February 9 Blu-ray, Digital and DVD Releases

Welcome to ComingSoon.net’s February 9 Blu-ray, Digital HD and DVD column! We’ve highlighted this week’s releases in detailed write-ups of different titles below! Click each highlighted title to purchase through Amazon! 

New Movies on Blu-ray/DVD

Freaky
From Blumhouse, things get Freaky at Blissfield High when 17-year-old Millie (Kathryn Newton) swaps bodies with an infamous serial killer (Vince Vaughn).

Greenland
A family fights for survival as a planet-killing comet races to Earth. John Garrity, his estranged wife Allison, and young son Nathan make a perilous journey to their only hope for sanctuary.

Jiang Ziya
To earn his place amongst the gods, celestial army commander Jiang Ziya must vanquish a terrifying fox demon threatening the very existence of the mortal realm. The follow up to international blockbuster, Ne Zha and second chapter in the Fengshen Cinematic Universe.

Wander Darkly
Sienna Miller and Diego Luna lead this thriller about a couple forced to revisit the past and unravel haunting truths in a captivating journey of loss, love, heartbreak, and hope.

The El Duce Tapes
A long, hard look at Eldon ‘El Duce’ Hoke, the front-man of the controversial ’90s shock metal band The Mentors.

The State Of Texas Vs. Melissa
Melissa Lucio was the first Hispanic woman sentenced to death in Texas. For ten years she has been awaiting her fate, and she now faces her last appeal.

Deep In Vogue
“Deep in Vogue” celebrates the colorful, queer, emotional and political stories of Northern Vogue and its people.

Helter Skelter: An American Myth (DVD)
In the most comprehensive visual telling of the Manson Family, Helter Skelter: An American Myth features never-before-accessed interviews from former family members and journalists, weaving these original narratives with archival footage and newly-unearthed images. It will upend what people think they know about this complex story and cast an entirely new light on this Crime of the Century.

Book Club

Star Wars: Knitting the Galaxy
Featuring 28 projects based on George Lucas’s epic film saga, Star Wars: Knitting the Galaxy is the ultimate guide to creating stunning projects inspired by Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, Rey, and a whole host of droids, ships, and aliens from a galaxy far, far away.

Criterion Corner

The Parallax View
Three years after witnessing the murder of a leading senator atop Seattle’s Space Needle, reporter Joseph Frady (Warren Beatty) begins digging into the mysterious circumstances surrounding the event—and stumbles into a labyrinthine conspiracy far more sinister than he could have imagined. The Parallax View’s coolly stylized, shadow-etched compositions by acclaimed cinematographer Gordon Willis give visual expression to a mood that begins as an anxious whisper and ends as a scream into the void.

Reissues

The Hills Run Red
Revenge is never easy and in this slam-bang western full of fast-paced action and mounting suspense, revenge is never sweeter, either! At the end of the Civil War, a Confederate soldier is jailed for a heist engineered by his buddy, who escapes with the loot and builds himself a life of leisure. While suffering behind bars, he realizes he was double-crossed… and vows revenge.

Man of the East
To claim his father’s ranch, Sir Thomas Fitzpatrick Phillip Moore (Hill) has come to the west. Unbeknownst to him, his father’s dying wish was that his friends and fellow highwaymen teach the lad how to be a real man.

So Evil My Love
In the late 19th century, English widow Olivia Harwood (Ann Todd) meets Mark Bellis (Ray Milland), a charming-but-dangerous criminal who’s renting a room in her boarding house. Hopelessly in love with a man who is playing her for a fool, Olivia soon descends into a life of crime as Mark persuades her to steal from her friend Susan Courtney (Geraldine Fitzgerald), the wife of a wealthy peer.

The Suspect
Philip Marshall (Charles Laughton) is a kind, henpecked accountant who strikes up a friendship with Mary Gray (Ella Raines), a young unemployed stenographer who had approached him for work. He gradually finds himself falling in love with her, but keeps the relationship platonic. With his wife suspecting him of having an affair, Philip asks her for a divorce, but she refuses and threatens him with exposure and scandal.

Jazz on a Summer’s Day
Filmed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival in Rhode Island and directed by world-renowned photographer Bert Stern, Jazz on a Summer’s Day features intimate performances by an all-star line-up of musical legends including Louis Armstrong, Thelonious Monk, Gerry Mulligan, Anita O’Day, Chuck Berry, Dinah Washington, and closes with a beautiful rendition of The Lord’s Prayer by Mahalia Jackson at midnight to usher in Sunday morning.

Nationtime
Nationtime is his vivid account of the National Black Political Convention held in Gary, Indiana, in 1972, a historic event that gathered Black delegates from across the political spectrum, among them Jesse Jackson, Dick Gregory, Coretta Scott King, Dr. Betty Shabazz, Richard Hatcher, Amiri Baraka, Charles Diggs, Isaac Hayes, Richard Roundtree and H. Carl McCall.

A Man Called Adam
Legendary entertainer Sammy Davis Jr. (Anna Lucasta) headlines a star-studded cast including Louis Armstrong (Paris Blues), Ossie Davis (Jungle Fever), Cicely Tyson (Bustin’ Loose), Mel Tormé (The Big Operator) and fellow Rat Pack member Peter Lawford (Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell) in this powerful drama about a jazz musician who “has it all”—love, friendship and fame—but whose tormented past threatens to destroy him and his career.

A Tale of Two Cities
Ronald Colman (The Prisoner of Zenda) stars as Sydney Carton sardonic, dissolute, a wastreland destined to redeem himself in an act of courageous sacrifice. It’s a far, far better thing I do than I have ever done, Carton muses at that defining moment.

Wings of the Hawk 3-D
Gringo miner Irish Gallager (Heflin) is caught up in the Mexican revolution of 1910-11 when corrupt administrator Colonel Paco Ruiz (George Dolenz, Scared Stiff) unjustly seizes his gold mine.

Madame Claude
Starring French New Wave icon Françoise Fabian in the title role along with a sinister Klaus Kinski and the lovely Dayle Haddon, MADAME CLAUDE is an incredibly timeless look at one of the most controversial figures in recent French history.

The Mary Millington Movie Collection
Released to commemorate the 40th anniversary of Mary Millington s death, this special edition Blu-ray box set (individually numbered and limited to 3,000 units) features Mary s most glamorous film roles, with new, stunning 2K restorations, including: Come Play with Me (1977), The Playbirds (1978), Confessions from the David Galaxy Affair (1979), Queen of the Blues (1979), Mary Millington s True Blue Confessions (1980) plus Respectable: The Mary Millington Story (2015), an in-depth documentary chronicling her extraordinary life.

Beach Babes From Beyond
Hot! Tan! Alien! An intergalactic babe borrows her dad’s T-bird ship to do a little planet hopping with her two friends, but they run out of fuel unexpectedly, and must land on earth.

Elizabethtown
Drew Baylor, a hot-shot designer whose life becomes completely unraveled on one fateful day. En route to Elizabethtown, Drew meets Claire. She’s beautiful, and she has decided to be just the gal to guide Drew on his journey back home.

Love Story
Ali MacGraw and Ryan O’Neal star in this heartrending 1970 romance about two young lovers whose passion can’t change their fate.

The Little Prince
A pilot crash-lands in the Sahara and finds a boy who says he’s a prince fallen to Earth from his asteroid home.

Elysium (4K)
In the year 2154, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy, who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth.

Six By Sondheim
Explore the life and career of renowned Broadway lyricist and composer Stephen Sondheim through six of his best-known songs.

New On Digital HD

The Croods: A New Age
In search of a new home, the Croods encounter the more sophisticated Betterman family. A new threat forces the two families to set aside their differences to avoid extinction.

Reunion (exclusive clip)
A pregnant woman returns to her recently-deceased grandparents’ family home to spend time with her estranged mother. What begins as a reunion turns terrifying.

The Reckoning
Thrown in jail after being falsely accused of being a witch, Grace must endure extreme physical persecution at the hands of a ruthless witch-hunter.

A Glitch in the Matrix
Are we living in a simulation? Filmmaker Rodney Ascher (ROOM 237, THE NIGHTMARE) wrestles with this existential question in his latest documentary, a multimedia journey that’s part sci-fi mind-scrambler, part true-crime horror story.

Falling
John Peterson lives with his partner Eric and their adopted daughter in Southern California. When he is visited by his aging father Willis from Los Angeles who is searching for a place to retire, their two very different worlds collide.

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Leslie Mann, Pedro Pascal & more join Judd Apatow Netflix comedy

The King of Staten Island director Judd Apatow has finally set the star-studded cast for his first streamer feature titled The Bubble as The Mandalorian star Pedro Pascal and MCU alum Karen Gillan have officially signed on to join Netflix’s upcoming comedy alongside Apatow’s frequents Leslie Mann and Iris Apatow, according to Deadline.

RELATED: The Sandman: Sturridge, Christie & More Join Netflix Series Adaptation

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm breakout star Maria Bakalova, who recently scored her first Golden Globe nomination, is also joining the cast of The Bubble along with Fred Armisen, David Duchovny, Keegan-Michael Key, and Peter Serafinowicz.

The Bubble, which Apatow is directing, producing and co-writing with Pam Brady (Team America: World Police), will center on a group of actors and actresses struggling to complete a film while trapped in a hotel as part of the pandemic bubble. The streaming platform is reportedly fast-tracking the project by forming a roster that could rival that of the all-star hits Knives Out and The Disaster Artist.

Apatow made his feature directorial debut with 2005’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin, which became a breakout hit for the comedian and established him as a powerhouse talent for Universal Pictures, following it up with hits Knocked Up, Trainwreck and The King of Staten Island, while also producing Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Get Him to the Greek. The 52-year-old filmmaker has worked with Netflix in various capacities over the years, with cameos in Lady Dynamite and Sandy Wexler and acting as co-writer, co-creator and executive producer of Love.

RELATED: Awkwafina & Sandra Oh to Lead Untitled Netflix Comedy

Sources also report that Apatow’s shift to Netflix for the feature project instead of Universal stemmed from the streaming platform’s ability to get the production underway quicker while the latter is still determining which productions to fund in the midst of the pandemic.

(Photo Credits: Getty Images)

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The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to be helmed by Watchmen’s Nicole Kassell

New Line Cinema’s adaptation of L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz has found its director in Emmy winner Nicole Kassell, known for directing episodes of Watchmen, Westworld, The Killing, and more (via Deadline).

RELATED: Those Who Wish Me Dead: Angelina Jolie-Led Western Sets Release Date

“I am incredibly honored to join Temple Hill and New Line in bringing this beloved classic to the screen,” Kassell said. “While 1939 musical is part of my DNA, I am exhilarated and humbled by the responsibility of re-imagining such a legendary tale. The opportunity to examine the original themes—the quest for courage, love, wisdom and home— feels more timely and urgent than ever. These are profoundly iconic shoes to fill, and I am eager to dance alongside these heroes of my childhood as we pave a newly minted yellow brick road.”

Pick up your copy of the novel here!

The beloved children’s book was originally published in 1900. The story inspired 13 additional Oz books and was famously adapted in 1939 with the Judy Garland-led, Oscar-winning classic musical feature The Wizard of Oz.

Previous screenplay drafts were reportedly written by Darren Lemke and the duo Neil Widener and Gavin James.

RELATED: Godzilla vs. Kong Delayed a Week, Plus James Wan’s Malignant Set for September

Temple Hill partners Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey will produce along with Marc Platt. Isaac Klausner will serve as executive producer.

(Photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images)

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CS Interview: Kathryn Newton talks return to horror in Freaky

Ahead of the film’s highly-anticipated arrival on Blu-ray and DVD, ComingSoon.net got the opportunity to chat with star Kathryn Newton (Blockers, Supernatural) to discuss her return to the horror genre with Chrisopher Landon’s body-swapping comedy genre mashup Freaky!

RELATED: CS Interview: Christopher Landon Talks Freaky, Potential Sequel & HDD Crossover

ComingSoon.net: I loved Freaky back when I saw at Beyond Fest and it’s still a blast, I remember reading that you weren’t initially interested in the script, so how did your interest come around on it?

Kathryn Newton: I was always interested in the script actually, just gotta say that, because Chris Landon and Michael Kennedy wrote an amazing story about a girl and when I read it I was just blown away, because I thought, this is the best character for me ever. Being in a film where I got to play serial killer and a teenage girl, it was insane. The holdup, I don’t know where the holdup came from but it was just because there was a moment where I think my team was — when you’re young, you don’t know what to do, so I listened to people all the time. You know, I’m learning to just do what I want, but that’s my own thing. So my team was like, “No, you’re not going to do this movie.” Then I had a meeting with Jason Blum, and I was like, “I’m gonna do this movie. I’m talking to Jason today, I’m going to walk out getting a movie” and that’s exactly what happened. We called my agent during the meeting and Jason was like, “Kathryn’s doing this movie.” And I really wanted to be in this movie! I worked with Chris Landon and Jason Blum on a film called Paranormal Activity 4 when I was 14 years old. It was the first lead of a film I was in and it was the best experience. I mean, I grew so much, it was all improv. So then I think Chris knew that I could do this, because he saw me on that film and so because of our history on that one, it brought me this great opportunity on Freaky and I was not going to miss out on that. It was probably one of the best experiences I’ve ever had on a film and then Vince Vaughn came on board and everything got even better, because he elevated the project. It was already good. It was already a great script, it was already going to be a great movie and then he made it incredible because he’s an amazing actor. Not only that, he really cared and you can see that in the movie. You know, he elevated the project.

ComingSoon.net: So what was it like working with Vince to hone in on each other’s personalities for your characters?

KN: It started with Chris and I talking about Millie and he did a little rehearsal with me one on one as Millie and he recorded me eating and ordering food and talking about my backstory with my mother. I think he sent that to Vince and I think that gave him some ideas for his version of Millie. When we got to Atlanta, Vince and I met at dance rehearsal for the first time, like, cold meeting “Hi, I’m Katherine,” “Hi, I’m Vince. Let’s do a weird, embarrassing dance routine.” I think that kind of broke the ice, there was no director there, there was nobody there, it was kind of like probably a mistake [laughs]. Like no one probably wanted us to meet that way, but it was perfect because he was all in, you know, you can imagine Vince like doing a whole cheerleading routine is hilarious. Then we had we went out and met with our director, Chris Landon, and we has rehearsals with him for a couple days and we just talked about the characters, which I was blown away by because I was going into this project thinking I was going to be copying Vince Vaughn mannerisms. So I started watching all these movies and as soon as I started working on the film, I realized that’s not what we were doing here at all. Vince and I were going to create two characters together. It was completely better than what I imagined, so he came up with ideas, he asked me for ideas and it was a total collaboration between the three of us. I would be on set as The Butcher and thinking about doing something like, “Do you think I would hold the knife this way? What do you think? How would The Butcher really say this line?” I would be able to talk to Vince about it, which you don’t really get to do, it’s not a general thing that actors get to act like a director. Like an actor thinking about a character’s choice is so different, so it was a strange experience to be able to ask someone playing the same character what’s his choice, because we’re both doing the same thing. We were always on the same page, and without Chris Landon, I mean, it’s such an elevated high-stakes movie and he was able to balance the heart with the horror and the comedy. So we really trusted Chris and just let him lead the ship.

CS: Since you mention Vince and going back to a bunch of his movies, what were some of your favorites that watched for research?

KN: I watched Swingers and I hadn’t seen that before, but I kind of realized, watching those movies that it would be impossible to be Vince Vaughn. So I put that away and I just focused on creating a character and that’s exactly what it was. It was never an imitation game and I think that we created mannerisms for each other to be grounded in, but we were never really copying each other. It wasn’t really like that, because that would have been weird in playing The Butcher.

CS: Since you do have that duality of personas what would you say was one of your biggest creative challenges getting to the heart of both souls as you played them? 

KN: I thought it would have been harder, but Millie’s really close to who I am. I was her in high school, just trying to get by like totally not cool and it doesn’t matter what you look like or what your friends tell you, because Millie has great friends who are telling her how great she is all the time, but she doesn’t feel that about herself. I think that’s really important for people to understand that, it’s always those things that you’re maybe insecure about when you’re young or you’re made fun of that actually makes you special and unique. I think she sees that, like the things that she tries to hide The Butcher takes advantage of and is super powerful. For The Butcher, it really wasn’t that hard to be The Butcher, I mean, you just have to go there, I was just like, “All right, I’m a serial killer. I’m going to try to kill these dudes.” You just do it and it was really fun for me [laughs], because I’m not like that at all, I’m so not The Butcher that you just kind of jump into it and you don’t think about it because if I thought about it, I probably would be overwhelmed.

CS: You mentioned Paranormal Activity, but we’ve also seen you explore the world of horror before with Supernatural and killing things in the show, so what was it like getting back into the bloody game of killing with Freaky?

KN: Supernatural changed my life, Paranormal Activity also changed my life. I was so excited to get back into the horror genre, the number one reason is the fans are die-hard and amazing, and I learned that on Supernatural. I played Claire Novak and she became a fan favorite quickly and I never took that for granted and I was so grateful. It turned into they gave Claire her own spin-off show, and it didn’t work out, but that is when I realized the power of a fandom, the true power and if they want something, they’ll get it and they stick with you. I’m SPN family forever and, you know, now we have a Freaky family, so I think that’s pretty cool. Everyone was so scared of me on set and avoided me at all cost when I had that chainsaw in my hand. But I’m pretty, I’m an athlete and we did some training for some of the fight scenes and on the day, it was a breeze. It was really fun to get bloody and cut people up and scare everybody, I’m so not like that. I think I too grew a lot like Millie because I genuinely am just like a normal girl and then when I acted like The Butcher and I saw how people treated me on stage, I was like “Whoa, look at the power that I have” and I didn’t even know, so I definitely took that with me.

CS: What was it then like building up the chemistry with your besties off-camera before bringing that to the takes?

KN: It was so easy, Celeste and Misha are both incredible actors and they were so he was just so happy to be there, because we all thought it was special and fun. I think the first night or the second night of meeting, I brought them to a Post Malone concert just to go have a good time, and we did and I think we were immediately just good friends. I think when you’re young, and you’re in a weird new place, like alone, you immediately find your family on set and I don’t know, I think when you make friends with people and you really love them, that’s how you get a better project. Everyone comes from different places, maybe it’s your first movie or for Vince it’s like his 1000th movie, but we were all there.

CS: What was it like for you also getting the news the film would be making its premiere with the drive-in at Beyond Fest last year?

KN: It was an honor because Beyond Fest, it’s the people who we made the movie for, horror fans. Obviously the movie is for everybody, but it’s kind of a big deal to be giving the horror fans something that they hopefully love, because we were thinking about them. When we made the movie, we wanted to make people happy and Chris Landon and Michael Kennedy are really in a horror world, they really cared. They really wanted to make everybody feel scared and grossed out and laugh and cry, and so it was a big deal and to hear everybody honking, I got chills. It was really cool. I’d never been to a drive-in before and it was a great experience, I took my friends and they were shaking in the car next to me. Usually I’m the one when I go to a horror film, I’m the one screaming and my eyes are closed and my best friend couldn’t handle it. They were screaming and shaking. I was like, “This is amazing.” Then everyone honking their horns and screaming in the cars next to you, I mean, this movie was amazing to see the audience and I just hope that people watch it with their friends, because it’s fun to see your friends freak out.

CS: So since its success Chris Landon and Jason Blum have teased the possibility of another sequel or even a crossover with Happy Death Day, what are your thoughts on either of those happening?

KN: I’d love to reunite with the Blumhouse family and Chris Landon again and again and I think Happy Death Day is great and Jessica Rothe is an amazing actress. I fell like if the fans ask then, you know the power of fandom, so I think that just has to come from the audience, it’s the audience’s decision now.

CS: What would you hope to see from a story in which the two cross over? 

KN: I don’t think I can comment on that. I just don’t think I can, I don’t really know. I know that usually, in my experience, when you talk about a sequel too much, it doesn’t happen, but it’s just like, I just want to let it happen [laughs]. I’ve been on sets where it’s like, “The sequel, the sequel, the sequel” and then it never happened. So the movies where you don’t talk about it is when it happens, so this is kind of feeling like that. I see the fans putting us in edits together, me and Jessica, and tagging us. You know, that’s what I feel like gets the sequel made, so if the fans want it they have to ask, and that would mean the world to me if they wanted that. I think it would be cool because there’s no, like, iconic horror franchise crossover that I’m aware of right now, that’s new, of our generation, that’s a reflection of the time that we’re in now and is not from my parents time. I think there’s an opportunity to do that for people like me or people like us.

CS: To look away from the film, December saw the awesome announcement you were joining the MCU as Cassie in the next Ant-Man movie and I’m curious what is one of the key things you want to make sure you carry over with your portrayal of Cassie from the previous two actresses? 

KN: I don’t think I can comment on that either [laughs]. But I’m super, super excited, and like, it’s been a dream come true to be part of the MCU, I’ve been a fan my whole life since I was 10 years old going to the movies with my dad. I’ve seen every Marvel movie, I’ve seen Iron Man like 10 times, probably, I just love it. So my whole life, I’ve been thinking about how do I get there and what do I do? I’ve been an athlete, I’ve been training with this in mind to be a superhero, so I’m just ready to do that and I really hope that I make all the fans extremely happy and I give them the best I can.

CS: Since you’ve been a fan of the MCU for so long, which individual franchise did you always hope the most to join between Iron Man, Thor, etc.?

KN: I never really thought about that, I never thought about which one I’d want to join. I think that the MCU is huge and there’s kind of something there for everybody, whether it is on the screen and I’ve seen it in a movie or if you just go to the comics, the worlds are endless, so you couldn’t really dream big enough. I feel like that’s kind of my whole thing in life is you can have dreams of joining Marvel or dreams of making a horror film, like Freaky is above and beyond my dreams of what I thought the film was going to be and like with Marvel, I could have never dreamed of what character because it’s going to be better than it is in my dream. But I like all those Marvel movies, I think Iron Man was my favorite though, I think that Robert is darling, he’s so funny in those movies. I think that was like the first one I saw in theaters was Iron Man, but so think that one’s the one that sticks with me.

CS: It’s also been a while since we’ve heard word about the Detective Pikachu sequel and I was a huge fan of the first, so have you heard any rumblings at all about it lately? 

KN: No I haven’t [laughs]. I heard that they wrote something, but that was like two years ago now, I feel like it was two years ago. That one needs a sequel, in my opinion, I need to know what Lucy and Psyduck are doing, what is going on in Ryme City and can Lucy and Psyduck save the world? This is what I’m asking, I need to see it, I think that we need more people in it. I just think that it was a great film and, I don’t know if you saw it, but I mean it was beautiful. We shot it on film, it was shot in London. Justin Smith is incredible, Ryan Reynolds is so incredibly talented, it was such a great cast. I love that movie so much. I think it’ll happen, maybe it’s one of those sequels that comes after a little while, you know?

RELATED: CS Interview: Alan Ruck Talks Horror-Comedy Freaky, Plus Exclusive Clip!

Click here to purchase your own Blu-ray copy of Freaky today!

BONUS FEATURES on BLU-RAY, DVD and Digital:

• Deleted Scenes
  • The Butcher Lends a Hand
  • Charlene Hears a Rumor
  • Late for the Party
• Split Personalities: Millie vs. The Butcher – Two opposing characters. One killer chemistry! Go behind-the-scenes to see how Vince Vaughn and Kathryn Newton worked together to bring these two very different characters to life and how they created distinct personal traits for both. This piece will focus on the magnetism between Vaughn and Newton, and how that chemistry raised the stakes for two characters stuck in such a strange situation.
• Crafting the Kills – This feature will take viewers into the “Wood Shop” set to see how all of the various elements and departments come together to create an extraordinary kill that fans will talk about for years to come. We will also discuss the inspiration behind this bilateral bisection, what makes it both fun and horrifying, and how it is different from anything else you have seen in other horror films.
• Christopher Landon’s Brand of Horror – Blending horror and comedy is a difficult task that not many can achieve, but Christopher Landon has proven time and time again that he is uniquely skilled at it. Freaky is no different. Learn how Christopher’s vision brought new energy to the concept and elevated the story, all while creating a fun and proficient working environment. This behind-the-scenes look at how he weaves humor and gore together will give fans an intimate understanding of why a Christopher Landon film is a genre of its own.
• Final Girl Reframed – The concept of a “Final Girl” is nothing new in the horror genre. However, Millie isn’t your typical Final Girl. We take a closer look at all the ways Freaky takes your genre expectations and smashes them
• Feature Commentary with Co-writer/Director Christopher Landon

From the deliciously debased mind of writer-director Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day, the Paranormal Activity franchise) comes a pitch-black horror-comedy about a slasher, a senior, and the brutal truth about high school.

In Freaky (formerly titled as Body Swap), Seventeen-year-old Millie Kessler is just trying to survive the bloodthirsty halls of Blissfield High and the cruelty of the popular crowd. But when she becomes the newest target of The Butcher, her town’s infamous serial killer, her senior year becomes the least of her worries. When The Butcher’s mystical ancient dagger causes him and Millie to wake up in each other’s bodies, Millie learns that she has just 24 hours to get her body back before the switch becomes permanent and she’s trapped in the form of a middle-aged maniac forever. The only problem is she now looks like a towering psychopath who’s the target of a city-wide manhunt while The Butcher looks like her and has brought his appetite for carnage to Homecoming. With some help from her friends—ultra-woke Nyla, ultra-fabulous Joshua and her crush Booker —Millie races against the clock to reverse the curse while The Butcher discovers that having a female teen body is the perfect cover for a little Homecoming killing spree.

RELATED: Freaky Review: A Bloody & Hilarious, If Mildly Underwhelming, Ride

Freaky is led by Kathryn Newton (Big Little Lies, The Society, Blockers) and Vince Vaughn (Wedding Crashers, True Detective). It will also feature Celeste O’Connor (Selah and the Spades), Misha Osherovich (The Goldfinch), Uriah Shelton (Enter the Warriors Gate) Alan Ruck (Succession), Katie Finneran (Why Women Kill), and Dana Drori  (High Fidelity series).

The film is directed by Christopher Landon, who co-wrote the script with Michael Kennedy. It is produced by Blumhouse’s Jason Blum with Couper Samuelson and Jeanette Volturno set as executive producers.

The horror-comedy is available on digital platforms, Blu-ray and DVD now!

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Disney closes 20th Century Fox animation house Blue Sky Studios

After just over three decades running under 20th Century Fox and subsequently the House of Mouse following their acquisition of the studio, Disney is officially closing the doors on animation house Blue Sky Studios, the company behind the Ice Age franchise and many others, according to Deadline.

RELATED: Disney Delays The King’s Man, Pulls Bob’s Burgers From Schedule

“Given the current economic realities, after much consideration and evaluation, we have made the difficult decision to close filmmaking operations at Blue Sky Studios,” a studio spokesperson said in a statement.

Founded in 1987 by Chris Wedge, Michael Ferraro, Carl Ludwig, Alison Brown, David Brown and Eugene Troubetzkoy, the studio has produced 13 films in its near 34 years of operation, beginning with the 2002 Oscar-nominated family adventure pic Ice Age, whose success would spawn a franchise consisting of four theatrical sequels, multiple short films, two television specials and four video games, with the films adding up to a global box office gross of $3.2 billion.

Sources report that the decision comes as the House of Mouse faced economically tough decisions with the global pandemic keeping its global theme parks and cruise lines closed and concluded that it would not be able to carry a third animation studio alongside Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. Blue Sky’s last day of operation is currently set for sometime in April and while word comes that there are no talks for another studio to absorb it, Disney is reportedly going to work with the 450 employees at the Connecticut-based animation house to explore possible open positions at other studios under Disney’s large umbrella, which will maintain hold of the Blue Sky library and IP.

The studio was in the midst of production on an adaptation of the fantasy webcomic Nimona and was reportedly 75 percent of the way through it, with just 10 months left and was slated for a January 2022 release, but sources report the Patrick Osborne-helmed project is coming to a full stop and will no longer be released.

RELATED: Wakanda Series in the Works at Disney+ as Disney Inks TV Deal with Ryan Coogler

Other films from Blue Sky included the Ewan McGregor and Robin Williams-starring Robots, Horton Hears a Who!, the Rio films, Epic, The Peanuts Movie, Ferdinand and Spies in Disguise, the final of which proved to be an underperformer for the then-still-active 20th Century Fox and stifled the studios’ hopes of spawning another franchise.

The post Disney Closes 20th Century Fox Animation House Blue Sky Studios appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

Happily Trailer: Joel McHale & Kerry Bishé lead dark romantic comedy

After acquiring the film in November and ahead of its March release, Saban Films has debuted the first trailer for BenDavid Grabinski’s dark romantic comedy and directorial debut Happily starring Joel McHale (Community) and Kerry Bishé (Halt and Catch Fire). The trailer can be viewed in the player below!

RELATED: Happily: Saban Films Acquires BenDavid Grabinski’s Comedy Thriller Starring Joel McHale & Kerry Bishé

Happily follows Tom (McHale) and Janet (Bishé) who have been happily married for years. But a visit from a mysterious stranger (Root) leads to a dead body, a lot of questions, and a tense couples’ trip with friends who may not actually be friends at all.

The film stars Emmy Award Nominee Joel McHale (Community, Deliver Us from Evil), Kerry Bishé (Red State, Halt and Catch Fire, Argo), and Emmy Award Nominee Stephen Root (Barry, King of the Hill).

The ensemble’s supporting cast includes Natalie Morales (Parks and Recreation), Paul Scheer (The League), Natalie Zea (Justified), Charlyne Yi (Knocked Up), Breckin Meyer (Designated Survivor), Shannon Woodward (Westworld), Jon Daly (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Kirby Howell-Baptiste (Barry), and Al Madrigal (I’m Dying Up Here).

RELATED: Dead Pigs Trailer Sets U.S. Release for Cathy Yan’s Directorial Debut

This riveting dark comedy was financed by Chuckie Duff’s Common Wall Media and produced by Electric Dynamite’s Jack Black and Spencer Berman, Indy Entertainment’s Nancy Leopardi and Ross Kohn and executive produced by Chuckie Duff, as well as filmmakers Dave Green and Kyle Newman.

Happily is set to debut in select theaters and on digital platforms on March 19!

The post Happily Trailer: Joel McHale & Kerry Bishé Lead Dark Romantic Comedy appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

CS Video: Sacrifice interview with horror genre icon Barbara Crampton!

In time for the film’s theatrical and digital debut, ComingSoon.net go the exciting chance to chat with horror genre icon Barbara Crampton (You’re Next, We Are Still Here, Re-Animator) to discuss her work in the Lovecraftian genre pic Sacrifice! Our interview can be viewed in the player below!

RELATED: Sacrifice Trailer: Barbara Crampton Stars in New Lovecraftian Horror

New Yorker Isaac and his pregnant wife return to a remote Norwegian village of his birth to claim an unexpected inheritance. Here they find themselves caught in a nightmare as an ancient evil awakens to claim a birthright of its own.

The film is co-written and co-directed by Andy Collier and Tor Mian (The Sky in Bloom, Charismata) and sees Crampton starring alongside Dag Sorlie (That’s Interesting), Erik Lundin (Happy Hour in Paradise, Blue Eyes), Jack Kristiansen (Under the Crystal Dome, Dance of Death: Du Lac & Fey), Johanna Adde Dahl, Ludovic Hughes (Murder Maps, Ride), Lukas Loughran (The Postcard Killings, Krypton) and Sophie Stevens (The Black Palace, The Haunted).

Click here to rent or purchase Sacrifice!

Crampton’s first dive into the world of H.P. Lovecraft came with one of her breakout roles in 1985’s adaptation of Re-Animator and would continue with her celebrated work in the following year’s From Beyond. Other notable roles of hers in the horror genre include Stuart Gordon’s Castle Freak, Adam Wingard and Simon Barrett’s You’re Next, Ted Geoghegan’s We Are Still Here and Jackson Stewart’s Beyond the Gates.

RELATED: Exclusive Sator Clip Teases Chilling Indie Horror Treat

Sacrifice is now in select theaters and on video on demand platforms and is set to hit shelves on Blu-ray on February 23.

The post CS Video: Sacrifice Interview With Horror Genre Icon Barbara Crampton! appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

Universal delays Jennifer Lopez-Owen Wilson-led Marry Me to 2022

Just a few months after bumping the film’s release by three months, Universal has decided to issue a bigger delay to the Jennifer Lopez and Owen Wilson-starring romantic comedy Marry Me as it moves from May 2021 to Valentine’s Day weekend 2022.

RELATED: Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis Biopic Delays Release to Mid-2022

Kat Valdez (Lopez) is half of the sexiest celebrity power couple on Earth with hot new music supernova Bastian (Maluma, making his feature-film debut). As Kat and Bastian’s inescapable hit single, “Marry Me,” climbs the charts, they are about to be wed before an audience of their fans in a ceremony that will stream across multiple platforms.

Divorced high-school math teacher Charlie Gilbert (Owen Wilson) has been dragged to the concert by his daughter Lou (Chloe Coleman, HBO’s Big Little Lies) and his best friend (Sarah Silverman, Ralph Breaks the Internet). When Kat learns, seconds before the ceremony, that Bastian has cheated on her with her assistant, her life turns left as she has a meltdown on stage, questioning love, truth, and loyalty. As her gossamer world falls away, she locks eyes with a stranger—a face in the crowd.

If what you know lets you down, then perhaps what you don’t know is the answer, and so, in a moment of inspired insanity, Kat chooses to marry Charlie. What begins as an impulsive reaction evolves into an unexpected romance. But as forces conspire to separate them, the universal question arises: Can two people from such different worlds bridge the gulf between them and build a place where they both belong?

RELATED: Jordan Peele’s Next Horror Film Lands 2022 Release at Universal

Marry Me is directed by Kat Coiro (FX’s It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Netflix’s Dead to Me) from a screenplay by John Rogers (TNT’s The Librarians) and Tami Sagher (NBC’s 30 Rock) and Harper Dill (Fox’s The Mick) based on the graphic novel by Bobby Crosby. The film is produced by Elaine Goldsmith-Thomas (Hustlers, Maid in Manhattan), Jennifer Lopez, Benny Medina (Hustlers, NBC’s The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), and John Rogers. The film’s executive producers are Alex Brown, Willie Mercer, Pamela Thur, and J.B. Roberts.

(Photo Credit: James Devaney/GC Images)

The post Universal Delays Jennifer Lopez-Owen Wilson-Led Marry Me to 2022 appeared first on ComingSoon.net.

CS Score reviews Edward Scissorhands, Roger Rabbit & interviews Ilan Eshkeri

CS Score is back, baby! Apologies for the delay. The holidays ruined everything and delayed a bunch of interviews. But don’t worry, we’ve got some fun stuff coming in the next month or so, including an interview with the one and only Henry Jackman, composer of the upcoming drama Cherry and the Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

For this edition, we’ve got a treat that’s just as delicious — an excellent interview with composer Ilan Eshkeri, who talks about his work on David Attenborough’s A Perfect Planet as well as his excellent score for the video game Ghost of Tsushima. We’ll also take a look at Waxwork Records’ vinyl release of Edward Scissorhands and review Intrada’s re-release of Alan Silvestri’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

Let’s do this thing!

News

Finally it’s back! We have 500 units of the #HarryPotter #JohnWilliams #Soundtrack Collection (7-CD set) coming back in stock! Order now at https://t.co/M4LZNDtqCp They’ll be shipping out later this month! @MuggleNet pic.twitter.com/r4z93uKfbt

— La-La Land Records (@LaLaLandRecords) February 2, 2021

Available to order now at https://t.co/M4LZNDtqCp – world premiere full #soundtrack score release of #HardRain by #ChristopherYoung – Limited Edition CD release of 1000 units! #ChristianSlater #MorganFreeman #90s pic.twitter.com/6kPYMueQKX

— La-La Land Records (@LaLaLandRecords) February 2, 2021

Back in stock! PATTON and CHINATOWN. Two classic scores by Jerry Goldsmith. https://t.co/YFQ8wlDAdz

— Intrada (@IntradaCDs) January 30, 2021

Review

Edward Scissorhands
Danny Elfman

Say what you will about Tim Burton, but his patented (some would say overdone) gothic schtick always brings with it a wonderful score by Danny Elfman. The duo have collaborated on 16 films dating back to Pee Wee’s Big Adventure. And while their more recent work hasn’t quite reached the same level, the pair absolutely dominated the late 80s/90s with films such as Beetlejuice, Batman, Batman Returns, Mars Attacks!, Sleepy Hollow, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas and, of course, Edward Scissorhands.

Edward Scissorhands stands as the most impressive of Burton and Elfman’s collaborations. The haunting vocals and bouncy circus-styled rhythms have remained an Elfman trademark, appearing in his scores for Spider-Man, Sleepy Hollow, and Burton’s Frankenweenie, but here sound fresh and unique. Indeed, there’s a feeling of tragedy permeating throughout Scissorhands that occasionally threatens to overtake the more whimsical aspects of the score, but Elfman always pushes against the darkness with powerful bursts of enchantment as heard in the famous track “Ice Dance.”

The soundtrack is divided into two parts, “Part One: Edward Meets the World …”, which opens with the terrific track “Introduction (Titles)” that plays over the opening credits. Said track introduces the first of two themes Elfman employs for the album, with Theme A best described as a waltz coated with the aforementioned choir. Theme B, or the Love Theme, makes its first appearance in “Storytime” and appears briefly throughout Part One before Elfman lets the theme take center stage in “Ice Dance.” The remainder of Part One segues between lighter fare, such as the track “Edward the Barber,” which features a fun and plucky violin solo as Edward uses his talents to reshape the lawn hedges throughout the neighborhood; and the bouncy, rhythmic “Cookie Factory” that utilizes many of the same zany aspects heard in Nightmare Before Christmas and Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.

Naturally, Burton’s film takes a much darker tone in its final act; and Elfman’s music follows suit in tracks such as the aggressive “The Tide Turns (Suite),” which sounds very Batman-esque and even features the same driving rhythms heard in “Attack of the Batwing” in Batman. The action continues in “The Final Confrontation” before the music dips back into melancholy with “Farewell.” “The Grand Finale” segues back and forth between the soundtrack’s two themes before exploding into a truly enchanting rendition of the Love Theme that plays out over the film’s closing credits. The soundtrack closes with the Tom Jones song “With These Hands,” which feels ridiculously out of place but doesn’t hamper the experience too much.

Edward Scissorhands remains Elfman’s magnum opus, an astonishing score that delights, haunts, and captivates the listener with each and every track.

As a side, in a 2015 interview with Vulture, Elfman spoke of his score for Edward Scissorhands and offered some insight into his creative process, or lack thereof:

“I’ve always enjoyed using some kind of choir, or the boys’ soprano soloist; there’s just something about the sound of children that particularly gets me.

There was nothing to indicate what music should be played for this movie. I had two themes for Edward Scissorhands but no themes for anybody else. That’s just the way it came together.

Frequently, my process isn’t really a process. It’s what scenes form in front of me and trying to explain it. I don’t know what made me want to use children’s voices other than telling the story and telling the fairy tale. I think that probably opened the door to Tchaikovsky and using a choir in that way, I’m sure. But it’s all very unconscious.

Edward was a really cool process of being left alone with Tim. Nobody was watching over our shoulders, nobody even seemed concerned that we were even writing a score or working on the music. We were just two weird guys working on our own, under the radar and everything.

And the result was Edward.”

So, why bring up Edward Scissorhands now? Well, the folks over at Waxwork Records saw fit to repackage the original motion picture soundtrack with the 30th Anniversary Deluxe LP, replete with new artwork by Ruiz Burgos, a 180 gram “ice sculpture blue with snow splatter” color vinyl, and re-mastered audio for vinyl from the original masters.

Here are some shots of the set:

Currently, the record is sold out at Waxwork Records, but keep your eye out for this gem of a release; and get your hands on it as soon as it becomes available once more.

Click here to purchase!

Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Alan Silvestri

Alan Silvestri’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is not for the faint of heart. The score zips along like a wacky cousin to Back to the Future, replete with the composer’s signature driving rhythms and action gusto, albeit in a much loonier fashion. In other words, if you dread “Mickey Mouse” cartoon music then you best steer clear of this release.

For those who can stomach the madness, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? stands as one of Silvestri’s crowning achievements, expertly blending elements of film noir with the zaniness of those classic Looney Tunes shorts featuring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and others.

For years, Silvestri’s score remained one of those hard to get releases collectors desperately had to search for on eBay. Thanks to Intrada, the soundtrack was re-released as a 3CD set featuring nearly all of the music composed for the film in the original manner it was intended. Linear notes explain that nearly every cue was tweaked with in some way and either repurposed, shortened, mixed with other tracks or cut altogether. In this case, the results aren’t entirely noticeable in the film, but this amazing presentation of Silvestri’s work offers a unique insight into the composer’s thought process.

The soundtrack commences with the wackiness right off the bat with the Maroon Toon Logo theme that pays tribute to Carl Stalling, who, a quick Google search reveals, produced a new score for Warner Bros.’ animated shorts once a week for 22 years — #legend. More wackiness ensues in the track “Cartoon,” which plays over the Roger Rabbit/Baby Herman short that opens Robert Zemeckis’ film. Things slow down with “Valiant & Valiant,” a somber track dominated largely by trumpet and piano before a bell toll ushers in the appearance of “Judge Doom” along with a bit of sinister music that accompanies Christopher Lloyd’s genuinely terrifying villain and continues into the track “The Weasels.”

“Strange Bedfellows” closely mimics the sound Silvestri employed for Doc Brown in Back to the Future, but also introduces a recurring motif heard in the various action cues spread throughout the score — in his Movie Music UK review, writer Jonathan Broxton describes this music as written with “a spiky, insistent edge that makes use of oddly-metered rhythms, woodwind trills, and clattering xylophones in the percussion section. One particular recurring motif moves through much of the action music, a sort of tremolo effect which is first heard in this cue on flutes, before shifting to strings at the 30 second mark.” This is one of the score’s most exciting aspects — I genuinely love Silvestri’s action writing here, especially as its played more aggressively with percussions later in the soundtrack in tracks such as “Got Ya, Kid,” where it’s accompanied by drums, bells, and heavy brass. (“Got Ya, Kid” also employs plenty of wild jazz to go along with the action, which works surprisingly well.)

“Toon Killed My Brother” and “Have a Good Man” are shorter tracks that feature the softer “love” theme of the pic, while “R.K. Maroon” goes full jazz and segues from playful to dark and sinister to moody blues and back again at least a dozen times.

Then we get to another big action cue, the track “The Getaway,” which delves into a western-ish fanfare before presenting the aforementioned action motif once more. This track paves the way for “Toontown,” a lengthy 6-minute bundle of wacky action score that really encapsulates the enormity and insanity of Zemeckis’ film. It’s a wild track, for sure, but one of the most exciting pieces of music found on the entire album.

More zaniness ensues with “The Kick/The Climbing” before the film comes winds down with the track “Saved” and closes with “Big Kiss/Smile, Darn Ya, Smile” and “End Credits — Roger Rabbit Medley (Film Version).”

This 3CD set doesn’t stop there. Also featured are alternate takes of various tracks and even bonus cues from the short films “Rollercoaster Rabbit” and “Trail Mix-Up” by Bruce Broughton and “Tummy Trouble” by James Horner. The original 1988 soundtrack album is also presented here for those longing for more compressed cues.

All told, Who Framed Roger Rabbit? is a classic film score bursting with energy and playful themes made during a time when Silvestri was at the top of his game; and this Intrada presentation is the only way to fully enjoy the composer’s masterwork.

Purchase at Intrada by clicking here!

Or click here to purchase!

Ilan Eshkeri Interview

ComingSoon.net: What drew you to Perfect Planet?

Ilan Eshkeri: Well, that’s a great question, because it wasn’t simple for me, you know? This is my fourth project that I’ve done with David Attenborough over the years. And so, in some ways I’d already scratched the David Attenborough itch, if you know what I mean? I’d had the privilege [of working with him] before and so there needed to be something about it that drew me to it. And the most important thing was what the project was about because we are in such a dire situation right now in terms of the planet. And I see myself with my daughter talking about this — she’s five, but I realized that I’m teaching her to recycle. I’m teaching her about sustainability. I’m teaching her not to waste food, but as a kid who grew up in that late seventies, early eighties, we didn’t talk about those kinds of things.

And it seems to me that that there’s something really important happening with teaching the next generation of children to see the world in a different way, to see the world as a place that we’re part of, that we contribute to as much as we take from. Whereas in the past the world was just something that we use for our own benefit. And the children that are growing up now, they’re going to be the next world leaders, the next business leaders, the next scientists, the next doctors; and out there on their call, they’ll have a different way of perceiving the planet than we do, and that’s really important.

So, when I started talking about this program, I thought this is a chance for me to expand upon that feeling into my work and try to, in my own small way, through music, educate a wider audience into the same way that I’m thinking, which I think is extremely important. So, that was really the guiding desire.

And the other thing was, I remember going into the production companies in Bristol, which is outside of London. It’s a two-hour train journey and I really thought about it on the way there. I went into the meeting and I said, “Look, normally the way that these series are done, it’s a very symphonic, classical approach. And I don’t want to do that. And if you want that — don’t hire me! What I’d like to do is I’d like to take a more contemporary approach to it.” And, the production was really into that. Actually, the whole way through the project, the production team were very, very generous with their belief in whatever idea I threw at them. Not all of the ideas stuck. We worked through a lot of music, but I believe that we brought musically a different approach to the series.

CS: Do you find a project of this magnitude — where you’ve got so many things happening throughout the course of the film — daunting?

Eshkeri: Yeah. It’s always daunting. Doing a job like this, and like I said, I’ve done some like this before — so I kind of knew what to expect — but it is daunting because normally when you write a TV series or film you have to write a few themes — you have to write a good guy theme, a bad guy theme — whatever — the love theme — I’m stereotyping here, but you know what I mean? You have a handful of themes you have to write. But with this, it’s like writing 45 short films because that’s what it is. You meet these snub-nosed monkeys with blue faces, and they’ve got a theme, and then you meet some ants, and they’ve got a theme, and then you meet some penguins, and they’ve got a theme, but each of the stories of these animals is encapsulated in a three to five-minute sequence.

And then I’d look at the sequence and I’d say, okay, well, this is like a heist, this scene is a tragic love story, this scene is like a horror movie, you know, whatever it is. I discussed that with the director, and I’d work out what it is. And yes, it was like writing many, many short films. So that bit of it is daunting. But what was really important to me was — when I’ve watched the series in the past it seems to me that the music just rolls. It goes on from a sequence where you meet this creature and then it goes onto the next creature and the next creature after that, but there isn’t an anchor and I really wanted to write a theme that’s the front title, end title, and also comes in between all the sequences so that you have an anchor that keeps bringing you back. And this was the theme that I wrote, it’s called “A Perfect Planet,” which for me is the Earth theme, the Mother Nature theme. It has voices, and it has these very simple, moving arpeggio string lines, sometimes a bit of piano, something that really connects easily with the soul somehow.

The whole idea that we discussed at the initial meetings was that this is a celebration of the planet. This is an opportunity to see how beautiful it is. There’s a whole episode on volcanoes — volcanoes are normally the bad guys, right? Well, not in this series. Volcanoes give us life. They’re the fundamental, the basic — where it all begins. And so, the whole idea was to make this a celebration. And then in the final episode, that’s killer episode where you then see — oh my God, we’ve had this perfect place, and this is what we’re doing to unbalance it. That’s really worrying, but also this is what we could do to help and make it better.

CS: You’ve worked on a number of David Attenborough projects. Have you ever met or interacted with him?

Eshkeri: I have met David on several occasions on the projects I’ve worked on, but on this one, the vast majority of this project was done during lockdown. So, David, being in his nineties, wasn’t leaving his house. So, there was no opportunity. I didn’t get to meet him or interact with him. I do know that when he records the voiceover, which he did in his living room, they brought a truck to his house and passed the cable through a window and he recorded it there in his living room. When he records the voiceover, I know they play the music to him. And I know from my previous experiences with him, he loves music and he is opinionated about music. So, I think if he had a problem with it, I’m sure he would say something.

My memory goes back to the first project I ever did with him. And on that project, we were recording in Abbey Road Studios and he came, and he spent the morning with us on one of the days. And then he left. I mean, it was such a privilege to have him sat next to me in the control room to discuss the music — he’s a very capable pianist. He can read music and he knows music. So, it was brilliant. It was lovely to have him there. Then he left and I went out onto the floor at Abbey Road Studios, you know, where they recorded Star Wars and Harry Potter and a thousand film scores that we grew up watching.

So, I went out there to just say a few words to the orchestra about what we were going to do next before the lunch break. And as I got up into the conductor’s podium, out of nowhere a butterfly came and landed on the stand — this was November! It was freezing cold outside; and as you probably imagine, there was a lot of doors between the recording studio and the outside world. It’s not easy to get into. How on earth was there a butterfly in there from the recording studio? It was really an extraordinary and very magical moment. I like to think that David somehow released it into the studio.

CS: You’ve written scores for films such as Stardust and Kick-Ass, and you recently did the video game score for Ghost of Tsushima, which I just beat by the way — and, for the record, loved your music —

Eshkeri: Which ending did you choose?

CS: I spared the uncle.

Ilan: Go back and do the other ending because the music when he kills the uncle is much, much more emotional. I would definitely, from a music point of view, definitely want to go that way.

CS: Absolutely! I’ll have to go check that out. And that goes with my question, because you’ve discussed the difficulties of scoring a documentary … do you face the same challenges with video games? Or is that a completely different beast altogether?

Eshkeri: Absolutely. But it’s a different discipline. I mean, there’s very few situations in the video game — well, I’ve only done two video games, the Sims and Ghost. The only place where I had to write two alternative things was that moment [in Ghost]. So, there wasn’t a lot of repetition like that.

I’ll say two things about this. The discipline of writing a video game is different because you need to write music that works in layers. And so, if you take some of those layers away the music still works, and if you put them all together it still works. That way you get these different intensities of music, so you can play and as you’re fighting, it gets more intense or less intense depending on what you’re doing. But that’s because there’s drums all the way through, but they only come in when certain things happen or however the construction of the interactive element of the game is conceived. And it’s really useful if you know that, because then it becomes a tool that you can use, right?

Every discipline has its own set of rules, its own way of interacting with the audience. And you have to bear that in mind when you’re writing it. So, with a video game, what that means is that sometimes with your violas or the bits that are normally hidden in the orchestra, you can just hide them. They don’t work so hard. With something like Ghost, when I was doing the taiko drums, I was like, well, this part could just be on that side. So, you’ve got to really write the shit out of those taiko drums … you’ve got to really make sure that viola part that normally nobody would hear and would normally just be filling in the gap in-between the violins and cellos — no disrespect to the brilliant viola players — but suddenly you’re like, well, what if that was the top line? What if that was the bit that everyone was hearing? So, you’ve got to write every line of music like it might a solo. And so that is definitely a unique challenge about video games.

The other thing that I would say about it though, is that in every other way it’s exactly the same as doing anything else because it’s just the latest iteration of the oldest form of human art. In Australia, they just found the oldest cave paintings — older than anything they found before. There were these drawings and these handprints; and those cavemen all those tens of thousands of years ago, what were they doing? They were telling a story through art, through the creation of something. And then people sang songs and they told stories through singing songs and then they act out things and they told stories through acting and performing and theater was born; and then opera and then ballet … all these different ways of telling stories. Then one day somebody creates cinema. Then one day somebody creates video games, and video games are just the latest way in which human beings are enjoying telling stories. And so on that level, if you’re writing music that is describing an emotional narrative, which is what I do, then the job on that level is exactly the same.

CS: That’s interesting. In the case of Ghost, it feels like a movie; and your music drives the plot and the story and the action.

Eshkeri: Well, the plot is incredible! I was very reluctant to take on the project, because I was like, it’s like a samurai slicing up some people — it’s blood and fighting. I don’t know what I’ve got to say about that. I don’t have a moral point of view on it. I have a creative point of view on it. I’m like, I don’t have anything emotionally to say about that. I didn’t really want to do the project, but I went out and they politely did the meeting with Sucker Punch and I walked out of that meeting completely speechless. The story is compelling and it’s a story of the ages. It’s a story about how we accept the past that our forefathers gave us whilst trying to forge a new way with the future. I mean, every generation has wrestled with that particular emotional battle. And this was a very rich place from which to write music.

CS: That’s interesting that you’d say that. I grew up listening to James Horner and he would talk about how he always scored the emotional beats of a film — especially during the action scenes.

Eshkeri: I absolutely adhere to that! My mentor Michael Kamen said that as well, because you know music does the job words cannot fulfill, right? That is the point of music. Music can express something that sometimes words can’t, and music is all about emotion. And so absolutely even in the action sequences. I mean, you can write action for the sake of action. But it gets tedious. What is my character feeling in that moment? It’s all about the emotion. Absolutely. Your job is to tell the emotional narrative. Absolutely.

James Horner is a huge hero of mine that I grew up listening to his music. What a tragedy that he left us so long before his time. But yeah, I one hundred percent agree with that idea. I think, whether I was scoring a cave painting or the latest computer game, that the same principle would be there. I would look at what was on the screen and I would say, what is this person feeling and how do I translate that into music?

CS: Do you have any other projects coming up that you can talk about?

Eshkeri: Absolutely! Around the time that I was doing ghost, in the summer of 2019, I had finally brought together, after years of work, this project called Space Station Earth. It’s a film, which I’ve directed and written all the music for; and I did it in collaboration with the European Space Agency, which is our version of NASA, and the astronaut Tim Peake, who contacted me — he was a fan of my music — and before he went to the international space station, he asked me if I would do some music for him. I was so inspired. I went to meet him at Johnson Space Center, and I was so inspired by the time we spent together that I thought, why are we just making one short thing? Why don’t I make like a big, long film and tour it like a live show?

So, the film is a live show, a live show of images of space, the astronauts traveling up to the space station … and it’s just music that accompanies it; and it ties in nicely with your previous question, because I thought there was so many documentaries explaining about the International Space Station, interviews with astronauts; but the astronauts, they all share this unique experience of — you know, there’s only been 550 or so astronauts — and all of them, wherever they are from the world, share this thing. Some people call it the overview effect, but it’s the experience of being physically off the planet and looking down on it. It’s a life-changing experience, and I really wanted to try and express the journey and that experience, because words … there aren’t enough words to describe it. Could I express that through music?

We got to do our first performance in Stockholm, and we had a satellite link up to the International Space Station. It was very exciting. And 10,000 people turned up to see that. It was a free concert in the square in Stockholm, the main square; and 10,000 people turned up to see it and to see a couple of astronauts chatting away and talking to the commander of the space station live. And then we came up and I was really nervous. I was like, this is very risky. It’s like three screens of images and just us playing music for an hour. How’s that going to go down? I don’t know. There’s 10,000 people here and I thought by the end of this there’s going to be 10 people standing in front of me. But actually, they all stayed. Ten thousand people started there, and 10,000 people applauded at the end. It really was great.

We had already had plans to do a bunch of touring around Europe, but then the pandemic hit so that all got put on hold. You know, we were going to play Glastonbury. I had all these festivals lined up. It was amazing. But anyway, so all that got put on hold. Now, as of January, we have put all these plans back together, and I’m not really allowed to say what’s happening yet, but keep an eye on my social media and there’ll be some updates very soon about the tour for my show Space Station Earth.

For more info about Ilan’s upcoming tour or any of his works, visit: ilaneshkeri.com. Follow him on Twitter @ilaneshkeri and Facebook @IlanEshkeri.

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