MovieScore Magazine

Giacchino to score ‘John Carter of Mars’

Mikael Carlsson — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:20:24 +0000

Academy Award winner Michael Giacchino, who won the Oscar for his Up score a couple of days ago, continues his fruitful relationship with Walt Disney Pictures. The studio has confirmed to MovieScore Magazine that Giacchino will be writing the score for John Carter of Mars, the new film by Andrew Stanton. Interestingly, Stanton’s previous films as a director (Wall-E and Finding Nemo), were both scored by Thomas Newman. John Carter of Mars is based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels and stars Samantha Morton, Dominic West, Polly Walker and Willem Dafoe. The imaginative story takes place on the planet Mars where Civil War veteran John Carter is imprisoned by 12-foot tall green creatures, escapes and encounter the Princess of Helium. The film is scheduled to come out in 2012.

Young to score manga adaptation ‘Priest’

Mikael Carlsson — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 08:36:01 +0000

Screen Gems has confirmed to MovieScore Magazine that horror icon Christopher Young has been hired to compose the original score for their adaptation of the Tokyopop Manga Priest, directed by Scott Stewart (Legion) and starring Paul Bettany, Cam Gigandet, Maggie Q, Karl Urban and Lily Collins. The film was originally supposed to come out in 2010 but has been pushed to a January 14, 2011, release. Priest is produced by, among others, Sam Raimi, for whom Christopher Young has scored several projects, including Spider-Man 3 and Drag Me to Hell. The title character in Priest abandons church law in order to track down the vampires who killed his niece.

Christopher Young, who has shown great versatility in his filmography lately (ranging from biopic Creation to horror fest Drag Me to Hell and romantic comedy When in Rome), started out in horror and is a devoted fan of the genre. Among his many credits are the two first Hellraiser films, the two American Grudge films, The Fly II, The Uninvited, The Dark Half and Bless the Child.

John Ottman set to score ‘The Losers’

Mikael Carlsson — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:10:25 +0000

Composer John Ottman has updated his filmography on his official web site to include The Losers, a new project with DC Comics for whom he scored Superman Returns in 2006. Ottman, who recently scored the animated Astro Boy, is also doing the music for The Resident, a thriller directed by Renny Harlin protege Antti Jokinen, starring Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Christopher Lee and Hilary Swank.

The Losers is based on Andy Diggle’s graphic novel and stars Zoe Saldana, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Chris Evans, Idris Elba and Jason Patric. The story is about a team of CIA agents who seeks vengeance on a number of individuals who targeted them for assassination. Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard) directs from a script by Peter Berg (director of Hancock and Friday Night Lights). Music editors on the picture are Shie Rozow and Derek Somary. Amine Ramer is handling music supervision. Warner Bros will release the film on April 23.

Giacchino wins his first Oscar for ‘Up’

Mikael Carlsson — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 08:03:54 +0000

Michael Giacchino won his first Academy Award last night. The Oscar for ‘Best Original Score’ went to his widely acclaimed score for the Pixar hit Up, a score that previously has been awarded the Golden Globe, the BAFTA and a Grammy among many other honours. Giacchino spoke about the dream coming true in his acceptance speech, saying to the “kid out there who do not have a support system” that “if you want to be creative, go out there and do it. It is not a waste of time.”

Ryan Bingham and T. Bone Burnett took home the ‘Best Original Song’ Oscar with “The Weary Kind” from Crazy Heart. The score from the same film was never in competition as it had been ruled ineligible.

During the Oscar show, the original score nominees (Up by Giacchino and Avatar by James Horner, Fantastic Mr. Fox by Alexandre Desplat, The Hurt Locker by Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, and Sherlock Holmes by Hans Zimmer) were presented through choreography, and veteran Hollywood and Broadway composer Marc Shaiman directed the orchestra with great spirit.

‘Furry Vengeance’ gets Shearmur score

Mikael Carlsson — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:57:51 +0000

The upcoming comedy Furry Vengeance, to be released by Summit Entertainment on April 2, gets an original score by Edward Shearmur. He is best known for his big symphonic scores for films such as Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, Reign of Fire and The Count of Monte Cristo, but a lot of his output lately has been focused on light comedies such as Bride Wars, Epic Movie and College Road Trip. The last-mentioned was directed by Furry Vengeance helmer Roger Kumble, and this is in fact their fourth film together after Cruel Intentions and The Sweetest Thing. Furry Vengeance stars Brendan Fraser, Brooke Shields and Ken Jeong and tells the story about a real estate developer’s who faces an unusual group of protesters: furry creatures who don’t want their homes disturbed. The music editor on the picture is Bryan Carrigan.

Edward Shearmur’s other recent films include The Wolfman where he contributed additional music to Danny Elfman’s score, and last year’s acclaimed drama Mother and Child.

John Debney on ‘Predators’ confirmed

Mikael Carlsson — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 10:21:19 +0000

Costa Communications, who handles publicity for composer John Debney, has confirmed that Debney has been hired to compose the original music for Predators, the upcoming sci-fi action adventure written and produced by Robert Rodriguez. Debney has provided music for several of Rodriguez’ previous films, including Sin City and Spy Kids. Predators, which is scheduled to be released by Fox in July, is directed by Nimród Antal (Armored) and has been described by Rodriguez as a “re-boot” of the Predator film series (which kicked off with the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger classic). Whether or not Debney will score the film on his own or, to some extent, in collaboration with Rodriguez remains to be confirmed. Rodriguez has contributed themes and score to many of the films he has directed himself. On his Facebook page, John Debney commented that “fans won’t be dissapointed” and also said that “nothing compares to Alan’s score for Predator” (referring to Alan Silvestri’s score for the 1987 picture).

John Debney is currently finishing work on his score for Iron Man 2. Facebook proves once again to be a nice source for information: among other things, the composer reveals that the orchestra is joined by a choir singing “in a language other than English,” that he has written over two hours of music for the film including some “Goldsmith-tinged hero music,” and that there are a lot of “fun references” in the score.

Korzeniowski to score ‘Rabbit Hole’

Mikael Carlsson — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 09:12:18 +0000

Polish composer Abel Korzenowski, who was recently nominated for a Golden Globe for his acclaimed score for A Single Man, has a new project on his schedule: Rabbit Hole. It’s a drama directed by John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch) and stars Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart as a couple who are trying to find meaning in their lives after the death of their four-year-old child in a car accident. Fox Searchlight will release the film and Kidman’s Blossom Films produces.

37-year old Korzeniowski had his big break in the business last year with the score for A Single Man, but also the large-scale orchestral work for the animated science fiction epic Battle for Terra. His other credits include PU-239 and Tickling Leo.

Four IFMCA awards to Michael Giacchino

Mikael Carlsson — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 08:58:51 +0000

Michael Giacchino is a popular name among film music critics. The International Film Music Critics Association just revealed its winners of the 2010 IFMCA awards and Giacchino received four awards, including “Score of the Year,” “Composer of the Year” and “Best Original Score for an Animated Feature” for Up, and “Best Original Score to a Fantasy/Science Fiction Feature” for Star Trek. Giacchino has always been a big name in film music critics circles, and won the IFMCA’s first “Score of the Year” award in 2004 for another Pixar film, The Incredibles.

The other multiple award winners this year are Christopher Young, who won two awards for his large and gothic score for Drag Me to Hell, “Original Score for a Horror/Thriller Film” and “Film Music Compostion of the Year” for the majestic and powerful “Concerto to Hell;” and newcomer James Peterson who was named “Breakout Composer of the Year” for The Red Canvas which also won the “Best Original Score for an Action/Adventure Feature” award.

Other winners include veteran composer Marvin Hamlisch for The Informant!, Abel Korzeniowski for A Single Man and Armand Amar for Home.

2009 FILM AWARD WINNERS

FILM SCORE OF THE YEAR
• UP, music by Michael Giacchino

FILM COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
• MICHAEL GIACCHINO

BREAKOUT COMPOSER OF THE YEAR
• JAMES PETERSON

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DRAMA FILM
• A SINGLE MAN, music by Abel Korzeniowski

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A COMEDY FILM
• THE INFORMANT!, music by Marvin Hamlisch

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ACTION/ADVENTURE FILM
• THE RED CANVAS, music by James Peterson

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A FANTASY/SCIENCE FICTION FILM
• STAR TREK, music by Michael Giacchino

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A HORROR/THRILLER FILM
• DRAG ME TO HELL, music by Christopher Young

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR AN ANIMATED FEATURE
• UP, music by Michael Giacchino

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
• HOME, music by Armand Amar

FILM MUSIC COMPOSITION OF THE YEAR
• DRAG ME TO HELL – “Concerto to Hell,” music by Christopher Young

OTHER 2009 AWARDS

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR TELEVISION
• BATTLESTAR GALACTICA [SEASON 4.5], music by Bear McCreary

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE FOR A VIDEO GAME OR INTERACTIVE MEDIA
• HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE, music by James Hannigan

BEST NEW RELEASE/RE-RELEASE OF AN EXISTING SCORE
• BACK TO THE FUTURE, music by Alan Silvestri; Douglass Fake, producer (Intrada)

BEST RE-RECORDING OF AN EXISTING SCORE
• EXODUS, music by Ernest Gold, conductor Nic Raine; James Fitzpatrick, producer (Tadlow)

BEST FILM MUSIC COMPILATION ALBUM OR BOX SET
• DAVID RAKSIN AT M-G-M, music by David Raksin; Lukas Kendall, producer (Film Score Monthly)

FILM MUSIC RECORD LABEL OF THE YEAR
• INTRADA

Howard takes over ‘Nanny McPhee’ sequel

Mikael Carlsson — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 08:27:58 +0000

James Newton Howard is doing the score for the second Nanny McPhee film, replacing Thomas Newman who was originally hired to compose the music for the sequel. Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang premieres on March 25 and features, again, Emma Thompson as the title character, and also Ralph Fiennes, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rhys Ifans and Maggie Smith. Susanna White (best known for BBC’s 2006 Jane Eyre miniseries) is directing from a script by Thompson. The score for the first film from 2005 was composed by Patrick Doyle. James Newton Howard is best known for his collaboration with Hans Zimmer on the two latest Batman films, his long working relationship with director M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs) and various blockbusters such as I Am Legend, King Kong (another film where Howard replaced another composer, Howard Shore) and The Fugitive.

Lockington to score ‘Yogi Bear’ for Warner

Mikael Carlsson — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 14:30:49 +0000

Canadian composer Andrew Lockington has been hired to score his second film for director Eric Brevig, following their Journey to the Center of the Earth adventure. Their new film together is Yogi Bear, a live-action/CG hybrid feature based on the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoon. Shot on location in New Zealand, the film will feature Dan Aykroyd (Yogi Bear), Justin Timberlake and Anna Faris. Warner Bros. is going to release the film in cinemas in December. The original 1960s Yogi Bear TV cartoon featured music by Hoyt Curtin and Will Schaefer. Andrew Lockington’s other credits include City of Ember and Skinwalkers.