As is to be expected from someone who is a book lover first, movie lover second, not all of "The Hunger Games" movie news has me bouncing off the walls with excitement. We book lovers know this feeling too well, having been burned so many times before—there are too many darn variables in the mix on a film production to be over the moon about every tidbit that is leaked or reported.
Just when I was becoming a bit indifferent to things, Lionsgate made the very exciting and intriguing announcement that uber-talented, award-winning composers Danny Elfman and T Bone Burnett will be collaborating together on "The Hunger Games"' score. According to the media alert sent out by the studio, Burnett will also serve as the film’s executive music producer, producing songs for the film and soundtrack.
So why this is a big deal?
Pedigree, pedigree, pedigree
If Elfman and Burnett's names don't immediately ring a bell, their music will. Both have resumes a mile long, along with countless high profile awards and honors. Elfman's score highlights include many of his works for director Tim Burton: "Batman," "Edward Scissorhands," "Pee Wee's Big Adventure," "Big Fish," "Alice in Wonderland" and plenty others outside of Burton's oeuvre, like "Good Will Hunting," "Spider-Man" (1 and 2) and "The Simpsons" theme. Burnett, in addition to being a prolific music and album producer for major recording artists, is responsible for the success of the music in "Crazy Heart," "O Brother, Where Art Thou?," "Cold Mountain" and "Walk The Line," to name a few.
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While most major-name film composers tend to work alone or in competition, Elfman and Burnett's unprecedented collaboration on "The Hunger Games" is a giant warm fuzzy for two reasons: a) The fact that they agreed to work together on one project in the first place b) Two brilliant, award-winning minds for the (admission) price of one!
A perfect harmony?
Where a lot of my favorite Elfman scores are fantastical, light and full of a sense of wonder, the bulk of Burnett's film compositions have been grounded in a reality very similar to our own. Not that they aren't fully capable of composing everything together, but I could see them splitting up certain scenes to play up their strengths. The flashier action and title sequences = Elfman. The introspective, gritty-real stuff = Burnett.
Long story short, this is very exciting news. If anything else, this film is going to sound freakin' fantastic.
What do you think of Elfman and Burnett's collaboration? Tell us in the comments and on Twitter!
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