Jan A.P. Kaczmarek passed away today at age 71 in Krakow, Poland after a long battle with multiple system atrophy (MSA). The composer wrote numerous scores for film and television since the mid 1980s and received an Academy Award for his music for Marc Forster’s 2004 drama Finding Neverland. His other scoring credits include Adrian Lyne’s Unfaithful, Tom McCarthy’s The Visitor, Lasse Hallström’s Hachi: A Dog’s Tail, Aaron Schneider’s Get Low, Janusz Kaminski’s Lost Souls, Max Färberböck’s Aimee & Jaguar, Agnieszka Holland’s The Lost Souls & Washington Square, Jerzy Kawalerowicz’s Quo Vadis and the 2007 television adaptation of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace directed by Robert Dornhelm.
Tag: Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
Weekly Film Music Roundup (February 25, 2022)
Opening in theaters nationwide this week is the horror comedy Studio 666 directed by BJ McDonnell and starring Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Chris Shiflett, Pat Smear, Nate Mendel, Rami Jaffee, Whitney Cummings, Will Forte, Jenna Ortega, Leslie Grossman and Jeff Garlin. The film’s original score is composed by Roy Mayorga (best known as the drummer of Ministry, Hellyeah and Stone Sour). John Carpenter has written the theme song and Foo Fighters have contributed the original songs for the fictional band Dream Widow. RCA Records has released a first song (click here listen to the track and for more details). Also check out our previous article to learn more about the Open Road Films release.
Also opening wide following an awards-qualifying release in December is the movie musical Cyrano directed by Joe Wright and starring Peter Dinklage, Haley Bennett, Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Ben Mendelsohn. The National’s Bryce Dessner (The Two Popes, The Kitchen) & Aaron Dessner (C’mon C’mon, Jockey) have composed the film’s original score and songs. Decca Records has released a soundtrack album featuring the composers’ songs and score last year. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full album details and for more information about the United Artists release.
Weekly Film Music Roundup (August 14, 2020)
Opening in select theaters and on VOD today is the thriller The Silencing directed by Robin Pront and stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Annabelle Wallis and Hero Fiennes Tiffin. The film’s original music is composed by Will Blair & Brooke Blair (Green Room, The Informer, Blue Ruin, I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore, Hold the Dark). Filmtrax has released a soundtrack album featuring the composers’ score today. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full album details and to learn more about the Saban Films release.
Also opening on VOD today is the thriller The Bay of Silence directed by Paula van der Oest and starring Claes Bang, Olga Kurylenko, Brian Cox, Assaad Bouab and Alice Krige. John Swihart (Napoleon Dynamite, How I Met Your Mother, Youth in Revolt, Table 19) has composed the film’s original music. No word on a soundtrack release. Check out our previous article for more information about the movie, which follows a man who sets out to discover the truth behind his son’s mysterious death in a bid to protect his mentally vulnerable wife and is being released by Vertical Entertainment.
Jan A.P. Kaczmarek Scoring Martha Coolidge’s ‘Music, War and Love’
Academy Award winner Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (Finding Neverland, Unfaithful, The Visitor, Get Low) has recently recorded his score for the upcoming drama Music, War and Love. The film is directed by Martha Coolidge (Valley Girl, Real Genius, Rambling Rose) and stars Adelaide Clemens, Leo Suter, Connie Nielsen, Stellan Skarsgard, Stephen Dorff, Toby Sebastian, Sam Gillet, Sebastian Croft, Ursula Parker, Małgorzata Kożuchowska, Weronika Rosati and Maciej Zakościelny. The movie tells the love story between two young musicians, one Jewish, one Catholic, who are separated by the outbreak of World War II.
Weekly Film Music Roundup (March 23, 2018)
Five new movies are opening in theaters nationwide this weekend:
Expected to top the weekend box office is the sci-fi action adventure Pacific Rim Uprising directed by Steven S. DeKnight and starring John Boyega, Scott Eastwood, Jing Tian, Cailee Spaeny, Rinko Kikuchi, Burn Gorman, Adria Arjona and Charlie Day. The film’s original music is composed by Lorne Balfe (The LEGO Batman Movie, Home, 12 Strong, Terminator Genisys, Genius, The Crown). Milan Records has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score, as well as songs by Wizkid, DJ Shadow and Anderson .Paak. Click here for the full album details.
Also opening wide is the animated feature Sherlock Gnomes directed by John Stevenson and featuring the voices of James McAvoy, Emily Blunt, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Maggie Smith, Michael Caine, Ashley Jensen, Matt Lucas, Stephen Merchant, Mary J. Blige and Johnny Depp. Chris Bacon (Source Code, Bates Motel) who previously co-scored Gnomeo & Juliet has composed the film’s original score. Elton John has composed new songs for the project, including the track Stronger Than I Ever Was, which is performed by Mary J. Blige. No word yet on a soundtrack release.
‘Paul, Apostle of Christ’ Soundtrack Details
Sony Classical will release a soundtrack album for the historical drama Paul, Apostle of Christ. The album features the film’s original music composed by Academy Award winner Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (Finding Neverland, Unfaithful, The Visitor and Get Low). The soundtrack will be released digitally on March 23 and physically on April 6. Visit Amazon to pre-order the CD. Paul, Apostle of Christ is written and directed by Andrew Hyatt and stars James Faulkner, Jim Caviezel, Olivier Martinez, Joanne Whalley and John Lynch. The movie tells the story of Paul, going from the most infamous persecutor of Christians to Jesus Christ’s most influential apostle, and follows his last days awaiting execution by Emperor Nero in Rome under the watchful eye of Mauritius, Mamertine Prison’s ambitious prefect.
Jan A.P. Kaczmarek to Score ‘Paul, Apostle of Christ’
Jan A.P. Kaczmarek has been tapped to score the upcoming historical drama Paul, Apostle of Christ. The film is written and directed by Andrew Hyatt (The Last Light) and stars James Faulkner, Jim Caviezel, Olivier Martinez, Joanne Whalley and John Lynch. The movie tells the story of Paul, going from the most infamous persecutor of Christians to Jesus Christ’s most influential apostle. The drama follows his last days awaiting execution by Emperor Nero in Rome under the watchful eye of Mauritius, Mamertine Prison’s ambitious prefect.
Jan A.P. Kaczmarek to Score ‘Später im Sommer’
Academy Award-winning composer Jan A.P. Kaczmarek revealed in a recent interview with Hitfix that he is set to score the upcoming German drama Später im Sommer. The film is written and directed by Feo Aladag (When We Leave) and centers on the friendship between a German soldier and an Afghan translator who are fighting side by side in Afghanistan. Ronald Zehrfeld, Felix Kramer, Roman Rien, Pit Bukowski, Tobais Schönenberg and Burghart Klaussner are starring in the movie, which is produced by Independent Artists Filmproduktion, ZDF, ARTE and Geißendörfer Film- und Fernsehproduktion. Aladag’s previous Tribeca Film Award-winning movie When We Leave featured a score by Max Richter and Stephane Moucha.
Weekly Film Roundup (July 26, 2013)
Only one new movie is opening nationwide this weekend:
Expected to top the weekend box office is the superhero film The Wolverine directed by James Mangold and starring Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen, Will Yun Lee, Brian Tee, Svetlana Khodchenkova, Hiroyuki Sanada, Tao Okamoto and Rila Fukushim. The film’s music is composed by Marco Beltrami (World War Z, Scream) who previously scored Mangold’s 3:10 to Yuma. Sony Classical has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s music earlier this week. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full album details and click here to listen to audio clips.
Opening semi-wide is the comedy The To Do List directed by Maggie Carey and starring Aubrey Plaza, Johnny Simmons, Bill Hader, Alia Shawkat, Rachel Bilson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Andy Samberg, Donald Glover and Connie Britton. Universal Music Enterprises has released a soundtrack album featuring the film’s songs including a number of 90s classics by Tears for Fears, Cranberries, Mazzy Star, House of Love, Elastica, Gin Blossoms and Big Head Todd and the Monsters. Check out our previous article for the full soundtrack details. Raney Shockne (FX’s Anger Management) has composed the film’s score. No word on a release of the score.
‘Power of Story: Measure for Measure’ Sundance Panel Announced
This year’s Sundance Film Festival will feature the composer panel Power of Story: Measure for Measure. The event will be moderated by Chris Douridas (KCRW-FM’s daily music program Morning Becomes Eclectic) and will include such participants as Academy Award-nominated composer Mark Isham who co-scored the indie drama The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete with Alicia Keys. This marks the composer’s first time attending Sundance for a film he scored. As previously reported, he is also participating in the BMI composer/director roundtable with director George Tillman Jr. Other participants of the Power of Story: Measure for Measure panel include five-time Grammy Award winner and Golden Globe-nominated composer Terence Blanchard (The 25th Hour, Inside Man, Malcolm X) whose opera on boxing legend Emile Griffith premieres in June 2013, as well as Academy Award-winning composer Jan A. P. Kaczmarek (Finding Neverland, Unfaithful) who established the Transatlantyk Poznan International Film and Music Festival and the Instytut Rozbitek in his home country Poland, which is aimed at developing new talent in the arts.