Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them 5-film series

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Yeah I think James Newton Howard is an excellent choice, excited to hear a new composer in the Harry Potter universe of music.

 

Honestly the only thing that gives me pause with this movie is Yates directing it.  I personally thought he ruined the last 4 Potter movies after Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire were so excellent.  There were individual sequences and performances that were great, but overall poor adaptations that didn't capture the spirit of the books at all.

[bollemanneke 3,348]

I HAVE AN ALLY!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Yates was great at sucking all the life out of those wonderful stories.

[bollemanneke 3,348]

To think that the people in charge actually liked his approach...

[Jay 37,359]

21 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Honestly the only thing that gives me pause with this movie is Yates directing it.  I personally thought he ruined the last 4 Potter movies after Prisoner of Azkaban and Goblet of Fire were so excellent.  There were individual sequences and performances that were great, but overall poor adaptations that didn't capture the spirit of the books at all.

 

 

2 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Yates was great at sucking all the life out of those wonderful stories.

 

[Disco Stu 15,495]

He basically filmed them so that they were as exciting as a cheap BBC period drama from the 90s.  God what I wouldn't have given for someone with the visual flair of Cuaron to bring some magic to those movies.  Anyway, all in the past now.  But for this new movie, it would have been great if they had given it to a new, more interesting director.

[bollemanneke 3,348]

Were others considered at all? Or was Yates the first one they approached?

[Jay 37,359]

3 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

He basically filmed them so that they were as exciting as a cheap BBC period drama from the 90s.  God what I wouldn't have given for someone with the visual flair of Cuaron to bring some magic to those movies.  Anyway, all in the past now.  But for this new movie, it would have been great if they had given it to a new, more interesting director.

[crumbs 14,314]

I'm certain Cuaron was approached but turned it down, just like Goblet of Fire and I think Deathly Hallows.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I still think Joe Wright would have been an excellent choice for one of those last 4.  An excellent British director with a much more visually interesting style.  I loved his adaptations of Pride & Prejudice and Anna Karenina. Both captured the spirits of their source material wonderfully.

[bollemanneke 3,348]

Pride & Prejudice was indeed great!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

3 minutes ago, bollemanneke said:

Pride & Prejudice was indeed great!

 

Right? It was amazing how kinetic and alive he made Jane Austen where so many literary adaptations are dreary and boring.  Imagine what he could have done with Harry Potter!

[bollemanneke 3,348]

Absolutely. I loved how Keira Knightley brought all the rigid dialogue to life, and the piano music was absolutely marvellous. 'Georgiana' was an amazing track!

[mrbellamy 6,286]

Really glad to hear about JNH, looking forward to hearing this.

 

2 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

Were others considered at all? Or was Yates the first one they approached?

 

1 hour ago, crumbs said:

I'm certain Cuaron was approached but turned it down, just like Goblet of Fire and I think Deathly Hallows.

 

There were definitely a few rumors floating around about Cuaron for this. Could have been serious, could have just been one conversation with WB, could have been nothing.

 

I figure Yates was always one of their 2 or 3 top choices. David Heyman always maintained that the incumbent director had first right of refusal on the Potters. Columbus was offered Azkaban, Cuaron was offered Goblet, Newell was offered Phoenix, and Yates was always offered the next ones. Obviously he kept saying yes so while it's not like we know what goes on behind the scenes, there's not really any evidence that they were going to go somewhere else. 

 

To be perfectly fair there's no compelling reason to replace him from their POV. He clearly enjoys doing them, he already knows pretty much everybody involved from the top down, he's well-versed in Potter, the cast loved him, and his films held a consistent line with both critics and box office. He has no objective marks against him, just a vocal group of fans who don't like his take.

[nightscape94 965]

3 hours ago, bollemanneke said:

Pride & Prejudice was indeed great!

 

Pride & Prejudice was one of those stories I just got sick of seeing or even hearing about.  I had read the book in school, saw the 90s miniseries a million times because my Dad had it on VHS and was a huge fan, saw uncounted other versions, had a college course that covered it, etc, etc.  There was only so much I could take before I just started rolling my eyes whenever references came up.

 

When I sat down to watch the 2005 version I almost couldn't believe how frickin' good it was.  Utterly wonderful, succinct, refined, well-acted, beautifully shot, etc.  Probably the best possible version of it in movie form.

[Alex 2,835]

I'm not sure I'll ever forgive Yates for all that rubbish he spouted about not being able to give JW a rough cut of DH Part 2 any earlier. Should have just admitted that he never wanted him. ?

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

5 minutes ago, alextrombone94 said:

I'm not sure I'll ever forgive Yates for all that rubbish he spouted about not being able to give JW a rough cut of DH Part 2 any earlier. Should have just admitted that he never wanted him. ?

I'm not sure I'll ever forgive him for making dull and bad films.

[Alex 2,835]

3 minutes ago, Mr. Big said:

I'm not sure I'll ever forgive him for making dull and bad films.

Yeah, I'm a massive Harry Potter fan but David Yates really screwed up the last 4 films. He should never have been allowed to direct more than one

[bollemanneke 3,348]

Amen. Desplat did a fine job though.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Overall I found Desplat's work on Deathly Hallows a little disappointing, but that triumphant performance of Lily's Theme at 0:53 in "Dragon Flight" still gives me the chills:

 

 

[bollemanneke 3,348]

Same here.

[nightscape94 965]

As far as JNH is concerned, I'm happy he go the project.  Hopefully he can match the magic of Lady in the Water. 

[Jay 37,359]

Or the magic of Maleficent!

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

JNH is a great choice, even though he'll likely be hindered by Yates' dull musical sensibilities.  

[bollemanneke 3,348]

Ignorance, you mean?

[DarthDementous 1,059]

I'm not familiar with James Newton Howard. could someone give me samples of some of his best work so I can get an idea of the kind of aesthetic he goes for and whether he'd fit the Harry Potter universe?

[Jay 37,359]

 

 

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Your link isn't working for me, Jay.

 

[mrbellamy 6,286]

Love these JNH moments, two similar instances where a film stopped for a reflective/magical passage. Would be nice to have something like that in Beasts because he handles that stuff with great sensitivity.

 

 

 

[Muad'Dib 1,802]

Great choices, some of my favorites

 

 

 

 

If Yates gives Jamie *some* grade of freedom at least, this is going to be a fantastic score

[mrbellamy 6,286]

23 minutes ago, Michael said:

This is going to be a fantastic score

 

Could be a beastly soundtrack!

[leeallen01 2,136]

I've got a great feeling about this score's potential. It has all the makings of one of those "JNH has done it again!" type affairs. It could be another one of his magical classics like Peter Pan and his Disney contributions. He did it recently too with Maleficent where it really made you appreciate how wondrous and magical JNH can be. I just hope the film itself is a hit.

[JoeinAR 1,949]

11 hours ago, DarthDementous said:

I'm not familiar with James Newton Howard. could someone give me samples of some of his best work so I can get an idea of the kind of aesthetic he goes for and whether he'd fit the Harry Potter universe?

His greatest achievement is something called Hands of Fate part 1 & 2. 

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Yeah, Signs is fabulous!

[Wojo 2,453]

I've still never heard a JNH I like. 

[DarthDementous 1,059]

thanks for all the responses guys, out of all of them I think I like the Waterworld one the most.

 

for the rest, not bad, but didn't really remain in my memory afterwards. I prefer the more traditional/classical orchestrations, never been fond of tribal elements for whatever reason. there are some moments where the orchestra really stands out though, I see what people mean when they say JNH has a wonderful command over the sound of his pieces. 

 

I think he'll be a good fit for this, I heard a few Williams-sounding Potter elements in some of the more whimsical samples. I quite like how it isn't a cheesy kind of whimsical either, its very restrained at times. unfortunately, the curse of Williams means that every-time I hear something similar to that I'd rather be listening to the first three Harry Potter scores. its very frustrating to find quite nice music and then go 'oh this isn't as good as Williams', stupid impossible standards!

 

if anything it'll be nice to have a score for a Harry Potter film that isn't mellow, droning, sorrowful or melancholy with exciting action moments (etc. Desplat's scoring for Deathly Hallows). I'm a great fan of thematic scoring but I don't know how JNH usually does it, I could only pick out a theme in the first Waterworld sample, even the scene between King Kong and the woman is meant to have some kind of 'love theme' but I don't hear it. might've been mixed too quietly or maybe it just doesn't stand out for me, who knows.

 

EDIT: are there any more tracks like the Waterworld one? maybe I can latch onto one particular style of JNH. also do we normally get samples for these kinds of films? I'm anxious to hear some of this film's soundtrack.

[Jay 37,359]

2 minutes ago, DarthDementous said:

thanks for all the responses guys, out of all of them I think I like the Waterworld one the most.

 

I win!

[igger6 894]

Check these out, DarthDementous.  JNH is one of the greats.  These aren't really what I'd call his "magical" mode, but they're similar to Waterworld and rousing as all get-out.  Welcome aboard!

 

 

 

[Muad'Dib 1,802]

First trailer, Hedwig's theme is used two times

 

 

[mrbellamy 6,286]

I wonder if Hedwig's Theme is actually going to be a thing in these spin-offs.

 

1 hour ago, DarthDementous said:

If anything it'll be nice to have a score for a Harry Potter film that isn't mellow, droning, sorrowful or melancholy with exciting action moments (etc. Desplat's scoring for Deathly Hallows). I'm a great fan of thematic scoring but I don't know how JNH usually does it, I could only pick out a theme in the first Waterworld sample, even the scene between King Kong and the woman is meant to have some kind of 'love theme' but I don't hear it. might've been mixed too quietly or maybe it just doesn't stand out for me, who knows.

 

He's definitely capable of thematic writing, though not really as consistent a "tunesmith" as somebody like Williams. 

 

Moving away from strictly Potter type stuff, Prince of Tides is probably his most well-known movie theme in the classic, sweeping Hollywood tradition:

 

 

This is essential James Newton Howard:

 

 

And to add to igger's "rousing" adventure cues:

 

 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Why do you assume he will write in that style rather then his more recent "textural" RCP style thats been very successful for him (The Hunger Games, etc)

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Maleficent proved that he still has that style in him. 

[DarthDementous 1,059]

hmm, what I guess what I meant by classical/traditional was more along the lines of what Williams did for Star Wars or Harry Potter. I just want to see if he has that kind of familiar sound in him because I think that kind of whimsical almost medieval kind of nature is very integral for Harry Potter. are there any tracks like that out there?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Sure, but will he use it for this film?

 

Its possible Yates wants something different from him.

[leeallen01 2,136]

It's clear that the film will be a traditional, fully orchestral score. I imagine a mixture of his magical fantasy style used in Peter Pan, Maleficent etc, combined with his 1920's/30's New York stuff from King Kong. He wont be synthetic computerised like in moments of Hunger Games because one of his biggest strengths is finding the unique sound of a film, and HG suited sometimes having synthetic elements as the whole premise of the films series was a synthetic world, with synthetic manufactured death and destruction. Fantastic Beasts is clearly a period Potter film, so he will ground his music appropriately in the time and setting.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I'm hoping for a strong period jazz influence.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

I can't wait for this movie Fantastic Breasts and Where to Find Them!

[Thor 7,504]

I'm too old to have any kind of connection -- nostalgic or otherwise -- to the HARRY POTTER films (they're OK for an evening's childlike entertainment, I guess), so I really don't have any kind of expectations to this spinoff thing. But I was hoping that a good score would come out of it, and now that JNH is confirmed, this is even more likely -- at least far more likely than if they had gone with Nicholas Hooper or Alexandre Desplat, both of whom I find deadly boring.

[crumbs 14,314]

The only thing I'm excited about with this film is the score, doubly so with JNH in charge.

 

Unsurprisingly the film itself looks like Yates at his dull, conservative best. The man needs his eyes checked, because his aversion to colour makes me question his understanding of photography. He wastes an entire production team's time creating these great sets and composing nice mise en scene, then sucks all the life out of it with his monochromatic grading.

 

It reminds me a lot of Peter Jackson's obsession with bloom, which completely ruined the cinematography of the Hobbit films. Is it just a total lack of faith in their own compositions? I can sort of understand Jackson doing it, because the excess of CGI probably looked horrendously fake when blended with live-action footage, but Yates is just ruining otherwise nice visuals.

 

[Bilbo 3,709]

1 hour ago, Stefancos said:

I'm hoping for a strong period jazz influence.

 

I think this is likely and makes me wish we had Williams doing it even more.