Two new movies are opening wide this weekend:
Opening in most theaters is the fantasy epic The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug directed by Peter Jackson and starring Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Christopher Lee, Hugo Weaving, Evangeline Lilly, John Bell and Jed Brophy. The film’s original music is composed by Howard Shore. WaterTower Music has released the composer’s score in two different versions. For the full details of both the regular and deluxe edition, visit our previous article. Included on both versions is the end credits song I See Fire written and performed by Ed Sheera. Click here to listen to audio clips from the soundtrack.
Also opening wide is the comedy Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas written, directed and produced by Perry who also stars in the film alongside Chad Michael Murray, Larry the Cable Guy, Kathy Najimy, Eric Lively, Alicia Witt, Lisa Whelchel, JR Lemon and Noah Urrea. Christopher Young (Spider-Man 3, The Shipping News) who also scored Perry’s upcoming Single Moms Club has composed the film’s original music. Lionsgate and Motown Records have released a soundtrack album featuring the film’s songs by artists including including Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Stevie Wonder, Mariah Carey, James Brown, the Jackson 5, Boyz II Men & Brian McKnight and Ashanti. For the full album details, check out our soundtrack announcement. Read the rest of this entry »
Ryan Bingham is set to score the indie comedy drama A Country Called Home. Anna Axster will direct the movie, which follows a jaded young woman who finds her world unexpectedly shaken by the news of her estranged father’s death, which sets her off on a journey that starts in a small Texas town to redefine her path in life. Imogen Poots has already been cast and more actors are expected to be announced soon. Nicolas Gonda (The Tree of Life, To the Wonder) is producing the project. Axster has previously directed all of Bingham’s music videos. The singer/songwriter’s best known work film is the song The Weary Kind from Crazy Heart, which he co-wrote with T Bone Burnett and for which he received an Academy Award nomination. He also composed the title song for the FX series The Bridge. 
Will Bates, the founder of the film composition and audio post collective Fall On Your Sword, and Phil Mossman are reteaming with director Mike Cahill on the upcoming indie sci-fi drama I, Origins. The film is written and directed by Cahill and stars Michael Pitt, Brit Marling, Astrid Bergès-Frisbey, Steven Yeun and Archie Panjabi. The movie follows a molecular biologist and his lab partner who uncover startling evidence that may fundamentally change society as we know it and cause them to question their once-certain beliefs in science and spirituality. Cahill is also producing the project with Hunter Gray (Terri) and Alex Orlovsky (Blue Valentine, The Place Beyond the Pines). 
The Academy of Motion Pictures Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the eligible movies in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 86th Academy Awards. Notable, but expected omissions include American Hustle (Danny Elfman), August: Osage County (Gustavo Santaolalla), Frozen (Christophe Beck) and Nebraska (Mark Orton). The 114 eligible scores along with the composer are listed below in alphabetical order by film title:
Marcelo Zarvos has been tapped to score the upcoming indie drama Little Accidents. The film is written and directed by Sara Colangelo and stars Elizabeth Banks, Boyd Holbrook, Chloë Sevigny, Jacob Lofland and Josh Lucas. The movie based on the short film of the same name, which premiered at Sundance in 2010 is set in a small American coal-mining town left devastated by a mining accident that killed 12 men and follows the lives of three very different inhabitants – the lone survivor, a mourning mother and 14 year-old boy – who become inexplicably tangled in a web of secrets. Anne Carey (The American, Adventureland, The Savages) is producing the project with Jason Michael Berman (Seven Days in Utopia, LUV) and Thomas B. Fore. 
Benjamin Gibbard is composing the music for the upcoming indie comedy Laggies. The film is directed by Lynn Shelton and stars Keira Knightley, Chloë Grace Moretz, Sam Rockwell, Ellie Kemper, Jeff Garlin and Mark Webber. The movie centers on a woman who is stuck in permanent adolescence and lies to her fiance about going on a retreat and instead hangs out with friends. Andrea Seigel has written the screenplay. Steve Golin (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Babel), Alix Madigan (Winter’s Tale, Girl Most Likely), Rosalie Swedlin (Red Corner) and Myles Nestel are producing the Anonymous Content production. Gibbard is best known as the lead singer of the indie rock bands Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service. The project marks his first major narrative feature film scoring feature assignment. 
Nima Fakhrara has been hired to score the upcoming sci-fi thriller The Signal. The film is directed by William Eubank and stars Laurence Fishburne, Brenton Thwaites, Olivia Cooke, Sarah Clarke, Beau Knapp, Lin Shaye and Robert Longstreet.. The movie follows three college students who become the targets of a rival computer hacker and are being lured to an abandoned shack in the middle of the desert. Eubank has also co-written the screenplay with Carlyle Eubank and David Frigerio. Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Sinister) is producing the project for Automatik Entertainment and Tyler Davidson (Take Shelter, The Kings of Summer) is producing for Low Sparks Films. 
The nominations for the 71st Golden Globe Awards were announced this morning. Here are the music-related categories and nominations:
Back Lot Music will release a soundtrack album for the musical episode of the USA series Psych. The album features the songs and score from the episode. The songs are performed by the show’s cast including James Roday, Dulé Hill, Anthony Rapp, Ally Sheedy, Barry Bostwick, Brooke Lyons, Jimmi Simpson and Kurt Fuller and composed by the series’ creator/executive producer Steve Franks and Adam Cohen and were recorded in part on the Sinatra stage at Capital Records in Los Angeles. The soundtrack will be released digitally on December 16, 2013 and is now available for pre-order on 
Joel McNeely is currently recording his orchestral score for Disney’s animated movie The Pirate Fairy. The film marks the fifth installment in the Tinker Bell series and features the voices of Mae Whitman who will reprise her titular role, as well as Christina Hendricks who is lending her voice to a new fairy named Zarina and Tom Hiddlestone who plays a young James Hook. Peggy Holmes (The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning) is directing the Disney Toon Studios production. McNeely has previously scored all films in the Tinker Bell series, as well as Return to Never Land, which was also based on the characters from J.M. Barries’ Peter Pan. The Pirate Fairy will be released in the U.S. on Blu-ray and DVD on April 1, 2014. The movie will also receive a theatrical release in numerous European territories in early 2014. 