Film Music Reporter

Weekly Film Music Roundup (January 28, 2011)

Posted: January 28, 2011 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music Albums, Film Music News
Tags: Alex Heffes, Biutiful, From Prada to Nada, Gustavo Santaolalla, Heitor Pereira, Mark Isham, score, Soundtrack, The Mechanic, The Rite

Two new movies are opening in wide release this weekend:

The Rite directed by Mikael Hafstrom and starring Anthony Hopkins, Colin O’Donoghue and Alice Braga features music by Alex Heffes. A soundtrack album has been released digitally on Silva Screen Records and will be available as a physical CD in February. Check out our previous article on the announcement.

Also coming out is Simon West’s The Mechanic starring Jason Statham and Ben Foster. The film is scored by Mark Isham. A soundtrack has been released in three different versions on Isham’ own label MIM Records. The Assassin’s Edition is a six track EP of selections from the score (visit Amazon or iTunes to download and listen to clips from the album). The Complete Collector’s Edition features the complete underscore that includes bonus tracks not used in the film (visit Amazon or iTunes). Read the rest of this entry »

Mark Mothersbaugh to score ‘Hotel Transylvania’

Posted: January 27, 2011 by filmmusicreporter in Film Scoring Assignments
Tags: Born to be Wild, Hotel Transylvania, Mark Mothersbaugh, Private Perez, Sony Pictures Animation

Film Music Reporter has learned that Mark Mothersbaugh has been tapped to score the upcoming animation Hotel Transylvania. The movie centers around a group of monsters including Frankenstein, the Mummy, Dracula, and the Werewolf who are hiding out in a hotel on the outskirts of Transylvania now that modern technology has made them seemingly irrelevant. The film is produced by Sony Pictures Animation, the studio behind 2009’s hit film Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs which was scored by Mothersbaugh and also has Arthur Christmas (with music by Michael Giacchino) coming out later this year. Hotel Transylvania is helmed by Jill Culton who directed the 2006 animation Open Season which featured a score by Ramin Djawadi who was originally slated to score his new movie. Read the rest of this entry »

David Sardy scoring ‘Premium Rush’

Posted: January 27, 2011 by filmmusicreporter in Film Scoring Assignments
Tags: David Koepp, David Sardy, Premium Rush

According to the Gorfaine/Schwartz agency, David Sardy is attached to score the upcoming action thriller Premium Rush. The movie centers around a New York City bike messenger who picks up a package at Columbia University and subsequently catches the attention of a dirty cop. The film stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jamie Chung and Michael Shannon and is co-written and directed by David Koepp. The writer/director previously worked with James Newton Howard on his first two directorial efforts The Trigger Effect and Stir of Echoes and more recently with Geoff Zanelli on Secret Window (alongside Philip Glass) and Ghost Town. Premium Rush is produced by Gavin Polone who worked with Sardy on 2009’s hit horror comedy Zombieland. Read the rest of this entry »

Rachel Portman to score ‘One Day’

Posted: January 26, 2011 by filmmusicreporter in Film Scoring Assignments
Tags: Lorne Scherfig, One Day, Rachel Portman

Film Music Reporter has learned that Rachel Portman has been hired to score the upcoming romance One Day. The movie centers around Dexter and Em, whose lives are revisited each year on the same date after spending the night together on the night of their college graduations. The film based on the bestselling novel by David Nicholls is directed by Lorne Scherfig, who directed 2009’s Oscar-nominated drama An Education. She previously worked with composer Paul Englishby and this marks her first collaboration with Portman. The romance stars Anne Hathaway, Jim Sturgess and Patricia Clarkson. Focus Features will release One Day on July 8, 2011. Read the rest of this entry »

Composers react to Academy Award nominations

Posted: January 25, 2011 by filmmusicreporter in Composer Interviews, Film Music News
Tags: 127 Hours, A.R. Rahman, Academy Awards, Alan Menken, Alexandre Desplat, Hans Zimmer, How To Train Your Dragon, Inception, John Powell, Nominations, Oscars, Randy Newman, Tangled, The King's Speech, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, Trent Reznor

Following the announcement of the nominations for this year’s Academy Awards, reactions from all nominated composers have appeared online.

John Powell on How to Train Your Dragon:

Visit Movieline for a short interview with Powell on his very first Oscar nomination and also check out Variety and The Hollywood Reporter for a short reaction from the composer.

Alexandre Desplat on The King’s Speech:

Check out a short quote in Variety and The Wrap on his fourth (and third consecutive) nomination for Tom Hooper’s movie which received the most nominations for any film today.

Hans Zimmer on Inception:

Check out this interview on Movieline for Zimmer’s reaction on his ninth nomination and the lack of nomination for Inception’s director Christopher Nolan. Read the rest of this entry »

New release of Jerry Goldsmith’s score for ‘Link’ announced

Posted: January 25, 2011 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music Albums
Tags: Cyril J. Mockridge, Jerry Goldsmith, Leigh Harline, Link, Lionel Newman, Marilyn Monroe, Niagara, River of No Return, Sol Kaplan

Intrada Records has announced a new limited edition release of Jerry Goldsmith’s score for the 1986 horror thriller Link directed by Richard Franklin and Terence Stamp, Elisabeth Shue and Steven Pinner. The album is a repressing from the original soundtrack that was released in 1986 and has been out of print for years. The soundtrack is limited to 2000 copies. Goldsmith’s score was recorded with the National Philharmonic Orchestra. To listen to audio clips and order the CD, click here. Read the rest of this entry »

James Horner scoring ‘Cristiada’

Posted: January 24, 2011 by filmmusicreporter in Film Scoring Assignments
Tags: Cristiada, James Horner

According to AsturScore, James Horner is scoring the upcoming historical drama Cristiada. Horner’s involvement has been confirmed to the site by the film’s production company NewLand Films and the assignment has also been reported on the film’s official Facebook page. The movie chronicles the Cristeros War (1926-1929), which was touched off by a rebellion against the Mexican government’s attempt to secularize the country. The film is directed by Dean Wright, who makes his directorial debut and has previously worked as a visual effects producer and supervisor on such movies as The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Return of the King, as well as the first two movies in The Chronicles of Narnia series. Cristiada stars Andy Garcia, Eva Longoria, Bruce Greenwood, Nestor Carbonell and Peter O’Toole. Read the rest of this entry »

Marc Shaiman to work on Steven Spielberg-produced TV musical show

Posted: January 22, 2011 by filmmusicreporter in Film Scoring Assignments
Tags: Marc Shaiman, Musical, Scott Wittman, Smash, Steven Spielberg

According to the Hollywood Reporter, the songwriting team of Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman (Hairspray) has been tapped to write original songs for the upcoming TV musical pilot Smash. The hourlong show for NBC follows characters who come together for the exhilarating ride of putting on a Broadway musical. Michael Meyer (American Idiot) is in negotiations to direct. The show will be executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Theresa Rebeck, Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey for Dreamworks TV. The show was originally developed at Showtime before NBC picked it up. Read the rest of this entry »

James Newton Howard confirmed to score ‘Green Lantern’

Posted: January 21, 2011 by filmmusicreporter in Film Scoring Assignments
Tags: Green Lantern, James Newton Howard, Martin Campbell

James Newton Howard’s name has been circulating online for a while as the composer for the upcoming comic book adaption of Green Lantern, but we finally have received confirmation that Newton Howard is indeed the composer on the movie. The film is directed by Martin Campbell, who previously worked with Newton Howard on the 2000 action adventure thriller Vertical Limit. He has also worked with such composers as James Horner (The Mask of Zorro, The Legend of Zorro, Beyond Borders) and David Arnold (Casino Royale). Green Lantern stars Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Saarsgard and Mark Strong. The film centers around a test pilot who is granted a mystical green ring that bestows him with otherworldly powers, as well as membership into an intergalactic squadron tasked with keeping peace within the universe. Read the rest of this entry »

Weekly Film Music Roundup (January 21, 2011)

Posted: January 21, 2011 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music News
Tags: John Debney, No Strings Attached

Only one movie is opening in wide release this weekend. Ivan Reitman’s No Strings Attached starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher features a score by John Debney, as well as several songs. As reported a few days ago, two soundtrack albums have been announced and a few audio clips of Debney’s score can be found online.

Opening in limited release this weekend after receiving an Oscar-qualifying run at the end of last year is Peter Weir’s The Way Back featuring music by Burkhard Dallwitz and John Wells’ The Company Men with a score by Aaron Zigman.