We Are Movie Geeks

Grammy nominated producer and composer Junkie XL provides the raw, gritty score for Warner Bros. crime thriller RUN ALL NIGHT starring Liam Neeson, Ed Harris, and Joel Kinnaman.

Directed by Jaume Collett-Sera, the film follows Brooklyn hit man Jimmy Conlon (Neeson), who finds himself haunted by the sins of his past when his estranged son becomes a target of his longtime best friend, mob boss Shawn Maguire (Harris).

The film opens in theaters nationwide March 13th, 2015. The RUN ALL NIGHT original motion picture soundtrack will be available on Water Tower Music on March 10th, 2015.

Junkie XL‘s recent credits include the box office hits DIVERGENT and 300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE. Junkie XL’s upcoming projects include the highly anticipated MAD MAX: FURY ROAD in theaters on May 15.

He is also re-teaming with Oscar winning composer Hans Zimmer to score the upcoming film BATMAN v. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE. Junkie XL will score the music for Batman with Zimmer composing the score for Superman in the film.

Inspired by the film’s storyline before being brought on as the composer, Junkie XL created a 55 minute sketchbook of music that he envisioned for the movie. “First, Darren Higman (Vice President of Music at Warner Bros.) explained the story to me in detail. He did it so well that I got very excited and was inspired to start writing music for the movie. The suite became a musical sketchbook that I later could pull from. After five days of writing, I was able to see the film. Funny enough, it felt like all of the music I wrote would work very well for the film. When I met with the director, Jaume, and played the music for him, he was very excited. All of the main themes that I came up with ended up in the film,” explains Junkie XL. This sketchbook will be included as a bonus feature on the RUN ALL NIGHT soundtrack release.

Junkie XL musically approached the film as a character study, creating a layered score for Run All Night that goes beyond the traditional musical genre of the crime thriller. “I wanted to write music that was reflection of the psychological state of the characters as opposed to just the action on screen. The music needed to underscore the characters’ wide range of emotions. To accomplish this, I incorporated deep, brute feeling drums with cello solos,” explains Junkie XL. Channeling the classic “hit man” thrillers of the 60s and 70s, the composer didn’t want the score to overwhelm the action sequences. “There is a great chase scene in the film where I purposefully didn’t want to use any music. The action and sound effects drive the scene, so the score came in at the end of the sequence to put you inside of the character’s mental state in a way that is not typically explored in modern action films,” explained the composer.

Junkie XL (Tom Holkenborg) has built a reputation on musical experimentation. The Grammy-nominated multi-platinum selling producer and composer’s versatility puts him on the cutting edge of contemporary music, as well as at the vanguard of film composition.

Holkenborg’s music career began when he founded the industrial band NERVE, while producing bands like Sepultura and Fear Factory. Drawn by electronic breakbeats he became Junkie XL debuting with the album “Saturday Teenage Kick.” Junkie XL went on to produce five more albums while headlining shows worldwide. The producer/remixer scored a number 1 hit in 24 countries with his rework of Elvis Presley’s “A Little Less Conversation”. Following the success, Junkie XL collaborated with celebrated artists including Dave Gahan, Robert Smith, Chuck D, and remixed artists including Coldplay, Britney Spears, and Justin Timberlake.