s ‘The Nice Guys’
John Ottman and David Buckley are set to score the upcoming detective thriller The Nice Guys. The film is directed by Shane Black (Iron Man 3, screenwriter of Lethal Weapon) and stars Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Matt Bomer, Kim Basinger, Angourie Rice, Beau Knapp, Keith David and Margaret Qualley. The movie is set in 1970s Los Angeles and follows a down-on-his-luck private eye and a hired leg-breaker who must work together to solve the case of a missing girl and the seemingly unrelated death of a porn star. Black also co-wrote the script with Anthony Bagarozzi. Joel Silver (The Matrix, Die Hard, V for Vendetta, Sherlock Holmes) is producing the project through his Silver Pictures company.
Trevor Morris to Return for ‘London Has Fallen’
Trevor Morris has been hired to score the upcoming action thriller sequel London Has Fallen. The film is directed by Babak Najafi (Snabba Cash II) and stars Gerard Butler who returns as Secret Service agent Mike Banning, alongside Aaron Eckhart as the U.S. President, Morgan Freeman as Vice President Trumbull, Angela Bassett as Secret Service Director Lynne Jacobs and Melissa Leo as Defense Secretary Ruth McMillan. Robert Forster, Sean O’Bryan, Radha Mitchell, Jackie Earle Haley, Alon Aboutboul, Charlotte Riley and Waleed Zuaiter are co-starring. The sequel takes place in London during the funeral of the British Prime Minister who has passed away under mysterious circumstances, when Banning discovers a plot to assassinate all the attending world leaders.
Benjamin Wallfisch Scoring ‘Harvest’
Benjamin Wallfisch is composing the music for the upcoming epic romance Harvest. The film is directed by George Mendeluk and stars Max Irons, Samantha Barks, Barry Pepper and Terence Stamp. The movie is set in 1930s Ukraine and centers on a man’s fight to save his family and everything he holds dear from complete annihilation as Stalin uses mass starvation and executions to crush resistance to his totalitarian regimen. Mendeluk also co-wrote the screenplay with Richard Bachynsky Hoover based on an original story by Hoover. Mendeluk is also producing the project with Jaye Gazeley and Chad Barager.
Michael Yezerski to Score ‘The Greens Are Gone’
Michael Yezerski has been tapped to score the upcoming indie drama The Greens Are Gone. The film is written and directed by Peer Pedersen and stars Catherine Keener, Anton Yeltsin, Kiernan Shipka, Kaitlyn Dever, Riley Keough, Annie Starke, Cary Elwes, Lois Smith and Ryan Eggold. The movie follows the matriarch of a dysfunctional family who’s pushed to her tipping point by the disappearance of her son. Adam Gibbs (Lucky Them) is producing the project with Michael Kristoff (Live at the Foxes Den), Annelise Dekker and Roger Joseph Puggliese.
Ola Flottum Scoring Joachim Trier’s ‘Louder Than Bombs’
Ola Flottum is reteaming with director Joachim Trier on the upcoming drama Louder Than Bombs. The film marks the English language debut of the director and stars Jesse Eisenberg, Amy Ryan, Isabelle Huppert, Gabriel Byrne, Devin McKenzie Druid and David Strathairn. The movie centers on the family of a late war photographer who has to grapple with their contrasting memories of her. Trier has also written the screenplay with Eskil Vogt (Blind). Thomas Robsahm is producing the project with Alexandre Mallet-Guy (The Past), Joshua Astrachan (Short Term 12, Friends With Kids), Marc Turtletaub (Little Miss Sunshine, Safety Not Guaranteed) and Albert Berger & Ron Yerxa (Cold Mountain, Nebraska, Little Children).
George Fenton Scoring Nicholas Hytner’s ‘The Lady in the Van’
George Fenton revealed in an interview with Celluloid Tunes that he has recently recorded his score for the upcoming British drama The Lady in the Van. The film is directed by Nicholas Hytner and stars Maggie Smith, Alex Jennings, Jim Broadbent, Frances De La Tour and Roger Allam. The movie is based on Alan Bennett’s West End stage play and follows an eccentric woman of uncertain origins who “temporarily” parked her broken down van in Bennett’s London driveway
and proceeded to live there for the next fifteen years. Hytner is also producing the BBC Films and TriStar production with Damian Jones (The Iron Lady, Millions, Belle) and Kevin Loader (Venus, Nowhere Boy, In the Loop).
Henry Jackman to Score ‘The 5th Wave’
Henry Jackman is set to score the upcoming action adventure The 5th Wave. The film is directed by J Blakeson (The Disappearance of Alice Creed) and stars Chloë Grace Moretz, Nick Robinson, Ron Livingston, Maggie Siff, Alex Roe, Maika Monroe, Zackary Arthur and Live Schreiber. The movie based on the young adult novel by Rick Yancey is set in the present day after four waves of increasingly deadly attacks have left most of Earth decimated and follows a 16-year-old girl who is on the run and desperately trying to save her younger brother. Susannah Grant (Erin Brockovich, Charlotte’s Web, 28 Days) has written the screenplay.
Universal Buys Untitled Musical Comedy to Feature Music by Alan Menken & Stephen Schwartz
Deadline is reporting that Universal Pictures has acquired an untitled comedy musical to be directed by Jeremy Garelick (The Wedding Ringer), starring Josh Gad and featuring music by Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz. The movie is said to follow a “domestic who integrates into family with a busy single mother, and becomes an important part of the clan”. Garelick is also writing the screenplay based on a story by himself and Gad. Michael De Luca (The Social Network, Captain Phillips, Moneyball, Fifty Shades of Grey) will serve as the producer on the project alongside Garelick, Gad, Menken & Schwartz.