Upcoming Movies and their Composers: Updated 6/97

by Lukas Kendall

The following was compiled for the June edition of FILM SCORE MONTHLY (Danny Elfman/Men in Black cover story), in transit to subscribers now. See the links all over this site for subscription information.

AIR FORCE ONE HIJACKED! As reported yesterday, Randy Newman has been fired from Wolfgang Petersen's president's-plane-hijacked movie starring Harrison Ford. Why? I do not know exactly, but it probably has something to do with the filmmakers not liking the score, which was described to me as very symphonic and very mickey mousing. They must have felt pretty strongly, since they've already spent around $1.7 million on the music. The replacement "composer" (didn't that used to be singular?) is a true bit of fin-de-siecle madness: JERRY GOLDSMITH & JOEL McNEELY. Yes, the producers wanted Goldsmith, who did such an effective job on Executive Decision last year, but there are around three weeks to rescore this and as several characters no doubt say in this film, "There isn't enough time!" (That always comes up in airplane disaster movies.)

On Star Trek First Contact Jerry worked with his son Joel Goldsmith to complete the score; however, Joel is busy on Kull the Conqueror and other projects. So, another Joel has gotten the call, Joel McNeely (both the elder Goldsmith and McNeely are clients of the Kraft-Benjamin Agency). The credits will feature, reportedly, a front-title listing solely for Goldsmith, and then "Additional Music by Joel McNeely" very prominently at the head of the closing credits. I have no idea how the composers are splitting up the movie or possibly sharing themes. By the way, upon receiving critical reviews in Film Score Monthly in the past, Joel McNeely used to E-mail me these long, incredibly whiny treatises about how much his feelings were hurt. One would think this is an ideal project for him, since he can now rip-off Jerry Goldsmith's style and it will be a good thing.

MARK ADLER: Ernest Joins the Army.

DAVID ARNOLD: Tomorrow Never Dies (James Bond), Godzilla (Emmerich/Devlin), The Visitor (Emmerich/Devlin TV, co-composed with Kevin Kiner), A Life Less Ordinary (d. Danny Boyle).

LUIS BACALOV: Polish Wedding, B. Monkey.

JOHN BARRY: Amy Foster, Goodbye Lover, The Horse Whisperer.

MARCO BELTRAMI: Mimic (Mira Sorvino).

DAVID BERGEAUD: Prince Valiant (Paramount).

ELMER BERNSTEIN: Buddy (ape movie), Hoodlum (gangsters), Rainmaker (d. Francis Ford Coppola).

TERENCE BLANCHARD: Eve's Bayou (Samuel Jackson).

SIMON BOSWELL: Photographing Fairies, American Perfekt.

BRUCE BROUGHTON: Fantasia Continues (transitions), Simple Wish, Krippendorf's Tribe (Disney).

PAUL BUCKMASTER: Most Wanted (New Line), The Maker (Matthew Modine, d. Tim Hunter).

CARTER BURWELL: Big Lebowski (Coen Bros.), Picture Perfect, Conspiracy Theory (Mel Gibson, Julia Roberts), The Jackal (Bruce Willis).

GEORGE S. CLINTON: Mortal Kombat: Annihilation.

RAY COLCORD: Heartwood (Jason Robards).

BILL CONTI: Napoleon (dog finds its way home).

STEWART COPELAND: Four Days in September (d. Bertlolucci), Little Boy Blue, The Big Red, Good Burger.

CHUCK D (from Public Enemy): An Allan Smithee Film.

MYCHAEL DANNA: Ice Storm.

JOE DELIA: The Blackout.

ALEXANDRE DESPLAT: The Revengers (U.K.).

PATRICK DOYLE: Great Expectations (d. Alfonso Cuarón).

ANNE DUDLEY: The Full Monty.

RANDY EDELMAN: Gone Fishin' (Joe Pesci), Leave It to Beaver.

CLIFF EIDELMAN: Free Willy 3: The Rescue.

DANNY ELFMAN: Men in Black, Flubber (aka The Absent-Minded Professor), Good Will Hunting (d. Gus Van Sant), Superman (d. Tim Burton).

STEPHEN ENDELMAN: Kicked in the Head, Shakespeare's Sister.

CHARLES ENGSTROM: Ulee's Gold (Peter Fonda).

GEORGE FENTON: Venice (replacing Rachel Portman).

FRANK FITZPATRICK: Players Club.

MICK FLEETWOOD: 14 Palms.

ROBERT FOLK: Nothing to Lose (Tim Robbins, Martin Lawrence).

BRUCE FOWLER: Mousehunt (Dreamworks).

DAVID MICHAEL FRANK: A Kid in Aladdin's Court, Cosmic Voyage (IMAX), The Prince.

JOHN FRIZZELL: Alien: Resurrection.

RICHARD GIBBS: Music from Another Room.

PHILIP GLASS: Bent.

NICK GLENNIE-SMITH: Home Alone 3, Fire Down Below (Seagal).

ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL: The Butcher Boy (d. Neil Jordan).

JERRY GOLDSMITH: Air Force Once (Harrison Ford), L.A. Confidential (d. Curtis Hanson, '50s period), Deep Rising, Bookworm (Fox, Anthony Hopkins), Lost in Space (d. Stephen Hopkins).

JOEL GOLDSMITH: Kull the Conquerer (Kevin Sorbo), StarGate (TV).

CHRIS HAJIAN: Chairman of the Board (aka The Boss, Carrot Top).

MICKEY HART (from Grateful Dead): Criminal Intent (Tupac Shakur).

RICHARD HARVEY: Jane Eyre (U.K.).

LEE HOLDRIDGE: Family Plan (Leslie Nielsen), The Long Way Home (Holocaust documentary).

JAMES HORNER: Titanic (d. James Cameron), Zorro, Mighty Joe Young.

JAMES NEWTON HOWARD: My Best Friend's Wedding (Julia Roberts), The Postman (Kevin Costner).

SOREN HYLDGAARD: Island of Darkness (horror/thriller, Denmark-Norway), Skyggen (The Shadow, futuristic action thriller, Denmark), Hydrophobia (action-adventure, d. Peter Flinth).

MARK ISHAM: Afterglow (Nick Nolte, Julie Christie).

MAURICE JARRE: Le Jour et la Nuit.

TREVOR JONES: In Pursuit of Honor (d. Ridley Scott, Demi Moore in the military), Dark City (Alex Proyas), Desperate Measures (crazy Michael Keaton), The Mighty (Miramax).

JAN A.P. KACZMAREK: Washington Square (remake of The Heiress).

MICHAEL KAMEN: Event Horizon (sci-fi).

ROLFE KENT: House of Yes (Miramax).

CHRIS LENNERTZ: Sanctuary (independent sci-fi film).

JOHN LURIE: Excess Baggage (Alicia Silverstone).

MARK MANCINA: Speed 2, Con-Air (co-composed with Trevor Rabin).

HUMMIE MANN: The Rescuers Part II.

DENNIS McCARTHY: Letters from a Killer (d. David Carson).

MICHAEL McCUISTION: Sub-Zero (direct-to-video animated Batman).

JOEL McNEELY: Virus.

ALAN MENKEN: Hercules (animated).

CYNTHIA MILLAR: Digging to China (d. Timothy Hutton, conducted by Elmer Bernstein).

ENNIO MORRICONE: Lolita (d. Adrian Lyne), U-Turn (d. Oliver Stone).

MARK MOTHERSBAUGH: Independence.

DAVID NEWMAN: Out to Sea (Walter Matthau, Jack Lemmon), Quest for Camelot, Anastasia (Fox, animated musical).

THOMAS NEWMAN: Mad City, Oscar and Lucinda (d. G. Armstrong).

MICHAEL NYMAN: Gattaca (sci-fi, Uma Thurman, Ethan Hawke).

JOHN OTTMANN: Incognito (d. John Badham), The Apt Pupil (d. Bryan Singer, Ottman also editor).

JEAN-CLAUDE PETIT: Beaumarchais, l'insolent (17th century, period).

NICHOLAS PIKE: Warrior of Waverly Street.

Basil Poledouris: Going West in America (action, d. Jeb Stuart), Starship Troopers (d. Paul Verhoeven).

RACHEL PORTMAN: Home Fries, Beloved (d. Jonathan Demme), Legend of Milan (Disney animated).

JOHN POWELL: Face/Off (d. John Woo—evidently Isham/Off).

JAC REDFORD: Wild America.

GRAEME REVELL: Spawn.

J. PETER ROBINSON: Firestorm (Fox).

WILLIAM ROSS: A Smile Like Yours.

MARK RUBIN AND BAD LIVERS: The Newton Boys (d. Linklater, Fox).

LALO SCHIFRIN: Money Talks (action/comedy, '70s style score, New Line), Something to Believe In (love story), Tango.

JOHN SCOTT: The Scarlet Tunic (follow-up film to The Jungle Book).

MARC SHAIMAN: In and Out, George of the Jungle.

HOWARD SHORE: The Game (d. David Fincher), Copland (Stallone).

ALAN SILVESTRI: Contact (d. Zemeckis, Jodie Foster), Tarzan: The Animated Movie (Disney).

FREDERIC TALGORN: Story of Monty Spinneratz (German, fantasy).

MICHAEL TAVERA: Mr. Magoo (Leslie Nielsen), Rocket Man (Disney).

CHRISTOPHER TYNG: Bring Me the Head of Mavis Davis (U.K.).

WENDY & LISA: Soul Food.

MERVYN WARREN: Steel, The Kiss (Danny Devito/Queen Latifah).

JOHN WILLIAMS: Seven Years in Tibet (Brad Pitt), Amistad (d. Steven Spielberg, slave revolt on ship).

DEBBIE WISEMAN: Wilde (film about Oscar Wilde).

PETER WOLF: The Fearless Four (German, animated).

CHRISTOPHER YOUNG: Kilronin (thriller), Watch That Man (Bill Murray spy spoof), The Flood.

HANS ZIMMER: Prince of Egypt (animated musical), The Peacemaker (Nicole Kidman, George Clooney, Dreamworks), To Death (d. Nicolas Roeg).