Pianist Justin Kauflin and Dave Grusin have composed the original score for the upcoming documentary Keep On Keepin’ On. The film is helmed by Australian director Alan Hicks who spent four years following the mentorship between jazz-legend Clark Terry and Kauflin, a blind piano prodigy, during a pivotal moment in each of their lives. Academy Award nominee Quincy Jones (The Color Purple) is producing the project with Paula DuPre’ Pesmen (The Cove, Chasing Ice). Keep On Keepin’ On is set to premiere next month at the Tribeca Film Festival. After the premiere screening, there will be a special post-film performance by pianist Justin Kauflin, four-time Grammy Award-winning jazz singer Dianne Reeves and Roy Hargrove on trumpet with Quincy Jones in attendance.
Category: Film Scoring Assignments
Danny Elfman to Co-Score Mike Flanagan’s ‘Somnia’
Danny Elfman has been tapped to co-score the upcoming psychological thriller Somnia with The Newton Brothers who have previously been announced as the composers on the film. The movie is directed by Mike Flanagan (Oculus) and stars Kate Bosworth, Thomas Jane, Annabeth Gish and Jacob Tremblay. The thriller follows a couple who take in an orphaned child whose dreams and nightmares manifest when he sleeps. Flanagan has also co-written the screenplay with Jeff Howard. Trevor Macy (The Raven, The Cold Light of Day) is producing the project for Intrepid Pictures production and William D. Johnson & Sam Englebardt (Paranoia, Byzantium) are producing for Demarest Films.
Klaus Badelt to Score Chen Kaige’s ‘The Monk’
Klaus Badelt is set to reteam with director Chen Kaige (Farewell My Concubine, Together with You) on the upcoming martial arts action epic The Monk. The film is based on the best-selling novel Dao Shi Xia Shan (A Monk Comes Down the Mountain) by Xu Haofeng (The Grandmaster) and stars Wang Baoqiang, Lin Chi-ling and Fan Wei. The movie follows a young monk who is forced to leave his impoverished monastery and crosses paths with a Kung Fu master who is in possession of the Book of Secrets, which reveals the lost art of the deadly Ape Strike Kung Fu technique. Chen Hong is producing the Columbia Pictures production. Badelt has previously composed a critically acclaimed score for Chen Kaige’s 2005 epic The Promise.
Mac Quayle to Score ‘Other People’s Children’
Mac Quayle has been hired to score the upcoming indie drama Other People’s Children. The film marks the feature debut of commercial and documentary director Liz Hinlein and stars Chad Michael Murray, Diane Marshall-Green, Michael Mosley, Breanne Racano, Harrison Thomas and Sofia Vassilieva. The movie follows a filmmaker reeling from the death of her famous father who falls down the rabbit hole of a charismatic homeless man who becomes the subject of her latest documentary. Adrianne Harris has written the screenplay and is also producing the project with William Clevinger, Marshall-Green, Harris and Hinlein.
Robin Coudert Scoring ‘Every Secret Thing’
Robin Coudert is composing the score for the upcoming crime drama Every Secret Thing. The film marks the narrative feature directorial debut of documentary filmmaker Amy Berg (Deliver Us from Evil, West of Memphis) and stars Diane Lane, Elizabeth Banks, Dakota Fanning, Danielle Macdonald, Nate Parker and Common. The movie is based on Laura Lippman’s 2004 mystery novel of the same title and follows two 11-year-old girls who are convicted of murdering a baby and incarcerated until they turn 18 when the police turn their attention to the duo as children start to go missing. Nicole Holofcener (Enough Said, Please Give) has written the screenplay.
Bruce Hornsby Scoring Spike Lee’s ‘Da Sweet Blood of Jesus’
Bruce Hornsby is composing the score for Spike Lee’s upcoming indie romantic horror comedy Da Sweet Blood of Jesus. The Kickstarter-funded film stars Michael K. Williams, Felicia Pearson, Elvis Nolasco, Zaraah Abrahams, Steven Hauck and Stephen Tyrone Williams. No plot details have been revealed yet, but the movie is said to be a love story and centers on human beings who are addicted to blood. Lee has also written the screenplay and is producing the project. Raphael Saadiq (Black Nativity) has been announced as the film’s executive music director last year. Hornsby previously made his narrative film scoring debut on Lee’s indie drama Red Hook Summer and also composed a score for the director’s Oldboy, but the Grammy Award-winning singer’s music ended up being replaced.
Trevor Morris to Score ‘Brick Mansions’
Trevor Morris has taken over scoring duties on the upcoming action thriller Brick Mansions. The film is directed by Camille Delamarre and stars Paul Walker, RZA, David Belle and Robert Maillet. The movie is an English language remake of Pierre Morel’s 2004 film District B13 and follows an undercover cop who is tasked with going into a tenement named Brick Mansions in order to disarm a neutron bomb that is ticking down. Luc Besson (Leon: The Professional, The Fifth Element) has written the screenplay and is also producing the project for EuropaCorp. Ryan Kavanaugh & Tucker Tooley (The Fighter, Limitless) are executive producing for Relativity Media.
Brian Tyler to Score ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’
Brian Tyler has officially signed on to score Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Age of Ultron. The film is written and directed by Joss Whedon and reunites the case of the original 2012 film, including Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders and Don Cheadle. James Spader will be portraying Ultron, the main villain in the film, while Elizabeth Olsen has been cast as the Scarlet Witch, Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Quicksilver, Paul Bettany as the Vision and Thomas Kretschmann as Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker. Kevin Feige is producing the project.
Jóhann Jóhannsson to Score James Marsh’s’ ‘Theory of Everything’
Jóhann Jóhannsson is set to score the upcoming drama Theory of Everything. The film is directed by James Marsh (Man on Wire) and stars Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, Charlie Cox, Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Lesley Manville, Simon McBurney, Maxine Peake and Harry Lloyd. The movie centers on the relationship between physicist Stephen Hawking and Jane Wilde, the arts student he fell in love with when he attended Cambridge in the 1960s. Anthony McCarten (Death of a Superhero) has written the screenplay inspired by Jane Hawking’s memoir Traveling to Infinity: My Life With Stephen.
Eric Serra to Score Luc Besson’s ‘Lucy’
Eric Serra is reuniting with director Luc Besson on the upcoming sci-fi action thriller Lucy. The movie stars Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Choi Min-sik, Analeigh Tipton and Amr Waked. The film follows a female drug mule who gains superhuman powers after the drug she is carrying enters her body. Besson has also written the screenplay and is also producing the EuropaCorp, TF1 Film and Canal Plus production with Christophe Lambert (It Boy). Serra has scored most of Besson’s directorial efforts including Leon: The Professional, The Big Blue, La Femme Nikita, The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc and The Fifth Element.