Rael Jones (My Cousin Rachel, Harlots, Kids in Love) has recently scored the upcoming BBC series The Salisbury Poisonings. The show is written by Adam Patterson & Declan Lawn and stars Anne-Marie Duff, Rafe Spall, MyAnna Buring, Johnny Harris, Annabel Scholey, Mark Addy, Stella Gonet and Ron Cook. The 3-part drama centers the 2018 Novichok poisonings in Salisbury and tells the story of how ordinary people reacted to a crisis on their doorstep, displaying extraordinary heroism. Saul Dibb (The Duchess, Journey’s End) has directed all episodes.  Read the rest of this entry »

5 Cat Studios has released a new album featuring piano solos from DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon: A Hidden World directed by Dean DeBlois and starring Jay Baruchel, America Ferrera, Cate Blanchett, Kit Harrington, Craig Ferguson and F. Murray Abraham. The album features nine tracks from John Powell‘s original score that were newly arranged and are performed by Batu Sener who provided additional music to the third installment in the How to Train Your Dragon series and collaborated with Powell on numerous other scores. The soundtrack is now available to stream/download on Apple Music/iTunes, where you can also check out audio samples. Back Lot Music has released the original soundtrack album for How to Train Your Dragon: A Hidden World last year. Read the rest of this entry »

Carter Burwell is set to compose the original music for the upcoming film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth. The film marks Joel Coen’s first solo directorial effort and stars Denzel Washington in the title role, Frances McDormand as Lady Macbeth, as well as Brendan Gleeson, Corey Hawkins, Ralph Ineson, Moses Ingram and Harry Melling. The movie follows a Scottish lord who becomes convinced by a trio of witches that he is destined to become king of Scotland and goes to extreme and violent lengths to seize the crown. Coen also wrote the screenplay. Scott Rudin (The Social Network, No Country for Old Men, The Grand Budapest Hotel) is producing the A24 production. Read the rest of this entry »

Lennie Niehaus (1929 – 2020)

Posted: June 1, 2020 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music News
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Lennie Niehaus has passed away at age 90 at his daughter’s home in Redlands, California. The composer was best known for his collaborations with Clint Eastwood and has composed the score for numerous movies directed by the filmmaker, including the Academy Award-winning western Unforgiven, as well as The Bridges of Madison County, Space Cowboys, Pale Rider, A Perfect World, Heartbreak Ridge, The Rookie, Absolute Power and True Crime. His other film scoring credits include Richard Benjamin’s City Heat, Richard Tuggle’s Tightrope and Ken Kwapis’ Follow That Bird. Niehaus received a BAFTA nomination for his music for Eastwood’s Bird and was also honored with two Primetime Emmy Awards nominations and received the prize in 1994 for the Showtime movie Lush Life. Read the rest of this entry »

Premiering in the U.S. tonight is the British mini-series Quiz directed by Stephen Frears, written by James Graham and stars Matthew Macfadyen, Michael Sheen, Sian Clifford, Mark Bonnar, Helen McCrory, Michael Jibson and Aisling Bea. The show’s original music is composed by Murray Gold (Doctor WhoGentleman JackTorchwoodYears and Years). Check out our scoring assignment announcement to learn more about the 3-parter, which premiered in the UK earlier this year on ITV and is making its domestic premiere on AMC. Also visit the official show website for more information.

Premiering on Friday, June 5, is the Apple TV+ docu-series Dear… executive produced by R.J. Cutler, Todd Lubin, Jay Peterson, Jane Cha and Lyle Gamm. Craig Richey (Friends with Money, Lovely & Amazing, The September Issue, Girl on a Bicycle) is composing the show’s original music. The series, which takes an inventive approach to biographies of the most iconic figures in society today by using letters written by those whose lives have been changed through their work and profiles internationally recognized leaders including Oprah Winfrey, Gloria Steinem, Spike Lee, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Stevie Wonder & others will be available to stream exclusively on Apple TV+. Read the rest of this entry »

Republic Records has announced a soundtrack album for the Quibi original series Royalties. The album features the original songs from the show co-written by the show’s star and writer/producer Darren Criss. The first three songs, Just That Good (feat. Rufus Wainwright), Kick Your Shoes Off (feat. Bonnie McKee) and Break It In (feat. Lil Rel Howery & KingJet), from the first episodes premiering tomorrow are already available to stream/download now. The full soundtrack will be released following the finale on July 3, 2020 and will be available to stream/download on Amazon. Royalties is created by Criss who also stars in the show, alongside Kether Donohue. The musical comedy follows a ragtag songwriting duo as they navigate the strange and hilarious challenges of creating great songs for insane artists. Other stars appearing include Mark Hamill, Julianne Hough, Jennifer Coolidge, Sabrina Carpenter, Jordan Fisher and Jackie Tohn. Read the rest of this entry »

Mario Grigorov (PreciousThe PaperboyShadowdancer) is scoring the upcoming British horror thriller Lair. The film is written and directed by Adam Ethan Crow and stars John Hannah, Corey Johnson, Oded Fehr, Katarina Cas, Julian Kostov, Alexandra Gilbreath and Jen Brister. The movie follows a fractured family forced to face their demons as they unwittingly become embroiled in a man’s attempt to prove the existence of the supernatural in order to overturn a friend’s murder conviction. Shelley Atkin is producing the Ditto Films production. Read the rest of this entry »

Lionsgate Records has released a new soundtrack EP for the Starz original series Vida. The 4-track EP features songs from the show’s third and final season performed by Angelica Garcia and Las Vergas. The soundtrack is now available to stream and download on Amazon, where you can also check out audio samples. Lakeshore Records has previously released a full soundtrack album featuring songs from the drama’s first seasons. Vida is created by Tanya Saracho and stars Melissa Barrera, Mishel Prada, Ser Anzoategui, Chelsea Rendon, Carlos Miranda, Roberta Colindrez and Maria Elena Laas. Read the rest of this entry »

Opening in select theaters and on VOD today is the musical comedy drama The High Note directed by Nisha Ganatra and stars Dakota Johnson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Kelvin Harrison Jr,  Ross, Harrison Jr., Ice Cube, Zoe Chao, Eddie Izzard, Bill Pullman and Diplo. The film’s original score is composed by Amie Doherty (Undone, Battle at Big Rock, Here and Now, Marooned). Republic Records has released a soundtrack album featuring the songs from the movie performed by Ross & Harrison Jr., as well as Donny Hathaway, Maxine Brown, Aretha Franklin and Anthony Ramos. Click here for the full album details and to learn more about the Focus Features release.

Also opening in select drive-in theaters and on Amazon Prime today is the sci-fi drama The Vast of Night directed by Andrew Patterson and starring Sierra McCormick and Jake Horowitz. Jared Bulmer and Erick Alexander have composed the film’s original music. No word on a soundtrack release. The movie is set in the 1950s in New Mexico, and follows a young switchboard operator and a charismatic radio DJ as they discover a strange audio frequency that could change their small town and the future forever. The drama premiered at last year’s Slamdance Film Festival and was picked up by Amazon Studios. Read the rest of this entry »

WaterTower Music has released a new soundtrack album for the Cartoon Network animated series Steven Universe. The album features selections of the original score from the show’s first season composed by Aivi & Surasshu (aka Aivi Tran & Steven “Surasshu” Velema). The soundtrack is now available to stream/download on Amazon, where you can also listen to audio samples. The album marks the first of five new albums featuring the score from all five seasons of the show, which will be released over the next couple of months. Cartoon Network & WaterTower Music have previously released two soundtracks featuring the songs from the show, as well as an album featuring the composers’ score from Steven Universe: The Movie. Read the rest of this entry »