Jump to content

James Newton Howard snubbed from Unbreakable sequel


crumbs

Recommended Posts

Late to the party on this one, but couldn't see an existing thread about this thoroughly depressing news.

 

In what could be the most perplexing composer snub in film history (with the exception of David 'Bland' Yates blackballing Williams from Potter or Silvestri post-Predator 2), that "genius" M. Night Shymallamadingdong has incomprehensibly snubbed one of the key pillars of his earlier films, composer James Newton Howard, from scoring the sequel to his highly successful Unbreakable. Glass will instead be scored by some complete nobody called West Dylan Thordson, with barely any credits to his name except a bunch of documentaries and Split (a score which made zero impression). Perpetual cheapskates Blumhouse probably partly responsible for the decision, but Shyllamanama should have fought harder to have someone half-competent score this sequel.

 

http://filmmusicreporter.com/2018/04/04/west-dylan-thordson-scoring-m-night-shyamalans-glass/

 

Reactions on Twitter to JNH's dumping have been unsurprisingly toxic:

 

 

 

 

What thoroughly disappointing news, especially considering Shymadalailama was more than happy to track an iconic section of JNH's Unbreakable score directly into Split. Just another abysmal decision from a director whose career careened off the cliff and never recovered.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, a couple things - I heard rumors there was a rift between Shyamalan and Howard after After Earth.

 

I also think that this is going to follow suit with Shyamalan's latest hits (The Visit and Split) - which means that they will be significantly low budget.  Howard's ask might be too high for it, especially since they're shelling out for three A-list (or, well, former A-list, sorry Bruce) actors.

 

From FSM:   http://filmscoremonthly.com/board/posts.cfm?threadID=126485&forumID=1&archive=0

 

Quote

As to the situation on AE, my "source" said that Shyamalan originally insisted the entire score be written for solo piano - nothing more. JHN protested lightly, Shyamalan relented, JNH went ahead and wrote what was basically an action/suspense score for unaccompanied piano - and as he predicted/warned, that approach did not work at all for this kind of film. So the score we do hear is a rushed last-minute extrapolation of that original piano score, hobbled together with much frustration in the eleventh hour by JNH & his team of orchestrators.

So I'm told!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

JNH would probably still do it for a lower fee if he liked the project. I think Horner did some indie movies for that reason.

 

But who knows. M. Night isn't somone I follow these days.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If Shymalayan were so after him, they could've worked something out (Split made its budget back by factor 20). As i understood it in the interviews he gave in Berlin last year, he didn't even speak to Shymalayan the last couple of years, so it's probably more a case of a somewhat estranged couple.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, publicist said:

If Shymalayan were so after him, they could've worked something out (Split made its budget back by factor 20). As i understood it in the interviews he gave in Berlin last year, he didn't even speak to Shymalayan the last couple of years, so it's probably more a case of a somewhat estranged couple.

 

Sure, it's a "we don't want to afford him."  If Split made so much money on such a small budget, why balloon the cost of the next one?  Just keep doing that and you'll make more money!  Find a success and just keep doing that for cheap.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

JNH would probably still do it for a lower fee if he liked the project. I think Horner did some indie movies for that reason.

 

Yep, agreed, especially as no doubt Shymalamn has probably agreed to direct at a greatly reduced director's fee.

 

Also, I had no idea JNH actually scored every Shamlynama film right up until The Visit, which had no score. Are any of the post-Lady in the Water scores any good? I wouldn't be surprised if JNH's enthusiasm dropped off a cliff in line with the declining quality of the films.

 

Anyway, bloody rich of this dropkick director to use JNH's music but snub the composer himself. It's akin to Yates demanding lifts directly from SS and COS into DH2, while fighting tooth and nail behind the scenes to prevent Williams from scoring his movies.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A while ago producer James Blum (???) said:

 

Quote

 

“The budget is more traditional, still by Hollywood standards a very low budget, but it is not $5 million.”

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

26 minutes ago, crumbs said:

Late to the party on this one, but couldn't see an existing thread about this thoroughly depressing news.

 

 

http://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/20099-the-official-upcoming-scoring-assignments-thread/&do=findComment&comment=1467313

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Jay said:

 

Well I didn't trawl through every thread, but I did an open search. Must have missed those posts.

 

I think the JNH/Shyama collaboration is worthy of its own thread anyway. :P

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Sure, it's a "we don't want to afford him."  If Split made so much money on such a small budget, why balloon the cost of the next one?  Just keep doing that and you'll make more money!  Find a success and just keep doing that for cheap.

 

More of a 'we repeatedly didn't even ask him' situation. If you don't speak with one of your closest former collaborators for years it's a sign of divorce.

 

Regardless of any budget issues (i doubt movies like 'Parkland' or 'Pawn Sacrifice' were done for premium $).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 minutes ago, publicist said:

 

More of a 'we repeatedly didn't even ask him' situation. If you don't speak with one of your closest former collaborators for years it's a sign of divorce.

 

Regardless of any budget issues (i doubt movies like 'Parkland' or 'Pawn Sacrifice' were done for premium $).

 

True enough.  No matter the reason, it's a damn shame.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really don't care much about Split or The Visit, but Unbreakable was a great movie and score, i would have chosen this sequel (prequel?) over any of the high-budget things JNH churns out nowadays.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, this strikes me more as a Silvestri/Predator situation than anything else. A composer more than willing to return to a series, but snubbed by producers/the director because they'd rather secure a fat pay cheque for their best mates.

 

We've seen the same thing in dozens of franchises now, from Predator to Independence Day to Harry Potter, all with inferior and frustrating results. I expect this will continue that trend, considering how vastly superior JNH's writing is to most modern composers.

 

A damn shame he isn't offered the same opportunities that Zimmer's troop of budget clones are handed on a silver platter. Maybe we'll strike gold and Cameron will hire him for the Avatar sequels? Horner would certainly approve.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm pretty sure that partnerships such as JW/SS, JD/JG, MNS/JNH, RZ/AS, where the two are not only colleagues, but good friends, the latter word be willing to work for "salary".

This seems more personal, than pragmatic, especially as the two have produced great scores.

One thing's for sure... GLASS will be all the poorer, for not having a JNH score. Because of that, it's definitely one for the DVD.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, crocodile said:

Those Twitter comments are bad form.

 

Fake news. It's a rubbish decision and everyone knows it.

 

46 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

What are you referring to?

 

Silvestri himself said he was "waiting for the call," or something along those lines, regarding the new Predator movie. Instead they offered the job to Henry Jackman.

 

He was overlooked for Predators and made similar comments at the time (that he would happily return to the series and write a new score, but never received a call).

 

I guess some composers just can't be bothered with the politics and campaigning to land gigs anymore, especially with all the tedious layers of demos/approvals/temp score involved in modern scoring.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Has anyone seen the trailer for this? Looks terrible...and VERY low budget.

 

Now with this news on the score, I'll adjust my expectations accordingly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it looked pretty good, which is all I hope for from Shyamalan after his run after Lady in the Water, The Happening, The Last Airbender, and After Earth.

 

4 hours ago, crumbs said:

Also, I had no idea JNH actually scored every Shamlynama film right up until The Visit, which had no score. Are any of the post-Lady in the Water scores any good? I wouldn't be surprised if JNH's enthusiasm dropped off a cliff in line with the declining quality of the films.

 

The Last Airbender is pretty good (others around here are much more enthusiastic), and The Happening has its moments.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's only music, guys. If you hate what Shyamalan has become, no amount of James Newton Howard is going to change your opinion. Spielberg hired a relatively newcomer for his film The Color Purple and it turned out just fine (if not great). New collaborations can lead us to places we haven't been before.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Quincy is a professional in Jazz, TV and and as a producer, but I don't think he wrote a classical orchestral score for a two-hour dramatic movie before.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It is common knowledge he didn't write TCP on his own, but yes, he did 'Roots', 'The Pawnbroker', 'The Deadly Affair', 'In Cold Blood' and 'Mackenna's Gold', of which the last one sure fits the bill of  2-hour+ dramatic movie.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not familiar with those, pubs. Are they classical orchestral scores or more Jazz infused '70s music? Anyway,  he wasn't an obvious choice for replacing John Williams in a Spielberg movie. I'd say, for the job, he was a relatively newcomer. It's not like he was known as a big film composer. And the point doesn't change that new people leads to new chemistry. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

'Mackenna' is probably the most traditional in terms of orchestra etc. But it's a misconception Spielberg hired Jones: Jones was the producer and on-boarded Spielberg under the condition that he would be responsible for the music.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's right, I forgot, Quincy was one of the producers. I wonder if that was somewhat of a worry for Spielberg, Kennedy or Marchall. It definitely turned out great (even though I never listened to the music outside the film). Would have loved to see more Spielberg/Quincy Jones collaborations.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

Hey racist douchetard, quit the intentional condescending name misspellings.

 

Howard liked what West Dylan Thordson did for Split, so opted to let him continue with Glass. 

 

What? We make fun of every composer with an unusual name. You're the first person to use the 'race' word.

 

It's just a shame that he seems to have ended the collaboration, especially when JNH could have had the opportunity to expand on his original work. I sometimes wonder who (if anyone) we're allowed to criticise under your world.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Richard Penna said:

 

What? We make fun of every composer with an unusual name. You're the first person to use the 'race' word.

 

I sometimes wonder who (if anyone) we're allowed to criticise under your world.

You’re free to criticize whoever you like. But if you think those culturally demeaning nicknames are fine go say them to people’s faces. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Koray Savas said:

You’re free to criticize whoever you like. But if you think those culturally demeaning nicknames are fine go say them to people’s faces. 

 

 

Is it really a cultural thing, or at least culturally demeaning? How do you feel when people make fun of Pete Postalwhite's name?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't get this attitude at all. Perhaps crumbs has more facts than what I think, but we don't know why JNH isn't doing this project, maybe it was the budget, maybe he didn't want to do it. But the aggressive snark pointed towards West Dylan is bullshit. It's so hard to crack into the Hollywood film industry as a composer, I'm all for giving fresh blood a fair go. JNH can literally score whatever the hell he wants, let the next generation come in and do their thing. Who knows, you may even like it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 hours ago, leeallen01 said:

He also has said many times when I've attended events to do with him, that he and Shyamalan are fine and he would love greatly to return to working with him in the future.

 

He said nothing of the sort in Berlin. But we will see if he contributes indeed a piece or something for 'Glass'. If not, we have our answer.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's a shame JNH wasn't brought on, but could this just be a simple creative choice Shyamalan made? If he had a good, easy working relationship with West on Split, it makes sense he would've asked him if he wanted to do Glass.

 

Is JNH's schedule a possible factor? When does scoring begin on Crimes of Grindelwald?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Docteur Qui said:

But the aggressive snark pointed towards West Dylan is bullshit.

 

Certainly the 'not interested in hearing West fuck with James Newton Howard’s classic score' bit is not helpful and is disrespectful to an up and coming composer.

 

Problem is, if the reason for not hiring JNH is anything other than schedule, or some other practical reason, then it won't come out for political reasons, and it just leaves us all bickering.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

By using this site, you agree to our Guidelines.