Two new movies are opening wide this weekend:

Opening in most theaters is the sci-fi comedy The Watch directed by Akiva Schaffer and starring Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, Jonah Hill, Rosemarie Dewitt and Richard Ayoade. The film’s music is composed by Christophe Beck. No soundtrack album has been released. To find out more about the project and to check out the film’s trailer, visit our previous news article.

Also opening wide is the dance movie Step Up Revolution directed by Scott Speer and starring Kathryn McCormick, Ryan Guzman and Stephen Boss. Aaron Zigman has composed the film’s score. Interscope Records has released a soundtrack including the songs featured in the movie by artists including Travis Parker, Timbaland, Fergie, Jennifer Lopez, M.I.A., Far East Movement, Sohanny and Vein, Diplo and My Name is Kay. For audio clips and the full album details, visit our soundtrack announcement. Read the rest of this entry »

Theodore Shapiro has signed on to score the upcoming fantasy comedy The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. The film is directed by Ben Stiller and stars himself, Kristen Wiig, Shirley MacLaine, Patton Oswalt and Kathryn Hahn. The movie is remake of the 1947 movie directed by Danny Kaye and based on the James Thurber short story and has been adapted by Steven Conrad (The Weather Man, The Pursuit of Happyness). The comedy follows a timid magazine photo manager who daydreams of exciting adventures, only to find himself in an adventure of his own when he goes in search of a missing negative. Stiller is also producing the project with Stuart Cornfeld (Dodgeball, Blades of Glory), as well as John Goldwyn (Dexter I’m Not There) and Samuel Goldwyn Jr. (Master and Commander). Read the rest of this entry »

John Williams on NBC’s Rock Center

Posted: July 27, 2012 by filmmusicreporter in Composer Interviews
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Last night, NBC’s Rock Center with Brian Williams featured a segment on composer John Williams. During the interview, the composer who turned 80 earlier this year talks about his composing methods and his own favorite scores for director Steven Spielberg. Williams also performs NBC’s The Mission news theme on the piano. Check out a 4-minute version from the segment, which was published on NBCNews.com after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

Michael Giacchino was honored with a Saturn Award tonight at the 38th 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 last year’s Super 8, which also received awards for director J.J. Abrams and actor Joel Courtney in the Best Performance by a Younger Actor category. Giacchino was also nominated for his music for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol. The other nominated composers were Howard Shore (Hugo), Alan Silvestri (Captain America: The First Avenger) and John Williams (The Adventures of Tintin, War Horse). For the full list of winners, visit Variety.

Strangefolk Records will be releasing a soundrack album for the British comedy A Fantastic Fear of Everything. The album features the films main theme composed by Michael Price (BBC’s Sherlock), dialogue/music clips featuring the movie’s cast, as well as the songs from the film including The Pretty Things’ I See You and Europe’s The Final Countdown. The soundtrack will be released in the UK on July 30, 2012 and is available for pre-order as an import on Amazon. No word yet on a domestic release. A Fantastic Fear of Everything is directed by Crispian Mills and Hopewell and stars Simon Pegg as a children’s author turned crime novelist whose research into the lives of Victorian serial killers turns him into a paranoid wreck. Read the rest of this entry »

Javier Navarrete is the composer of the upcoming supernatural drama Byzantium. The film is directed by Neil Jordan and stars Saoirse Ronan and Gemma Arterton as two female vampires who wreak havoc on an unsuspecting English seaside community. Sam Riley, Jonny Lee Miller and Caleb Landry Jones are co-starring. Moira Buffini (Jane Eyre, Tamara Drewe) has written the movie’s screenplay based on her own play. Stephen Woolley (Interview with the Vampire, The Crying Game) and Elizabeth Karlsen (Made in Dagenheim) are producing the Number 9 Films production. Jordan has previously collaborated with composers including Elliot Goldenthal (Interview with the Vampire, Michael Collins), Michael Nyman (The End of the Affair), Anne Dudley (The Crying Game) and Dario Marianelli (The Brave One). Read the rest of this entry »

Variety is reporting that Quincy Jones has signed on to score the drama The Butler. The film is directed by Lee Daniels and stars Forest Whitaker as Eugene Allen, a White House employee who served eight First Families over the course of three decades. Oprah Winfrey, David Oyelowo, Ami Ameen, Alan Rickman, James Marsden, Jane Fonda and Robin Williams who plays President Dwight Eisenhower are co-starring in the film written by Daniels and Danny Strong (Recount) based on Wil Haygood’s Washington Post article about Allen. Daniels is also producing the drama with Hilary Shor (Children of Men), Cassian Elwes and Pam Williams for Laura Zisken Productions. The film marks the first scoring assignment of the multiple Academy Award-nominated composer (The Color Purple, The Wiz) in several years. Daniels’ last two films Precious and The Paperboy featured scores by Mario Grigorov. The Butler is currently being shot in New Orleans and is expected to be released in 2013.

Walt Disney Records will be releasing the official soundtrack album for Tim Burton’s upcoming stop-motion animated feature Frankenweenie. The album features the film’s music composed by Danny Elfman. The soundtrack will be released on September 25, 2012 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. The full album details are expected to be announced in a couple of weeks. Frankenweenie based on Burton’s 1984 short film about a pet dog brought back to life by his loyal owner after it is struck by a car features the voice talent of Catherine O’Hara, Martin Short and Winona Ryder and will be released in theaters on October 5, 2012. Read the rest of this entry »

Jan A.P. Kaczmarek is scoring the upcoming indie mystery drama The Time Being. The film is written and directed by Nenad Cicin-Sain and stars Wes Bentley, Frank Langella, Ahna O’Reilly, Sarah Paulson and Corey Stoll. The movie follows young artist who accepts a series of bizarre commissions from an eccentric, dying millionaire who may be trying to either help further his career or destroy his life. Richard N. Gladstein (The Bourne Identity) who previously worked with Kaczmarek on the Oscar-nominated drama Finding Neverland starring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet is producing the FilmColony production. Read the rest of this entry »

‘ParaNorman’ Soundtrack Details

Posted: July 24, 2012 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music Albums
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The details of the soundtrack album for the stop-motion animated film ParaNorman have been revealed. The album features the film’s original music composed by Jon Brion (Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, Magnolia). The soundtrack will be released on August 14, 2012 by Relativity Music Group and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Audio clips can be checked out below. ParaNorman directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler follows a boy who is the only person in a small town that has the abilities to prevent an attack from zombies. The film’s voice cast includes Kodi Smit-McPhee, Casey Affleck, Tempestt Bledsoe, Jeff Garlin, John Goodman, Bernard Hill, Anna Kendrick, Leslie Mann and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. Read the rest of this entry »