Jennifer Lawrence stars in the new preview for THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1.
Lionsgate today unveiled plans to debut the year’s most anticipated film, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, in the UK, Asia and North America. The film, the third in the global blockbuster Hunger Games film franchise, opens in theaters worldwide on November 21, 2014 and will hold its world premiere in London, England on November 10th. Beginning in Beijing, the cast including Academy Award-winner Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Sam Claflin, director Francis Lawrence and producers Nina Jacobson and Jon Kilik, will embark on a World Press Tour with stops in Seoul, London, New York and Los Angeles.
Elizabeth Banks, Julianne Moore, Natalie Dormer, Stanley Tucci and Donald Sutherland will join the delegation in London for the film’s UK world premiere in Leicester Square. Fans in the U.S. who purchase tickets on Fandango October 29th during the first 24 hours of advance sales will be entered for a chance to win a trip to the London Premiere. All purchases on AMCTheaters.com, Cinemark.com, Fandango.com, and MovieTickets.com in the first 24 hours will receive a free download of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire on VUDU.
All of the cast will reconvene for the Los Angeles premiere, which will take place on November 17th at the Nokia Live Theater.
The first Hunger Games film generated nearly $700 million at the worldwide box office. The second film in the franchise, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, was the #1 domestic film of 2013 and the 10th highest-grossing North American release of all time, grossing over $860 million around the world and bringing the combined global box office of the first two films to over $1.5 billion.
The worldwide phenomenon of The Hunger Games continues to set the world on fire with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, which finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in District 13 after she literally shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and a nation moved by her courage.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Peter Craig and Danny Strong, from an adaptation by Suzanne Collins and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the third in a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins that has over 65 million copies in print in the U.S. alone.
Also starring Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Donald Sutherland, Stanley Tucci, Jeffrey Wright, Natalie Dormer, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, Willow Shields and Philip Seymour Hoffman, THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1 opens nationwide November 21.
Starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Rhys Ifans, and Toby Jones, watch the first trailer for director Susanne Bier’s SERENA.
Based on the novel by Ron Rash, the period film follows newlyweds George Pemberton and his new bride, Serena, as they maintain a close watch over a burgeoning logging empire in Depression-era North Carolina, ruthlessly ruling the woodlands while fighting off the efforts of environmental activists to turn their land into a national park.
Bier’s latest film, A SECOND CHANCE, had its world premiere Tuesday night at the Toronto International Film Festival. Bier won the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar for IN A BETTER WORLD (2010) and was also nominated for AFTER THE WEDDING (2006).
SERENA is scheduled for a UK release onOctober 24. Count on a U.S. release date to be announced soon so it doesn’t miss a bid for awards consideration at year’s end.
“The Courage Of One Will Change The World” in this final poster for THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1.
A brand new trailer will be here in 5 days.
The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Donald Sutherland, Stanley Tucci, Jeffrey Wright, Natalie Dormer, Sam Claflin, Jena Malone, Willow Shields.
The worldwide phenomenon of The Hunger Games continues to set the world on fire with THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1, which finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in District 13 after she literally shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and a nation moved by her courage.
THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1 is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Danny Strong and Peter Craig and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the third in a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins that has over 65 million copies in print in the U.S. alone.
Check back on September 15 to see Our Leader The Mockingjay arrive in full force in the new official worldwide trailer and go behind the scenes with exclusive interviews and images in The Hunger Games Exclusive Series 2.
TheCapitol.PN was hacked yesterday by the rebel underground, revealing six profound DISTRICT 13 CITIZEN POSTERS. These posters include some of our most courageous leaders from District 13: PRESIDENT COIN, FINNICK, PLUTARCH, BEETEE, EFFIE and HAYMITCH.
Visit DISTRICT13.CO.IN in an effort to help spread word to Panem that The Mockingjay Lives.
The worldwide phenomenon of The Hunger Games continues to set the world on fire with THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1, which finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in District 13 after she literally shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and a nation moved by her courage.
The movie is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Danny Strong and Peter Craig and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the third in a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins that has over 65 million copies in print in the U.S. alone.
The cast includes Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss Everdeen), Josh Hutcherson (Peeta Mellark), Liam Hemsworth (Gale Hawthorne), Woody Harrelson (Haymitch Abernathy), Elizabeth Banks (Effie Trinket), Julianne Moore (President Coin), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Plutarch Heavensbee), Jeffrey Wright (Beetee), Sam Claflin (Finnick Odair), Jena Malone (Johanna Mason), with Stanley Tucci (Caesar Flickerman), and Donald Sutherland (President Snow).
THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1 opens nationwide November 21
The wait is finally over. See the brand new teaser trailer for the highly-anticipated film THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1.
The next chapter finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in District 13 after she literally shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and a nation moved by her courage.
The film’s Natalie Dormer [Cressida], Mahershala Ali [Boggs], Evan Ross [Messalla], Elden Henson [Pollux], and Wes Chatham [Castor] all signed autographs for fans at the Lionsgate Booth on Friday during Comic Con 2014.
Photo by Alexandra Wyman/Invision for Lionsgate/AP Images
In a first-of-its-kind experience, fans had the opportunity to preview the trailer on the Galaxy Tab S at an exclusive premiere in San Diego during Comic-Con. For those outside San Diego, fans were also invited to visit participating Samsung Experience Shops within Best Buy locations nationwide throughout the weekend to preview the trailer.
Samsung provided visitors that viewed the trailer at Samsung Experience Shops one complimentary ticket to see the movie when it opens in theaters worldwide on November 21. Additionally, owners of select Galaxy devices* will have the opportunity to download the all-new Hunger Games Movie Pack App, via Google Play™ for access to exclusive content from The Hunger Games franchise.
The Hunger Games Movie Pack App:
As part of the collaboration, The Hunger Games Movie Pack App will be available to download for free on select Samsung devices* beginning July 28, via Google Play. The app will give Galaxy owners access to exclusive Hunger Games content, including scripts, book excerpts, video clips and more.
Galaxy Tab S owners will have the opportunity to download the first two Hunger Games films for free, in addition to receiving all the exclusive content through the app. Samsung will continue to deliver exclusive Hunger Games content to Galaxy owners through the app leading up to the film’s premiere on November 21. *
Samsung, Galaxy, Galaxy S, and Galaxy Tab are all registered trademarks of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
*The Hunger Games Movie Pack App will be available to download for free on the Galaxy Tab S, Galaxy Note Pro, Galaxy Tab Pro, Galaxy Note 3, Galaxy S5 and Galaxy S4 starting July 28.
*Limit to 200,000 downloads per movie. Available through December 31, 2014.
THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1 is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Danny Strong and Peter Craig and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the third in a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins that has over 65 million copies in print in the U.S. alone.
The cast includes Jennifer Lawrence (Katniss Everdeen), Josh Hutcherson (Peeta Mellark), Liam Hemsworth (Gale Hawthorne), Woody Harrelson (Haymitch Abernathy), Elizabeth Banks (Effie Trinket), Julianne Moore (President Coin), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Plutarch Heavensbee), Jeffrey Wright (Beetee), Sam Claflin (Finnick Odair), Jena Malone (Johanna Mason), with Stanley Tucci (Caesar Flickerman), and Donald Sutherland (President Snow)
CITIZENS: The Capitol requires your viewing of President Snow’s official Panem Address, “Together As One,” brought to you by Capitol TV in stunning 4K.
Register for Capitol TV updates at http://TheCapitol.PN. This is a Capitol Ministry of Information mandate. #OnePanem.
The worldwide phenomenon of The Hunger Games continues to set the world on fire with THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1 , which finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in District 13 after she literally shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and a nation moved by her courage.
THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1 is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Danny Strong and Peter Craig and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the third in a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins that has over 65 million copies in print in the U.S. alone.
Opening in theaters on November 21, 2014, the film stars Jennifer Lawrence(Katniss Everdeen), Josh Hutcherson (Peeta Mellark), Liam Hemsworth (Gale Hawthorne), Woody Harrelson (Haymitch Abernathy), Elizabeth Banks (Effie Trinket), Julianne Moore (President Coin), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Plutarch Heavensbee), Jeffrey Wright (Beetee), Sam Claflin (Finnick Odair), Jena Malone (Johanna Mason), with Stanley Tucci (Caesar Flickerman), and Donald Sutherland (President Snow).
Mahershala Ali (left) and Director Francis Lawrence (right) on the set of THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1. Photo Credit: Murray Close
The worldwide phenomenon of The Hunger Games continues to set the world on fire with THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1 , which finds Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) in District 13 after she literally shatters the games forever. Under the leadership of President Coin (Julianne Moore) and the advice of her trusted friends, Katniss spreads her wings as she fights to save Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) and a nation moved by her courage.
THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1 is directed by Francis Lawrence from a screenplay by Danny Strong and Peter Craig and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik. The novel on which the film is based is the third in a trilogy written by Suzanne Collins that has over 65 million copies in print in the U.S. alone.
Opening in theaters on November 21, 2014, the film stars Jennifer Lawrence(Katniss Everdeen), Josh Hutcherson (Peeta Mellark), Liam Hemsworth (Gale Hawthorne), Woody Harrelson (Haymitch Abernathy), Elizabeth Banks (Effie Trinket), Julianne Moore (President Coin), Philip Seymour Hoffman (Plutarch Heavensbee), Jeffrey Wright (Beetee), Sam Claflin (Finnick Odair), Jena Malone (Johanna Mason), with Stanley Tucci (Caesar Flickerman), and Donald Sutherland (President Snow).
Lionsgate has announced it will launch a U.S. tour of “The Hunger Games: The Exhibition” in summer 2015.
The state-of-the-art exhibition, which will include interactive displays of authentic costumes, props and other elements of the world of The Hunger Games, will be designed in conjunction with Thinkwell Group, one of the world’s leading theme park and location-based entertainment companies.
The first two Hunger Games films have grossed more than $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire became the highest-grossing domestic release of 2013 and the 10th highest-grossing domestic release of all time.
“The Hunger Games: The Exhibition” will launch several months ahead of the November 20, 2015 worldwide release of the fourth Hunger Games film, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, and will incorporate artifacts featured in the first three films from locations within the Capitol and the various Districts of Panem. The exhibition will be featured in major museums and institutions across the country and will be supported by a multimedia promotional effort and nationwide advance ticket sales.
Kabam today announced that it has partnered with Lionsgate to create a mobile game based on the global blockbuster movie franchise The Hunger Games.
Kabam will produce an exclusive role playing, card collection mobile game that will deliver the action of the blockbuster film into the hands of avid fans around the world. In the game, players assume the identity of District members sent on a mission in order to build their alliance, liberate their District, and rebuild Panem.
The blockbuster The Hunger Games franchise, starring Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence, is a global phenomenon whose first two installments have grossed more than $1.5 billion at the worldwide box office, and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is the 10th highest-grossing domestic release of all time.
The next two installments of the series, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, will be released on November 21, 2014, and November 20, 2015, respectively.
This weekend sees the latest entry in the franchise that started it all: the big budget superhero movie block buster. Or more specifically, the Marvel superhero movie blockbuster. Long ago DC comics (now part of Warner Brothers) had big hits in 1978 with SUPERMAN, THE MOVIE and again in 1989 with BATMAN. Those flicks spawned sequels, but their success never expanded past those characters or to DC’s competitor, Marvel . After scoring a modest hit with 1998’s BLADE, the Marvel superheroes really arrived at the multiplexes with 2000’s X-MEN. SPIDER-MAN swung onto movie screens in 2002, and Marvel began its own studio in 2008 with the first IRON MAN. Tickets sales haven’t really subsided since and so now we have a new feature based on an early 1980’s comics storyline, X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, the first mutant movie, not counting last Summer’s solo spin-off THE WOLVERINE, since 2011’s X-MEN: FIRST CLASS. That surprise smash was a prequel to the original 2000-2006 trilogy with younger actors playing swingin’ sixties versions of the crew. Seems those sneaky Fox film makers and execs picked the PAST story in order to have the best of both worlds. So we’ve got two Magnetos, two Xaviers, and so on. uniting them all is the immortal Logan, the Wolverine played by Hugh Jackman for the seventh time (those are Bond numbers)! And rejoining the heroes is their original movie guide Bryan Singer who bowed out of CLASS and X-MEN: THE LAST STAND (he jumped ship to DC for a Superman reboot that, um, didn’t take). So, how’s this time-tripping tale? Let’s slap on our 3D specs (or not, but at least those glasses aren’t as clunky as Cerebro!) and take a field trip to that secluded school for gifted youngsters.
The film opens during a dark, almost pitch black time for humanity in the not-too-distant future. Earth’s cities are burned out husks with piles of bodies littering the streets thanks to the omnipresent, hovering sentinel robots. Not only do they round-up mutants, but they dispose of their human sympathizers. But there are pockets of resistance. In China, Kitty Pryde (Ellen Page) leads a group of fellow mutants (including Colossus and Warpath) as they evade capture in a constant loop of hiding, fighting, and running. Kitty is able to send the consciousness of Bishop (Omar Sy) back in time (an hour or so) to his past body and warn his pals order to evade the bots. At the end of their latest skirmish the ragtag group spies a unfamiliar aircraft. It is another mutant group headed by Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen)! They’ve got a plan to use Kitty’s powers to go back fifty years to 1973 and prevent Raven AKA Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) from assassinating inventor Dr. Bolivar Trask (Petre Dinklage) which inspires the creation of the killer androids. But trying to send someone back more than a few hours would tear the subject’s body apart. Unless they have heightened healing abilities. This is a job for the Wolverine AKA Logan (Jackman). In 1973 Logan heads to the shuttered school to convince the now powerless Xavier (James McAvoy) and Hank McCoy AKA the Beast (Nicholas Hoult) that they must save the future. The three must enlist their enemy Eric Lehnsherr AKA Magneto (Michael Fassbender) to break the chain of events before the sentinels in modern,er future, China track down and destroy the remaining X-Men.
Sounds a bit confusing? Not too worry, the expert cast guides the film effortlessly through the years. The movie’s anchor is the always entertaining Jackman as that dude with a bad tude’ (and claws that pop out of his knuckles). As he embarks on what may be his last mission, there’s a somber quality to Logan, but once he’s in the familiar 70’s territory (he is immortal) we get a bit more of his dry wit and even a few double takes (why is the bed rolling?). And the action scenes are just as energetic as when he donned that X-belt many moons ago. Plus he’s got great chemistry with all the incarnations of his comrades. Stewart brings the intelligence and gravitas to the father (or grandfather) figure leader of the team, while McAvoy as the younger Charles has an angry, frustrated, even haunted quality to the role. He’s equally dejected over losing his mind powers as much as losing the great love of his youth. And, as the trailer shows, there’s a corker of a scene between the two actors as young meets old. McKellen still gives an aristocratic nobility to Eric, especially as he floats in to the sky, his arms outstretched and cape billowing. As the 70’s Eric, Fassbenber adds an air of cool, as he attempts to conceal his own sinister agenda. Lawrence, as the woman both adored, is able to mask her appearance, but not her own master plan. She’s tired of being hunted and decides to go on the offensive, to be in charge of her own, and mutantkind’s fate. But once she’s in her true blue-skinned form, there’s a real vulnerability to her. The casting of Dinklage as the dark designer is an inspired choice. He’s no ranting bigot out to wipe out the different, even admitting an admiration for the beings his machines target. Returning team mates Hoult and Page offer terrific support as do veterans Shawn Ashmore as Iceman and the always radiant and exotic Halle Berry as Storm. But the film’s big scene stealer may be Evan Peters as the super quick Peter Maximoff AKA Quicksilver. He’s just in a few scenes, but his assistance on a mission with Logan, Charles, and Hank might be the most enjoyable movie superhero sequence since Loki met the Hulk. Let’s hope Joss Whedon’s take on the speed-demon in the upcoming Avengers sequel is at least half as entertaining.
Singer slips back into this mutant world with surprising ease. The time travel element seems to have brought an extra zing to the series much as it did with Star Trek in VI: THE VOYAGE HOME and FIRST CONTACT (perhaps that’s why we see a clip of Kirk on a TV set speaking about time jumping from the original series). The fashions, props, cars, and odd facial hair perfectly capture the period along with the retro tech used to document the mutants doing their thing in public. We see it from folks filming on choppy vidoetape, 16mm, and even Super 8 mm (I swear that’s Singer himself peering through the lens of that antique). In addition to time hopping, there a lot of great globe-hopping with action taking place in Paris, Saigon, and the states giving this titanic tale an epic quality missing from many multi-hero extravaganzas. John Ottman contributes a pulse -pounding score and clear, taut editing. This film takes its place amongst the better superhero films of recent memory (odd that Logan almost suffers the same fate as Captain American in his flick last month…and in the same place!). I would even say whole-heartedly that X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST is the best of the X film series. Let’s hope the whole group will get back together for another big-screen adventure in the very,very near future, because this time out they are truly Marvel-ous mutants! Actually they’re x-trordinary!
Sony Music is releasing the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack of X-Men: Days of Future Past, featuring music composed by BAFTA Award winner John Ottman. The soundtrack will be available digitally on May 19 and on CD June 3.
John Ottman graduated from the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. One of his early assignments was to provide original music for the computer game I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream. In 1996 he won a BAFTA award for editing THE USUAL SUSPECTS, and was later nominated for an Emmy Award for his score to the ABC series Fantasy Island.
Ottman’s range of composition takes in X-MEN 2, the dark comedy of THE CABLE GUY, the nightmares of GOTHIKA and ORPHAN, and the animated notes of ASTRO BOY.
With six films already released, X-Men is one of the most successful franchises in film history. It started in 2000 with the original X-Men movie, directed by Bryan Singer. X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST is the seventh in the series and the third directed by Singer. The cast Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, Peter Dinklage, and Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen.
It is a dual sequel to X-MEN: THE LAST STAND and X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, and also follows up the story of THE WOLVERINE. The ultimate X-Men ensemble fights a war for the survival of the species across two time periods in X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. The beloved characters from the original X-Men film trilogy join forces with their younger selves from the past, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS, in order to change a major historical event and fight in an epic battle that could save our future. The film opens nationwide this Friday.
In Variety’s review of the upcoming film, writer Justin Chang said, “Like many of Singer’s prior pics, the production benefits from the dual contributions of versatile editor-composer John Ottman — particularly evident in the story’s clean pacing and construction.”
In my recent phone conversation with Mr. Ottman, we discussed his return to the world of the Mutants. He was very honest and forthcoming about the trials and tribulations that come from editing and composing for this type of motion picture.
What’s it like to be back with Professor Charles Xavier, Magneto, Wolverine, and Mystique after being away for so long? “It was great to be back in that world especially since X-MEN 2 was my first big film that I got to do. I have fond memories of it because, in retrospect, it was a film that seemed to go very smoothly and had very little interference from the studio. I tend to look back on it as an exciting time, so it was awesome to go back into it.”
“On this film, with the story being focused on a young and broken Charles Xavier, I was given a musical opportunity to underscore his journey of rekindling the hope he’d lost. Charles Xavier finally gets his own theme.”
Ottman was brought on board to X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, ”pretty much at the tail end of pre-production – we were putting together the pre-visualizations and I came in and worked on those, even before we began shooting.”
The composer is no stranger to this epic movie series and to the superhero genre. As both composer and editor, Ottman is the musical right-hand man of Bryan Singer, with whom he collaborated on THE USUAL SUSPECTS as well as X-MEN 2. How does that work, especially with this type of big film?
“Before shooting there are all these animated versions of the scenes that we have to put together – you’re pre-conceiving the scenes, (previs), and we have a tremendous amount of those to do and many of them we were doing as we were shooting because there are so many sequences. With previs, we were already planning the shoot on the next thing we had to design. It’s a tremendous amount of work to design shot-by-shot and figure out what the scenes are going to be and how they’re going to be laid out.”
Once into the thick of it, I asked Ottman if he was composing to the edit or editing to the score.
“I wish I was doing either one, but when I’m editing the movie it’s so completely overwhelming that there’s no way I could even have a hope of going to my keyboard to write anything while I’m dealing with the cut of the film. Cutting the movie also involves storyboarding the scenes and designing previs’, so what I do is cut the whole film together at length. I don’t even put music on my scenes while I’m cutting them. I want to sit back and watch a film work without music and then once I put my editor’s cut together, then I put contemporary music in there for weeks after – that way we can screen the film for people at the studio. The actual score I don’t start writing for months after that.”
In combining the two jobs, Ottman says, “As I’m cutting, and putting sequences together in my head, I’m subliminally hearing and thinking about the kind of music it’s going to be, but what it’s actually going to be, I’m not sure yet.”
“All I do is worry about it from the moment I go to wherever we’re shooting, I’m worried about the score and when I’m going to write it, and how I’m going to do it. The editorial process never ends – especially on a complicated film. Then when the studio comes in with notes and the film starts going around in circles, and I have to go write the score somehow, yet I’m still tending to the recutting, various special-effects problems, looping the actors and test screenings. It never ends. There’s never really I time where I can say, ‘okay everybody, I’m going to go write the score now.’ I can’t put the film on hold.”
In Ottman’s ongoing, incredibly productive collaborative relationship with Singer, the two have developed a shorthand communication that allows their creative process to thrive. How did Ottman go from scoring films to “I think I’ll edit.”?
“It’s not a choice. It’s by gunpoint. The director (Bryan Singer) refuses to let me score the film unless I’m the editor, because we go way back to USC Film School and he depends on me to be his working partner.”
“After our first feature – PUBLIC ACCESS – won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival, I was like, ‘well hell, I like scoring films.’ When we did SUSPECTS, I said, “Can I just score the film?” and he said, “Hell no,” and that blackmail basically continues to this day.”
“But it’s occurred to me, why in my right mind would I do such a thing and then leave my scoring career – it’s not financially a wise thing to do because I lose a lot of work during the time I’m in editing ‘jail.’ ”
“On the other side of it, I have a hand in creating the film I’m going to score. Sometimes after I’ve been scoring films for a while, I feel like a film score grunt. Being the editor on a film puts me in charge of something.”
Is any editor totally happy with the finished product? Ottman says, “Depends on the movie. Some movies yes, some movies no. This was a very complicated film. I likened this one to ‘Whack-the-mole’ game more than any other movie we’ve done because of the time travel element. With time travel, you solve one problem, you create a different one. You just have to keep whacking the mole until the smallest mole that pops up is the one you can live with. This is the logic we’re going with.”
“I look at the film… there’s some things I wish in retrospect we had had the time to do and so forth, but I’m generally very happy with it.”
Ottman’s involvement with X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST began on set, where he would meet with Singer before filming began, and continued through the recording of the orchestra and choir on the Fox scoring stage. Even with a big film like this, was a musically quiet score ever considered?
“I would love to write a little, quiet score. I have no intentions to fill a film with music, but you know it’s the nature of the beast with this type of movie. Once you light the fuse with the music, it’s hard to stop it. With this one we went in knowing this is going to be a big score, however having said, it’s not really that traditional of a score as I’ve done before. It’s more modern. There’s a lot more synthesizer elements in the score and many times the orchestra is simply sweeping something I’ve designed with synthesizer.”
Ottman wrote the soundtrack for X-MEN 2, the second in the X-Men series. Fans can expect to hear parts from the 2003 film.
“The future is very dark, and so by default the score is very dark. I did use elements from X-MEN 2 since that’s the one I scored. I resurrected that theme too, so that is the theme of X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST.”
“I see X-MEN 2 as the most embraced X-MEN film. I’m a little biased, but I always felt that theme should have been a common thread throughout this film. I know the studio felt that way so I really didn’t have a hard time convincing them.”
Being a fan myself of his scores for SUPERMAN RETURNS, JACK THE GIANT SLAYER, the recent, NON-STOP, and especially VALKYRIE, the composer said he tries to keep the music to these action films in the background.
“With VALKYRIE, I set out to do a score that was very scant and sparse. Because I’m very involved in the sound design of the movie, I was very proud of all the typewriter and teletype machines sounds in VALKYRIE. I wanted it to sound raw and realistic and not film glossy. That movie is a caper. VALKYRIE was a trick of keeping the excitement going, editorially and musically, because there are a lot of old men talking in a room.”
“I did a very pulsating score and then I actually buried the score intentionally with sound effects. When people watch the movie, they’ll find there’s a lot of score there, but I want them to just feel it – not really hear it. The story is so good. I felt from day one very confident about that movie. At the end of the day it’s a great story.”
Ottman’s film scores have earned him a Saturn Award and several BMI Film Music Awards. As Hollywood’s only editor/composer of blockbusters, John Ottman also added director to his title with his directorial debut on the film URBAN LEGENDS: FINAL CUT. Does he want to direct again? ”You know, I really do! If I could split myself into clones – one would be developing a film and getting ready to direct and the other one would be going for that dangling carrot that Bryan (Singer) always puts in front of my face with the X-MEN movies.”
“It’s hard because if I decide to go direct something, that’s going to take a long time to develop, I’m going to inevitably run into an X-MEN movie that I can’t say no to. At some point, I’m going to need to get the guts to say no and go and do something on my own for fun. At this point in my career, knock on wood, I can afford to just go off and do a little movie and not worry about it. I would love to do a little film.”
So just how keen is Ottman to the notion of another composer writing the score for one of his movies in the future? With a laugh, his reply was, “No. When I started in the early days of my career, my intention was, ‘well, I’ll direct and score movies’ so I can choose the ones I want to direct and score for. That was a crossroads for me – after URBAN LEGENDS. In retrospect, who knows if I made the right decision? I was offered countless Teen movies and I just said, ‘I don’t want to do Teen movies,’ and I said no. I felt like the Film Scoring community had written me off. So I went back to film scoring. Either I would have directed a bunch of teen movies, and by this time directing everything I wanted to, or my next film could’ve been a complete failure. Who knows? Believe it or not, URBAN LEGENDS was number one at the Box Office, so it was a success.”
As for his next project, Ottman has nothing intentionally planned. “After having double duty, it’s more than I would wish on my worst enemy. I think I’ll take some time and smell the roses and do some thinking about when I want to jump back into something.”
Aside from jokingly advising against it, Ottman’s advice to budding film composers is, “Do. Do. Do. Do everything that comes to you or that you may see or seek out – no matter how dumb or ridiculous the project seems. Take on that stupid little movie. It will train you to have a good attitude about things, creatively. You put yourself in the position of making something better and making yourself believe in something that may have initially started out as a stupid movie, but making yourself believe it’s going to be good because of your work on it. That really never changes.”
“Even to this day, I get on some terrible film, but by the end of it I’ve convinced myself that it’s a really good movie and I’ve helped make it better. The other advantage to have that mindset is the project you least expect is always the one that leads you somewhere. Some dumb little thing you do, someone’s brother’s uncle’s sister may have seen that little movie and it leads you to a place that you least expect. Basically, the more you do, the more you’re going to have an opportunity somewhere.”
X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST hits theaters on May 23.
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