Wow. While Howard Shore has been prepping the extended Lord of the Rings CDs, he has also been composing and recording music for Peter Jackson’s next film, the retro-remake of King Kong. (Click here for a KongIsKing.net production diary to that effect, which went online four weeks ago.) But now Soundtrack.net reports that, with just two months to go until the film’s release, Shore has been replaced by James Newton Howard.
I’m a big fan of the new Howard’s scores, which include the films of M. Night Shyamalan, Batman Begins and my personal favorite: Snow Falling on Cedars. So I’m sure he’ll do a great job, even with all the pressure of scoring this epic movie in just a few weeks.
But still, this is an odd development.
UPDATE: James Newton Howard’s unofficial site confirms the rumour, but Mikael Carlsson says he just received an e-mail from Shore’s publicist stating: “This is not true. Emphatically no, absolutely not.” As Carlsson asks, “Exactly what is going on???”
UPPERDATE: It’s official. Universal Pictures has just sent out a press release confirming the rumours:
Peter Jackson made the following statement: “I have greatly enjoyed my collaborations with Howard Shore, whose musical themes made immeasurable contributions to ‘The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy. During the last few weeks, Howard and I came to realize that we had differing creative aspirations for the score of ‘King Kong.’ Rather than waste time arguing with a friend and trying to unify our points of view, we decided amicably to let another composer score the film. I’m looking forward to working with James Newton Howard, a composer whose work I’ve long admired, and I thank Howard Shore, whose talent is surpassed only by his graciousness.”
Ah well. I suppose Shore’s music could still be released on CD.
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