Film Music Reporter

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.

‘The Mechanic’ soundtrack details

Posted: January 20, 2011 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music Albums
Tags: Jason Statham, Mark Isham, score, Simon West, Soundtrack, The Mechanic

Mark Isham Music has announced a soundtrack release for the upcoming film action thriller The Mechanic. Mark Isham’s original score will be included on the album with more details being announced next week. The soundtrack is expected to be released on January 25 by MIM Records. The Mechanic follows an elite hit man as he teaches his trade to an apprentice who has a connection to one of his previous victims. The movie stars Jason Statham, Ben Foster, Tony Goldwyn and Donald Sutherland and is set to come out on January 28 by CBS Films. The film is directed by Simon West (Con Air, The General’s Daughter, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, When A Stranger Calls). For a short video with Isham and West talking about the score, watch the video below. Read the rest of this entry »

‘No Strings Attached’ soundtracks announced

Posted: January 19, 2011 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music Albums
Tags: John Debney, No Strings Attached, score, Soundtrack

Lakeshore Records has announced two different soundtrack albums for the romantic comedy No Strings Attached directed by Ivan Reitman and starring Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher. A score album to be released on February 15, 2011 features the original score from John Debney. Two tracks from the score (Golf Date and I Love You/The Kiss) are currently available on John Debney’s Facebook Fanpage. Visit our previous article announcing the composer on the movie which will be released this Friday on January 21 and check out the film’s trailer below. To pre-order the score album, visit Amazon. Read the rest of this entry »

‘The Last Lions’ to feature music by Alex Wurman

Posted: January 19, 2011 by filmmusicreporter in Film Scoring Assignments
Tags: Alex Wurman, The Convincer, The Last Lions

Alex Wurman has recently finished scoring the National Geographic Entertainment-produced documentary The Last Lions. In the movie, filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert follow the epic journey of the lioness named Ma di Tau (“Mother of Lions”) as she battles to protect her cubs against the daunting onslaught of enemies to ensure their survival. The documentary is narrated by Academy Award-winner Jeremy Irons. The Last Lions marks Wurman’s first documentary after scoring the Oscar-winning 2005 hit The March of the Penguins. The movie recently premiered at the Palm Springs Film Festival and is slated to be released on February 18 in select cities. Check out the film’s trailer below. Read the rest of this entry »

Antonio Pinto scoring ‘How I Spent My Summer Vacation’

Posted: January 18, 2011 by filmmusicreporter in Film Scoring Assignments
Tags: Antonio Pinto, How I Spent My Summer Vacation

Film Music Reporter has learned that Antonio Pinto is the composer on the upcoming action drama How I Spent My Summer Vacation. The movie marks the directorial debut of Adrian Grunberg, who previously served as assistant director on such movies as Traffic, Frida and Apocalypto. The film stars Mel Gibson, Peter Stormare and Bob Gunton. Gibson also shares writing credit on the movie for the third time after The Passion of the Christ and Apocalypto. In the movie, a career criminal nabbed by Mexican authorities is placed in a tough prison where he learns to survive with the help of a 9-year-old boy. Read the rest of this entry »