Weekly TV Music Roundup (May 19, 2024)

Premiering on Friday, May 24, is the Netflix animated series Jurassic World: Chaos Theory based on Universal Pictures’ Jurassic World franchise and starring Paul-Mikél Williams, Sean Giambrone, Darren Barnet, Kausar Mohammed and Raini Rodriguez. The show’s original music is composed by Leo Birenberg (Cobra Kai, Bottoms, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, Florida Man, Twisted Metal, Son of Zorn, Tigtone, Butcher’s Crossing) who previously scored the original Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous series. Check out our previous news article to learn more about the DreamWorks Animation & Amblin Entertainment production, which will be available to stream exclusively on Netflix.

Also premiering on Friday is the Disney+ original documentary The Beach Boys directed by Frank Marshall & Thom Zimny about the legendary band that revolutionized pop music, and the iconic sound they created that personified the California dream. Capitol/UMe will release a soundtrack album featuring the songs from the movie on May 24. Check back on this page for the full album details and to learn more about the documentary, which traces the band from humble family beginnings and features new interviews with The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Al Jardine, Bruce Johnston, David Marks & others and which will be available to stream exclusively on Disney+.

Missing from last week’s roundup was the new Apple TV+ limited series The Big Cigar based on Joshuah Bearman’s magazine article of the same title and starring André Holland, Alessandro Nivola, Tiffany Boone, Moses Ingram, Marc Menchaca, P.J. Byrne, Olli Haaskivi, Jordane Christie, Rebecca Dalton and Glynn Turman. Robert Glasper (Miles Ahead, The Photograph, Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty, The Best Man: The Final Chapters, Bel-Air) has composed the show’s original music. Click here for more information about the 6-part drama, which premiered this past Friday and will be available to stream exclusively on Apple TV+.

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Martin Dirkov Scoring Ali Abbasi ‘The Apprentice’

Composer Martin Dirkov (Shorta, Knocking, Holiday, The Charmer) is reteaming with director Ali Abbasi on the upcoming drama The Apprentice. The film stars Sebastian Stan as Donald Trump, Jeremy Strong as Roy Cohn, Maria Bakalova as Ivana Trump and Martin Donovan as Fred Trump Sr. The movie charts a young Donald Trump’s ascent to power through a Faustian deal with Cohn, the influential right-wing lawyer and political fixer. Gabriel Sherman (The Loudest Voice) wrote the screenplay. Daniel Bekerman (The Witch, Rememory) is producing the project for Scythia Films, alongside Jacob Jarek (Speak No Evil, Darkland) for Profile Pictures, Ruth Treacy & Julianne Forde (The Lodgers, The Winter Lake) for Tailored Films, as well as Abbasi and Louis Tisné (The Eight Mountains, Son) for Film Institute. Dirkov has previously collaborated with Abbasi on the director’s previous three features, Holy Spider, Border and Shelley. The Apprentice will premiere this coming Monday at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival.

Dirkov has also recently been scoring the Swedish biographical period drama The Swedish Torpedo (Den svenska torpeden) directed by Frida Kempff and starring Josefin Neldén, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard and Lisa Carlehed. The movie, which tells the story of Sally Bauer, the first Scandinavian to swim across the English Channel in 1939, is expected to premiere later this year.

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‘Stop Making Sense’ Tribute Album Released

A24 Music has released the tribute album (Everyone’s Getting Involved) for the 1984 concert movie Stop Making Sense directed by Jonathan Demme and starring Talking Heads (David Byrne, Tina Weymouth, Chris Frantz & Jerry Harrison). The album features covers of the Talking Heads songs from the film performed by Miley Cyrus, The National, The Linda Lindas, Blondshell, El Mato, Paramore, Teezo Touchdown, DJ Tunez,Jean Dawson, The Cavemen., BADBADNOTGOOD, Toro y Moi, Kevin Abstract, girl in red, Lorde and Chicano Batman. The tribute album is now available to stream/download on most major digital music services. A CD and vinyl edition will be released this summer and is now available for pre-order on Amazon. Listen to Miley Cyrus’ rendition of Psycho Killer and The National’s cover of Heaven after the jump. The 40th Anniversary restoration of Stop Making Sense was released in theaters last year by A24 and is now available to stream on Max and to purchase on VOD.

Here’s the album track list:

1. Psycho Killer – Miley Cyrus (3:45)
2. Heaven – The National (4:17)
3. Thank You for Sending Me an Angel – Blondshell (3:08)
4. Found a Job – The Linda Lindas (4:12)
5. Slippery People – El Mató a un Policía Motorizado (5:40)
6. Burning Down the House – Paramore (3:38)
7. Life During Wartime – DJ Tunez (4:25)
8. Making Flippy Floppy – Teezo Touchdown (5:53)
9. Swamp – Jean Dawson (3:21)
10. What a Day That Was – The Cavemen. (4:31)
11. This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) – Badbadnotgood feat. Norah Jones (4:31)
12. Once in a Lifetime – Kevin Abstract (2:38)
13. Genius of Love – Toro Y Moi & Brijean (3:25)
14. Girlfriend Is Better – girl in red (3:05)
15. Take Me to the River – Lorde (4:24)
16. Crosseyed and Painless – Chicano Batman feat. Money Mark (5:24)

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Weekly Film Music Roundup (May 17, 2024)

Opening in theaters nationwide this weekend is the family fantasy adventure IF written and directed by John Krasinski and starring Ryan Reynolds, Cailey Fleming, Krasinski himself, Steve Carell, Fiona Shaw, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Louis Gossett Jr. The film’s original music is composed by Michael Giacchino (Lost, Up, Ratatouille, Star Trek, Spider-Man: Far from Home, Jurassic World, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, The Incredibles). Milan Records/Sony Classical have released a soundtrack album featuring the composer’s score today. Check out our soundtrack announcement for the full album details and to learn more about the Paramount Pictures release.

Also opening wide is the biographical drama Back to Black directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and starring Marisa Abela, Jack O’Connell, Juliet Cowan, Eddie Marsan and Lesley Manville. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Dahmer: Monster – The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Hell or High Water, The Road, Blonde, The Proposition) have composed the film’s original score. Back Lot Music has released a soundtrack album featuring the composers’ score last month when the movie opened in the UK (click here for the full album details). Island Records has released a separate soundtrack featuring the songs by Amy Winehouse & others (click here for the full details and for more information about the film).

Also opening nationwide is the slasher movie The Stranger: Chapter 1 directed by Renny Harlin and starring Madelaine Petsch, Froy Gutierrez, Rachel Shenton, Richard Brake, Gabriel Basso, Ema Horvath and Ella Bruccoleri. The film’s original music is composed by Justin Burnett (Dungeons & Dragons, Getaway, An American Haunting, 9-1-1: Lone Star, Java Heat) and Òscar Senén. No soundtrack album has been announced. Check out our previous news article to learn more about the first part of a new trilogy, which is being distributed by Lionsgate.

Opening in select theaters today before expanding to more markets in the coming weeks is the comedy Babes directed by Pamela Adlon and starring Ilana Glazer, Michelle Buteau, Hasan Minhaj, John Carroll Lynch, Oliver Platt and Stephan James. Ryan Miller (Safety Not Guaranteed, The Fundamentals of Caring, The Kings of Summer, In a World…) and Jay Lifton (Sister of the Groom, How He Fell in Love) have composed the film’s original music. No word on a soundtrack release. Check out our scoring assignment announcement for more information about the movie, which premiered at this year’s SXSW Film Festival and is being released by Neon.

Opening in select IMAX theaters today before premiering next Thursday, March 23 on Prime Video is the documentary The Blue Angels directed by Paul Crowder and produced by Glen Powell, J.J. Abrams,  Glen Zipper, Sean Stuart, Mark Monroe, andHannah Minghella. The film’s original music is composed by James Everingham (Apollo: Missions to the Moon, The Real Right Stuff) and Stewart Mitchell. No soundtrack album has been released yet for the movie, which follows the newest class of the Navy and Marine Corps as they flight squadron through intense training and into a season of aerial artistry.

Opening in select theaters while also premiering on Netflix today is the animated feature Thelma the Unicorn directed by Jared Hess & Lynn Wang and starring Brittany Howard, Jemaine Clement, Maliaka Mitchell, Ally Dixon, Edi Patterson, Fred Armisen and Zach Galifianakis. John Powell (How to Train Your Dragon, Shrek, The Bourne Identity, Solo: A Star Wars Story, X-Men: The Last Stand, United 93, Rio, Don’t Worry Darling, Happy Feet). has composed the film’s original score. Island Records has released a soundtrack album featuring the songs from the movie (performed by Howard & others), as well as several tracks from Powell’s score today. Check out our previous article for the full album and to learn more about the animated comedy.

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‘The Exorcist III’ World Premiere Soundtrack Release Announced

Waxwork Records has announced the world premiere soundtrack release for the 1990  supernatural horror sequel The Exorcist III written and directed by William Peter Blatty and starring George C. Scott, Ed Flanders, Scott Wilson, Jason Miller, Nicol Williamson and Brad Dourif. The album features the original score from the third installment in the horror franchise composed by Barry DeVorzon (The Warriors, S.W.A.T., V: The Final Battle, Night of the Creeps, Tattoo, Bless the Beasts & Children). The soundtrack is now available to order as a vinyl edition on the label’s official website, where you can also find out more about the release. The Exorcist III is now available to purchase on VOD, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD.

Here’s the track list of the album:

1. Main Title
2. Damien Flashback
3. Outside the Church
4. Headless Statue
5. Dream Sequence
6. It’s a Wonderfull Life
7. Are You My Son?
8. Death Be Not Proud
9. Transition to Morgue
10. Noise in Priest’s Study
11. Father Morning
12. Kinderman and Patient X
13. Rites for Exorcism
14. The Big Hit on Statue
15. One Who Moves
16. Closet Nurse
17. Kinderman Realizes
18. Nurse No. 1
19. Nurse No. 2
20. Nurse No. 3
21. Nurse No. 4
22. Doorbell
23. Nurse Attacks Julie
24. Father Morning Enters Cell
25. The Exorcism
26. Church Bells Ringing
27. The Cemetery
28. Morgue to Cathedral
29. Whispers in Corridors
30. Father Morning Cue 1
31. Father Morning Cue 2
32. Father Morning Cue 3
33. Father Morning Cue 4
34. Father Morning Alt Mix
35. The Exorcism Alt Mix
36. Vocals Overdub (Bonus)
37. Cell Scene Material

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Fernando Velazquez Scoring David Schurmann’s ‘My Penguin Friend’

Fernando Velazquez (The Impossible, Crimson Peak, A Monster Calls, Hercules, The Orphanage, Devil) has been tapped to score the upcoming family adventure drama My Penguin Friend. The film is directed by David Schurmann (Little Secret, Desaparecidos) and stars Jean Reno and Adriana Barraza. The movie is based on a true story and centers on the friendship between a fisherman and lonely father who has turned away from the world in the wake of tragedy and a little lost penguin who recharges his spirit and heals his family . Paulina Lagudi and Kristen Lazarian (Trust) wrote the screenplay. Jonathan E. Lim and Steven P. Wegner (The Garfield Movie, Dolphin Tale 2) are producing the project with Andreas Wentz, Robin Jonas (Mr. Brooks), Shaked Berenson & Patrick Ewald (The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot) and Nicolas Veinberg (Elsa & Fred, Wild Oats). My Penguin Friend will be released in U.S. theaters on August 16, 2024 by Roadside Attractions.

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Apple TV+’s ‘The Big Cigar’ to Feature Original Score by Robert Glasper

Robert Glasper (The Photograph, Miles Ahead, The Best Man: The Final Chapters, Bel-Air) is the composer of the new Apple TV+ limited series The Big Cigar. The show is based on the magazine article of the same name by Joshuah Bearman (Argo) and stars André Holland, Alessandro Nivola, Tiffany Boone, Marc Menchaca, P.J. Byrne, Moses Ingram, Olli Haaskivi, Rebecca Dalton, Jordane Christie and Glynn Turman. The 6-part drama tells the true story of Black Panther founder Huey P. Newton who escaped from the FBI to Cuba with the assistance of movie producer Bert Schneider in an impossibly elaborate plan – involving a fake film production – that goes wrong every way it possibly can. Janine Sherman Barrois (Claws, ER) serves as the project’s showrunner and is also executive producing the Warner Bros. Television production with Jim Hecht (Ice Age: The Meltdown) who also scripted the first episode, as well as Bearman, Joshua Davis & Arthur Spector (Little America, Radical). Don Cheadle directed the first two episode. Glasper has previously collaborated with Hecht on the second season of HBO’s Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty. The Big Cigar will premiere tomorrow, May 17 exclusively on Apple TV+.

Glasper’s other recent scoring projects include Dawn Porter’s Luther: Never Too Much, which premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and has just been picked up by CNN Films and OWN for a release in 2025, as well as Paris Barclay’s documentary Billy Preston: That’s the Way God Planned It (co-scored with Derrick Hodge), which premiered at this year’s SXSW Film Festival and is currently awaiting a distribution deal.

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