Rupert Gregson-Williams is reuniting with director Frank Coraci on the upcoming romantic comedy Blended. The film stars Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore as a couple who, after disastrous blind date, are stuck together in a family resort with their children from previous marriages. Bella Thorne, Chelsea Handler, Terry Crews, Kevin Nealon and Joel McHale are co-starring. Ivan Menchell and Clare Sera wrote the screenplay. Sandler is producing the comedy with Jack Giarraputo (50 First Dates, Grown Ups) through his production company Happy Madison Productions, alongside Mike Karz (Valentine’s Day, Killers, Good Luck Chuck). Coraci and Gregson-Williams have previously collaborated on the features Click, Zookeeper and last year’s Here Comes the Boom.
Category: Film Scoring Assignments
Alexandre Desplat to Score ‘Suite Française’
Alexandre Desplat is set to score the upcoming World War II drama Suite Française. The film is directed by Saul Dibb (The Duchess) and stars Michelle Williams, Matthias Schoenaerts, Kristin Scott Thomas, Sam Riley, Ruth Wilson, Margot Robbie, Alexandra Maria Lara, Tom Schilling and Lambert Wilson. The movie is based on the best-selling work of writer Irène Némirovsky and was adapted for the screen by Dibb and Matt Charman. The drama follows a young woman in Nazi-occupied France who ends up falling in love with a German officer. Xavier Marchand will serves as a producer for Entertainment One, alongside Romain Brémond for TF1 DA and Michael Kuhn (The Duchess) & Andrea Cornwell (Last Days on Mars) for Qwerty Films. Harvey Weinstein will serve as executive producer for The Weinstein Company alongside Christine Langan for BBC Films.
Marc Streitenfeld to Score ‘Things People Do’
Marc Streitenfeld has been tapped to score the upcoming crime drama Things People Do. The film marks the directorial debut of the Academy Award-nominated editor Saar Klein (The Thin Red Line, Almost Famous) and stars Wes Bentley, Vinessa Shaw, Haley Bennett and Jason Isaacs. The movie follows a family man who loses his job and embarks on a life of crime. He befriends a detective and a female stranger who shows him kindness, which inspires him to commit a crime in her honor. Klein has co-written the screenplay with Joe Conway (Undertow, Paradise, Texas). Sarah Green (The Tree of Life, Frida, Mud), Hans Graffunder and Christos V. Konstantakopoulos (Before Midnight) are producing the project. Doug Liman (The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith) is among the executive producers.
A.R. Rahman to Score ‘Million Dollar Arm’
A.R. Rahman has signed on to score the upcoming sports drama Million Dollar Arm. The film is directed by Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl, Fright Night) and stars Jon Hamm, Bill Paxton, Lake Bell, Suraj Sharma, Aasif Mandvi, Madhur Mittal, Pitobash and Alan Arkin. The movie is based on a true story of the real-life sports agent Jeff Bernstein who discovered professional pitchers Rinku Singh and Dinesh Patel through a reality show he staged in India with cricket players. Thomas McCarthy (The Visitor, Win Win, The Station Agent) wrote the screenplay. Joe Roth (Oz The Great and Powerful, Alice in Wonderland) is producing the Mayhem Pictures and Roth Films production with Mark Ciardi & Gordon Gray (Secretariat, Miracle, The Rookie).
Harry Gregson-Williams to Score ‘The Equalizer’
Harry Gregson-Williams has been hired to score the upcoming thriller The Equalizer. The film is directed by Antoine Fuqua (Training Day, Olympus Has Fallen, King Arthur) and stars Denzel Washington, Chloë Grace Moretz, Melissa Leo, David Meunier, Haley Bennett and Marton Csokas. The movie is based on the 1980s television show created by Michael Sloan and Richard Lindheim and follows a retired covert operative who is working at a Home Depot when one of his acts of kindness towards a prostitute gets him embroiled with the Russian mob. Richard Wenk (The Expendables 2, 16 Blocks) wrote the screenplay and Todd Black & Jason Blumenthal (The Pursuit of Happyness, Knowing) and Steve Tisch (Forrest Gump) are producing the project for Escape Artists, alongside Alex Siskin, Mace Neufeld, Tony Eldridge and original series creator Michael Sloan. Gregson-Williams has previously written the music for Fuqua’s feature directorial debut The Replacement Killers and has also scored Tony Scott’s The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3 for Escape Artists.
James Newton Howard Scoring ‘Parkland’
James Newton Howard is currently scoring the upcoming historical drama Parkland. The film is written and directed by Peter Landesman and stars Zac Efron, Marcia Gay Harden, Paul Giamatti, Billy Bob Thornton, Jeremy Strong, Jacki Weaver, Jackie Earle Haley, Colin Hanks and Ron Livingston. The film chronicles the events leading up to President John F. Kennedy’s assassination and is named for the Parkland Memorial Hospital where JFK was rushed on Nov. 22, 1963. Playtone’s Tom Hanks & Gary Goetzman (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, The Polar Express) and Exclusive Media’s Nigel Sinclair & Guy East (Let Me In, End of Watch) are producing the project with Bill Paxton. Newton Howard has previously scored Hanks’ directorial feature Larry Crowne and also has also written the music for Playtone’s Charlie Wilson’s War. The composer’s music is being recorded this week at Abbey Road Studios in London.
Christophe Beck to Score ‘Runner, Runner’
Christophe Beck has taken over scoring duties on the upcoming thriller Runner, Runner. The film is directed by Brad Furman (The Lincoln Lawyer) and stars Justin Timberlake, Gemma Arterton, Ben Affleck, Anthony Mackie, Oliver Cooper, Michael Esper and Ben Schwartz. The movie centers on a young man who is cheated out of his tuition money playing online poker and flies to Costa Rica in the hope of reclaiming his losses from the site’s billionaire owner and ends up becoming the corrupt CEO’s right-hand man. Brian Koppelman & David Levien (Ocean’s Thirteen, Runaway Jury) co-wrote the screenplay and are also producing New Regency Pictures production with Leonardo DiCaprio & Jennifer Davisson Killoran (The Ides of March, Orphan) for Appian Way and Michael Shamberg & Stacey Sher (Django Unchained, Contagion) for Double Feature Films.
Ilan Eshkeri Takes Over Scoring Duties on ’47 Ronin’
Ilan Eshkeri has taken over scoring duties on the upcoming 3D martial arts fantasy adventure 47 Ronin. The movie is directed by Carl Rinsch and stars Keanu Reeves, as well as Japanese actors Hiroyuki Sanada, Tadanobu Asano, Rinko Kikuchi, and Kou Shibasaki. Chris Morgan (Fast Five) and Hossein Amini (Drive) have written the screenplay for the film, which follows the 47 Ronin, a band of samurai swordsmen who avenge the death of their master in 18th century Japan. Scott Stuber (Ted, Identity Thief), Eric McLeod (Mr. & Mrs. Smith) and Pamela Abdy (Garden State) are producing the project. Eshkeri is replacing Javier Navarrete (Pan’s Labyrinth, Wrath of the Titans) who was previously scoring the film. Atticus Ross (The Social Network) was originally attached to write the music for the project. Eshkeri has been recording his score over the last couple of days at Air Studios in London.
Brian Tyler to Score ‘Thor: The Dark World’
Brian Tyler has signed on to score Marvel Studios’ upcoming superhero sequel Thor: The Dark World. The film is directed by Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones) and stars Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano, Jaimie Alexander, Rene Russo and Anthony Hopkins. The movie takes place in the aftermath of The Avengers and follows Thor as he battles to save all the Nine Realms from a mysterious enemy older than the universe itself. Kevin Feige is producing the project for Marvel Studios. As previously reported, Carter Burwell was originally hired to score the film.
‘Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa’ to Feature Music by Ilan Eshkeri
According to the film’s first full trailer, Ilan Eshkeri is the composer of the upcoming British comedy Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa. The film is directed by Declan Lowne and and stars Steve Coogan in the title role, alongside Colm Meaney, Sean Pertwee, Anna Maxwell Martin, Nigel Lindsay, Felicity Montagu, Simon Greenall and Phil Cornwell. The movie follows the fictional radio and television presenter as he tries to salvage his public career while negotiating a potentially violent turn of events at North Norfolk Digital Radio. Coogan co-wrote the screenplay with Peter Baynham (Borat, Hotel Transylvania), Armando Iannucci (In the Loop, Veep), Neil and Rob Gibbons co-wrote the screenplay and Kevin Loader (Hyde Park on Hudson, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin) and Henry Normal are producing the project.