Columbia Records will release the official soundtrack album for the indie comedy The Way, Way Back. The album features the songs from the film by artists including Edie Brickell, INXS, Ben Kweller, UFO, Robert Palmer, Mr. Mister, Young Galaxy, Army Navy, Wild Belle, Tim Myers, Eli “Paperboy” Reed and The Apache Relay. Also featured is a track from the movie’s original score composed by Rob Simonsen (500 Days of Summer, All Good Things). The soundtrack will be released on July 2, 2013 and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. The Way, Way Back is directed by Jim Rash and Nat Faxon (writers of The Descendants) and stars Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, AnnaSophia Robb, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Amanda Peet, Rob Corddry and Liam James. The movie about a teen boy who struggles to find himself as he comes to terms with his unattentive mother and cheating stepfather during summer vacation premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival where it was acquired by Fox Searchlight for a theatrical release on July 5.
Tag: Rob Simonsen
Weekly TV Music Roundup (June 2, 2013)
Premiering tomorrow, June 3, on ABC is the new drama Mistresses starring Alyssa Milano, Yunjin Kim, Rochelle Aytes, Jes Macallan, Brett Tucker, Jason George and Erik Stocklin. The series about the scandalous lives of a sexy and sassy group of four girlfriends is based on the UK series of the same title and is executive produced by Rina Mimoun (Privileged), K.J. Steinberg (Gossip Girl), Robert Sertner (Revenge) and Douglas Rae (Wuthering Heights). The show’s original score is composed by Danny Lux (Grey’s Anatomy, Ally McBeal, Boston Legal). Rob Simonsen (500 Days of Summer, The Way, Way Back) also contributed music for the pilot episode. Mistresses will air every Monday night on ABC. For updates on the drama, visit the official show website.
Weekly Film Music Roundup (May 17, 2013)
Only one movie is opening nationwide this weekend:
Expected to top the weekend box office is the sci-fi sequel Star Trek Into Darkness directed by J.J. Abrams and starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin, John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, Benedict Cumberbatch and Peter Weller. The film’s music is composed by Abrams’ regular musical collaborator Michael Giacchino (Up, Lost). A soundtrack album featuring the composer’s music is now available digitally from Varese Sarabande and will be released on CD next week. For audio clips and the full album details, check out our previous article. Also check out a video featurette about the score, as well as interviews with Giacchino at Film Music Magazine, WQXR and ASCAP’ We Create Music blog.
Opening in limited release is the indie comedy drama Frances Ha co-written and directed by Noah Baumbach and starring Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver and Michael Zegen. ABKCO Records will release a soundtrack album featuring four tracks from classic film scores by composer Georges Delerue, Paul McCartney’s Blue Sway, David Bowie’s Modern Love, T. Rex’s Chrome Sitar and more next week. Also included is a track by Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips who scored Baumbach’s The Squid and the Whale. For the full album details, check out our soundtrack announcement.
Rob Simonsen Scoring ‘Chu and Blossom’
Rob Simonsen revealed in a recent interview with Sound on Sight that he is currently scoring the indie coming of age comedy Chu and Blossom. The film is directed by Gavin Kelly and Charles Chu and stars Chu himself, as well as Ryan O’Nan, Melanie Lynskey, Alan Cumming, Mercedes Ruehl, Caitlin Stasey, Annie Potts, Chris Marquette, Dan Bakkedahl and Richard Kind. The movie centers on a pensive Korean exchange student and a performance artist who are trapped together in a small town. Chu has also written the screenplay with O’Nan who is also producing the project with Jason Michael Berman, Caroline Connor, Thomas B. Fore. Simonsen has previously scored the drama Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best directed by O’Nan and produced by Berman, Connor and Fore.
BMI Sundance Roundtable Videos
BMI has published several videos from last week’s film composer/director roundtable Music & Film: The Creative Process at the Sundance Film Festival. Participants include composer Terence Blanchard, composer Mark Isham and director George Tillman, Jr. whose drama The Inevitable Defeat Of Mister And Pete premiered at the festival, composer Ludwig Goransson and writer/director Ryan Cogler whose feature Fruitvale received the top Sundance honor and was picked up for distribution by The Weinstein Company, composer Rob Simonsen and director James Ponsoldt whose coming of age drama The Spectacular Now was acquired by A24 for a theatrical release (Simonsen also scored the comedy The Way, Way Back, which was picked up by Fox Searchlight as the biggest sale at the festival), composer Abel Korzeniowski and director Randy Moore who worked together on the controversial Disney theme park-set Escape from Tomorrow, composer Dustin O’Halloran who scored the indie drama Breathe In, his second project for Drake Doremus following Like Crazy and composer Craig Wedren and director Jill Solloway who collaborated on the comedy Afternoon Delight.
Rob Simonsen to Score ‘The Spectacular Now’
Rob Simonsen has been tapped to score the comedy drama The Spectacular Now. The film is directed by James Ponsoldt (Smashed) and stars Shailene Woodley, Miles Teller, Brie Larson, Kyle Chandler, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Bob Odenkirk and Andre Royo. The movie follows a high school senior and the mercurial introvert he attempts to “save” from life as a social outcast. The dramedy is based on a novel by Tim Tharp and has been adapted for the screen by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber (500 Days of Summer, which Simonsen co-scored). Tom McNulty (Date Night) & Shawn Levy (A Night at the Museum), Michelle Krumm and Andrew Lauren are producing the 21 Laps, Global Produce and ALP production.
Rob Simonsen Scoring ‘The Way, Way Back’
Rob Simonsen has been hired to score the indie comedy The Way, Way Back. The film marks the directorial debut of Jim Rash and Nat Faxon and stars Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Sam Rockwell, AnnaSophia Robb, Allison Janney and Amanda Peet. The movie follows a teen boy who struggles to find himself as he comes to terms with his unattentive mother and cheating stepfather during summer vacation. Rash and Faxon who received an Academy Award for writing last year’s The Descendants have penned the screenplay. Kevin Walsh is producing through his production company and Tom Rice is producing for Sycamore Pictures. It has just been announced that The Way, Way Back will be premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
‘Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best’ Soundtrack Released
ATCO, an imprint of Rhino Entertainment, has released the soundtrack album for the indie drama Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best. The album features the film’s songs performed by the Brooklyn Brothers (Ryan O’Nan and Michael Weston), as well as selections from the movie’s original score composed by Rob Simonsen (All Good Things, (500) Days of Summer) and a number of other songs heard in the film. The soundtrack is now available to download on Amazon, where you can also listen to audio clips. Brooklyn Brothers Beat the Best is written and directed by Ryan O’Nan who also stars in the drama as a failing singer-songwriter who decides to hit the road with a self-appointed music revolutionary, played by Michael Weston, and rediscovers his love for life and music. Arielle Kebbel, Melissa Leo, Andrew McCarthy, Christopher McDonald, Jason Ritter and Wilmer Valderrama are co-starring.
Weekly Film Music Roundup (June 22, 2012)
Three new movies are opening in wide release this weekend:
Expected to top the weekend box office is Pixar’s 13th full length animated feature Brave directed by Mark Andrews and featuring the voice talent of Kelly MacDonald, Emma Thompson, Craig Ferguson, Robbie Coltrane and Billy Connolly. The film’s score is composed by Patrick Doyle. Walt Disney Records has released a soundtrack featuring the composer’s score, as well as songs from Scottish Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis and a collaboration between folk rock band Mumford and Sons who penned Learn Me Right sung by Birdy. Visit our previous article to check out the full track list. Also check out video interviews with Doyle about his work on the film on ASCAP, Trailer Addict (from the film’s red carpet premiere in Hollywood) and Movieweb. Also visit Film Music Magazine for another interview with the composer.
Also opening wide is the supernatural action film Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter directed by Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted) and starring Benjamin Walker, Anthony Mackie, Dominic Cooper, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jimmi Simpson, Rufus Sewell and Alan Tudyk. Henry Jackman (X-Men: First Class) has composed the film’s original score. Sony Masterworks has released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score. The album is available digitally now and is set for a physical release on July 3, 2012. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full details.
‘Seeking a Friend for the End of the World’ Score Album Announced
Lakeshore Records will be releasing a score album for the indie dramedy Seeking a Friend for the End of the World. The soundtrack features 13 tracks from the film’s original score composed by Rob Simonsen (500 Days of Summer) and Jonathan Sadoff (Good Time Max). The album will be released digitally on June 19, 2012 and will be available to download on Amazon. Audio clips from the score can be checked out after the jump. As previously announced, the label is also releasing a separate soundtrack featuring the film’s songs (click here for the full details and audio clips). Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is directed by Lorene Scafaria and stars Steve Carrell, Keira Knightley, Adam Brody, Connie Briton, Melanie Lynskey, William Peterson, T.J. Miller, Patton Oswalt, Rob Corddry, Derek Luke, Rob Huebel, Lindsay Sloane and Gillian Jacobs. The comedy drama will be released on June 22, 2012 by Focus Features.