Two new movies are opening nationwide this weekend:
Opening in most theaters is the action thriller White House Down directed by Roland Emmerich and starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jason Clarke, James Woods, Richard Jenkins, Joey King and Rachelle Lefevre. The film’s music is composed by Thomas Wander and Harald Kloser (2012, 10’000 B.C., The Day After Tomorrow). A soundtrack album featuring the composers’ music was released digitally today and will be coming out on CD on July 23. To listen to audio clips and for the full album details, check out our soundtrack announcement.
Also opening wide is the buddy cop comedy The Heat directed by Paul Feig and starring Sandra Bullock, Melissa McCarthy, Demian Bichir, Marlon Wayans and Michael Rapaport. Lakeshore Records has released a soundtrack album earlier this week featuring the songs from the film by artists including LCD Soundsytem, Santigold, Kimbra, The Isley Brothers, Angel Haze, Parliament, Azealia Banks, Ted Nugent, Boston and Kreayshawn. For audio clips and the full track list, check out our previous article. The film’s original score is composed by Mike Andrews (Bridesmaids, Bad Teacher). No word yet on a score release. Read the rest of this entry »
Nonesuch Records has announced a soundtrack release for the Coen Brothers’ upcoming drama Inside Llewyn Davis. The album features 12 new recordings made especially for the film performed by the movie’s cast plus an existing recording by Dave Van Ronk. Also featured is a never-before-released version of the song Farewell by Bob Dylan. T Bone Burnett produced the soundtrack with the Coen Brothers. Inside Llewyn Davis is directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, produced by Scott Rudin and the Coens and stars Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, John Goodman, Garrett Hedlund and Justin Timberlake. The film, which follows a week in the life of a young folk singer as he navigates the Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last month to rave reviews and is set to be released in the US on December 6, 2013 by CBS Films. 
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited 276 artists and executives who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures to join the organization. Among the invited artists this year are a number of film composers including Ramin Djawadi whose credits include Iron Man, Clash of the Titans, Safe House and the upcoming Pacific Rim, Cliff Martinez whose film projects include Contagion, Drive and Best Picture nominee Traffic, Joe Hisaishi who scored the Academy Award-winning animated film Spirited Away, Aaron Zigman who is best known for his work on such films as The Notebook, Sex and the City and Bridge to Terabithia, Henry Jackman who scored this year’s Best Animated Film nominee Wreck-It-Ralph and J. Ralph who was nominated for Best Original Song this year for his work on Chasing Ice. In addition, Prince whose work for film includes Purple Rain and Happy Feet was also invited, as well as Siedah Garrett who performed last year’s Oscar nominated song Real in Rio from Rio. 
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. 
A soundtrack album for ABC’s critically acclaimed series Last Resort will be released next week. The album features selections from the show’s original score composed by Robert Duncan (Castle, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Unit). The soundtrack is set to be released digitally on iTunes next Tuesday, July 2, 2013. Check out 
Audio clips from the soundtrack album of James Wan’s horror thriller The Conjuring have surfaced online. The album features the film’s original score composed by Joseph Bishara who previously scored Wan’s Insidious, as well as the movie’s “family theme” composed by Mark Isham (Crash, 42, Once Upon a Time). The soundtrack will be released digitally on July 16, 2013 by WaterTower Music and physically on the same day by La-La Land Records. Visit 
Michael Giacchino has been hired to score Disney/Pixar’s upcoming Halloween TV special Toy Story of Terror. The animated short is directed by Angus MacLane (Small Fry) and follows the Toy Story gang on a trip to a roadside motel. When one of the toys goes missing, the others find themselves caught up in a mysterious sequence of events. The special features the voice talent from the Toy Story features, including Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, Timothy Dalton, Kristen Schaal and Carl Weathers. Galyn Susman (Hawaiian Vacation) is producing the project. Giacchino has previously scored the features The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Up and Cars 2, as well as the shorts One Man Band, Lifted, Partly Cloudy, Day & Night and La luna for Pixar Animation Studios. 
Danny Elfman was honored with a Saturn Award tonight at the 39th annual Saturn Awards, presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. The composer won the award in the Best Music category for his score for Tim Burton’s animated feature Frankenweenie, which was also recognized in the Best Animated Film category. The other nominated composers were Mychael Danna (Life of Pi), Dario Marianelli (Anna Karenina), Thomas Newman (Skyfall), Howard Shore (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey) and Hans Zimmer (The Dark Knight Rises). For the full list of winners, visit 
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers has published a number of video clips from the organization’s ASCAP Film & Television Music Awards gala, which was held last week at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA. Check out the acceptance speeches of Patrick Doyle (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Sense and Sensibility) who was honored with the Henry Mancini Award and Ray Charles (Three’s Company) who received the ASCAP Foundation Life in Music Award after the jump. Also embedded below are three of the night’s musical performances by Alan Bergman who performed the song The Way We Were in memory of Marvin Hamlisch featuring Brian Byrne on piano, Tom Lowe who performed Empty Chairs and Empty Tables from Les Miserables and Graham Parker who performed the song What Do You Like? from Judd Apatow’s This Is 40. 
Varese Sarabande has announced the details of the soundtrack album for Roland Emmerich’s action thriller White House Down. The album features the film’s original score composed by Thomas Wander and Harald Kloser (2012, 10’000 B.C., The Day After Tomorrow). Also included is the song Chevy Knights (Mickey & Mallory) performed by He Met Her. The soundtrack will be released digitally on June 28, 2013. A CD version will be released on July 23 and is now available for pre-order on 