Randy Edelman has been tapped to score the upcoming family comedy A Friggin’ Christmas Miracle. The film is directed by Tristram Shapeero (Community) and stars Joel McHale, Lauren Graham, Robin Williams, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Clark Duke and Candice Bergen. The movie follows a family man who takes his wifeand son to visit his family for Christmas. When they arrive, he realizes he’s left his son’s presents at home. Phil Johnston (Cedar Rapids, Wreck-It-Ralph) has written the screenplay. Tom Rice (The Way Way Back) is producing the project for Sycamore Pictures, alongside Joe and Anthony Russo (You, Me and Dupree, Captain America: The Winter Soldier).
Category: Film Scoring Assignments
Jan A.P. Kaczmarek to Score ‘Später im Sommer’
Academy Award-winning composer Jan A.P. Kaczmarek revealed in a recent interview with Hitfix that he is set to score the upcoming German drama Später im Sommer. The film is written and directed by Feo Aladag (When We Leave) and centers on the friendship between a German soldier and an Afghan translator who are fighting side by side in Afghanistan. Ronald Zehrfeld, Felix Kramer, Roman Rien, Pit Bukowski, Tobais Schönenberg and Burghart Klaussner are starring in the movie, which is produced by Independent Artists Filmproduktion, ZDF, ARTE and Geißendörfer Film- und Fernsehproduktion. Aladag’s previous Tribeca Film Award-winning movie When We Leave featured a score by Max Richter and Stephane Moucha.
Christophe Beck to Score ‘Muppets Most Wanted’
The first teaser trailer for Walt Disney Pictures’ Muppets Most Wanted confirms that composer Christophe Beck who scored 2011’s reboot of The Muppets will return to provide the music for the sequel. The film is directed by James Bobin who also helmed the original film and stars Ricky Gervais, Ty Burrell and Tina Fey. The movie follows Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Walter and rest of the Muppets as they travel to Europe and find themselves unwittingly entangled in an international crime caper headed by Constantine – the World’s Number One Criminal – and his sidekick Dominic, aka Number Two. Bobin has also co-written the screenplay with Nicholas Stoller (Get Him to the Greek, Forgetting Sarah Marshall). David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman (The Proposal, The Fighter) are producing the Mandeville Films production.
Paul Leonard-Morgan to Score ‘Walking with Dinosaurs 3D’
Paul Leonard-Morgan has taken over scoring duties on the upcoming family action adventure Walking with Dinosaurs 3D. The movie is helmed by Neil Nightingale & Barry Cook (Mulan, Arthur Christmas) and follows two brothers looking to follow in their father’s footsteps, which leads them to a showdown with dinosaurs in the Arctic. John Collee (Happy Feet, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World) and Theodore Thomas have co-written the screenplay. Mike Devlin, Amanda Hill and Deepak Nayar (Bend It Like Beckham, Lost Highway) are producing the BBC Earth, Evergreen Films and Reliance Big Entertainment production. Leonard-Morgan has previously scored the comic book adaptation Dredd for Reliance Big Entertainment.
Daniel Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans Scoring Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Enemy’
Daniel Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans have composed the score for the upcoming indie thriller Enemy. The film is directed by Denis Villeneuve (Incendies, the upcoming Prisoners) and stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon and Isabella Rossellini. The movie is based on the novel The Double by José Saramago and follows a dysfunctional history teacher who accidentally discovers his exact double on a rented DVD, seeks him out and ends up turning both of their lives upside down. Javier Gullón has adapted the material for the screen and Niv Fichman (Blindness, The Red Violin, Last Night), Miguel A. Faura and Luc Déry (Monsieur Lazhar) are producing the project.
Spike Jonze’s ‘Her’ to Feature Music by Arcade Fire
The Grammy-winning indie rock band Arcade Fire is writing the music for Spike Jonze’s upcoming sci-fi romance Her. The film written and directed by Jonze stars Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, Chris Pratt and Scarlett Johansson. The movie is set in future Los Angeles and follows a complex, soulful man who makes his living writing touching, personal letters for other people and falls in love with a new, advanced operating system designed to grant the user’s every command. Jonze is also producing the Annapurna Pictures production with Vincent Landay and Megan Ellison (Zero Dark Thirty, The Master). The director’s previous major features Where the Wild Things Are, Adaptation and Being John Malkovich were scored by Carter Burwell. Jonze has previously collaborated with Arcade Fire on the short film Scenes from the Suburbs. The band also re-recorded the hit song Wake Up for the Where the Wild Things Are trailer.
John Williams to Score ‘The Book Thief’
John Williams is currently scoring the upcoming drama The Book Thief. The film is directed by Brian Percival (Downton Abbey) and stars Geoffrey Rush, Emily Watson and Sophie Nelisse. The movie based on Markus Zusack’s best-selling novel is set in Germany during World War II and follows a girl who finds solace from the horrors around her by stealing books and sharing them with others while her adoptive parents are sheltering a Jewish refugee under the stairs of her home. Michael Petroni (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The Rite) has adapted the material for the screen. Karen Rosenfelt (The Twilight Saga, Marley & Me) and Ken Blancato are producing the Fox 2000 and Studio Babelsberg production. The Book Thief marks Williams’ first scoring assignment for another director than Steven Spielberg since 2005.
Manuel Riveiro Scoring Eli Roth’s ‘The Green Inferno’
Last week, Manuel Riveiro has recorded his score for the upcoming horror thriller The Green Inferno. The film is directed by Eli Roth and stars Lorenza Izzo, Ariel Levy, Daryl Sabara, Kirby Bliss Blanton, Aaron Burns, Magda Apanowicz and Sky Ferreria. The movie is said to be a homage to the Italian cannibal movies of the late 70s and early 80s and follows a naive group of student activists from New York City who travel to the remote jungles of Peru, where they plan to stage a protest, but instead encounter a tribe of cannibals. Roth has co-written the screenplay with Guillermo Amoedo and is also producing the project with Christopher Woodrow & Molly Conners (The Immigrant, Devil’s Knot) for Worldview Entertainment, as well as Miguel Asensio Llamas & Nicolás Lopez for Sobras International. Riveiro’s music is being recorded .
Tyler Bates Scoring Ti West’s ‘The Sacrament’
Tyler Bates is composing the music for the upcoming horror thriller The Sacrament. The film is written and directed by Ti West (The House of the Devil, The Innkeepers) and stars Joe Swanberg, AJ Bowen, Kentucker Audley, Amy Seimetz and Gene Jones. The movie follows two Vice media correspondents as they set out to document their friend’s search to find his missing sister. Eli Roth (Hostel, Cabin Fever) is producing the Worldview Entertainment and Arcade Pictures production with Jacob Jaffke (Sleepwalk with Me), Peter Phok (Stake Land), Christopher Woodrow & Molly Conners (The Immigrant, Blood Ties). Bates has previously scored Worldview’s Killer Joe directed by William Friedkin.
The Newton Brothers Scoring ‘Life of Crime’
The Newton Brothers are scoring the upcoming crime thriller Life of Crime. The film is directed by Daniel Schechter (Supporting Characters) and stars Jennifer Aniston, John Hawkes, Yasiin Bey (aka Mos Def), Isla Fisher, Will Forte, Mark Boone Junior and Tim Robbins. The film based on the novel The Switch by Elmore Leonard (Out of Sight, Get Shorty) serves as a prequel to Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown with Hawkes and Bey playing younger versions of Robert De Niro and Samuel L. Jackson’s characters Louis Gara and Ordell Robbie. The comedy follows the duo as they plan to kidnap a corrupt real estate developer’s wife. Leonard is producing the project with Ellen Goldsmith-Vein (The Spiderwick Chronicles) and Lee Stollman (Abduction), Liz Destro & Jordan Kessler (About Cherry) and Michael Siegel.