Michael Giacchino

Watch 13 Minutes of Behind-the-Scenes Footage to See How JOHN CARTER Was Brought to Life; Plus 3 New Clips

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 16th, 2012 at 6:10 pm

Disney’s John Carter is a movie that’s been in development for over two decades. Numerous filmmakers have attempted to tackle Edgar Rice Burroughs’s source material (published 100 years ago), and Andrew Stanton (Wall-E) is the director who finally brought the story to life. In order to transport Taylor Kitsch’s title character to a creature-infested Mars, a great deal of visual effects work was needed. Nearly 13 minutes of behind-the-scenes footage from the making of John Carter have been released that give us a glimpse into how Stanton pulled it all off. We see models built during the conception stage, Willem Dafoe walking around on stilts in order to portray a towering Thark, how Stanton got Kitsch to make those giant leaps, and even composer Michael Giacchino (Lost, Star Trek) hard at work on the film’s score.

Hit the jump to check out the footage, as well as three new clips from the film. The sci-fi pic also stars Thomas Haden Church, Mark Strong, Lynn Collins, and Samantha Morton. John Carter opens in 3D on March 9th.

2012 Annie Award Winners Announced; RANGO Named Best Animated Feature

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: February 5th, 2012 at 10:44 am

The 2012 Annie Awards were held last night, and critical favorite Rango ended up deservedly taking home the Best Animated Feature award. Gore Verbinski’s quirky western also took home the award for Best Writing in a Feature Production, Best Editing, and the Members Favorite Award, but lost Best Directing to Kung Fu Panda 2’s Jennifer Yuh Nelson. Bill Nighy won Best Voice Acting for Arthur Christmas, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes took home the Character Animation in a Live Action Feature Production award.

On the television side of things, The Simpsons was awarded the top prize as well as Best Directing and Best Writing. Heading into the Academy Awards, Rango is our clear frontrunner. The Adventures of Tintin was pegged as the film’s biggest competition at the Oscar ceremony, but the Steven Spielberg film was ultimately left out of the nominations. Hit the jump to see the full list of Annie Awards Winners.

Filming Officially Underway on J.J. Abrams’ STAR TREK Sequel

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: January 17th, 2012 at 11:24 am

Ladies and Gentlemen, Star Trek 2 is on officially on the way. Paramount Pictures has announced that production has commenced on director J.J. Abrams’ follow-up to the fantastically awesome 2009 sci-fi pic Star Trek. We’ve got John Cho, Bruce Greenwood, Simon Pegg, Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoë Saldana, Karl Urban, and Anton Yelchin all reprising their roles from the first film, and in an inspired bit of casting, Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch is onboard as the film’s villain. Joining Cumberbatch in the Star Trek newbie circle are Alice Eve and Peter Weller.

Development on the sequel hasn’t been without its fair share of drama (Benicio Del Toro dropped out of the villain role weeks before filming began), but it’s reassuring to know that production has finally begun. The script was written by Star Trek writers Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and Damon Lindelof, and composer Michael Giacchino will indeed return to score the pic (huzzah!). The currently untitled sequel will be post-converted to 3D and is set for release on May 17th, 2013. Hit the jump to read the full press release.

STAR TREK 2 Set for Release in 3D on May 17th, 2013; Michael Giacchino Confirmed to Return as Composer

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: November 23rd, 2011 at 3:34 pm

As J.J. Abrams winds down his Super 8 duties with the film’s Blu-ray release this week, the sequel to his 2009 smash hit Star Trek is moving full-steam ahead. While it’s taken a couple years to get going and Abrams only just recently officially signed on as director, Captain Kirk and crew are absolutely 100% coming back with a firm release date of May 17th, 2013 set. However, the release date is just the tip of the iceberg as we now have confirmation that we’ll be following the crew in 3D this time around. Hit the jump for more.

Watch Composer Michael Giacchino Discuss Arranging John Williams’ Music for the New STAR TOURS

by Jason Barr    Posted: June 27th, 2011 at 3:13 pm

 

With the new Star Tours motion simulator attraction currently opening at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Disneyland, Disneyland Paris, and Tokyo Disneyland, Oscar-winning composer Michael Giacchino’s (Up) revisited arrangement of the classic John Williams score is playing to audiences across the world. For a sneak peek at what Giacchino did with the timeless work, you can hit the jump to check out a behind-the-scenes video which features the composer talking about his approach to the music as well as footage from the attraction’s actual scoring sessions.

Hit the jump to watch the behind-the-scenes video. Click here to check out Steve’s recent interview with Giacchino where he discusses Cars 2, Star Trek, a sequel to The Incredibles, and more.

Exclusive: Michael Giacchino Talks CARS 2, SPEED RACER, STAR TREK and STAR TREK 2, MI:4, and What It Will Take to Get THE INCREDIBLES 2

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: June 21st, 2011 at 7:54 pm

One of my favorite composers is Michael Giacchino.  That’s because in the last decade, Giacchino has written some amazing scores including The Incredibles, Speed Racer, Ratatouille, Up, Star Trek (2009), Super 8, Lost, Alias, Fringe, and so many more.  With Giacchino writing the score for Cars 2, the other day I got to talk to him about his latest soundtrack.  Of course we also talked about other subjects including what the last few years have been like, his writing process, collaborating with directors, the challenge of scoring Star Trek, if he’s coming back for the sequel, working with the Wachowskis on Speed Racer, if he’s started work on Mission Impossible 4, and I also asked what do we have to do to get Brad Bird to make a sequel to The Incredibles.  Hit the jump to either read or listen to the interview.

Collider Visits Pixar for the CARS 2 Press Day

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: June 12th, 2011 at 11:05 am

A couple of months ago, Collider was invited to travel out to Emeryville, California to Pixar Animation Studios in order to take part in the Cars 2 press day. As one would expect, it was a pretty fantastic experience. We were privy to a number of presentations regarding all things Cars 2, given by the very people responsible for making the Pixar films we know and love.

In addition, we got the chance to sit down and interview quite a few of the people involved with the film including director John Lasseter, composer Michael Giacchino and actress Emily Mortimer, and we were given a tour of the Pixar building itself. Hit the jump to check out a full rundown of our visit. Cars 2 hits theaters June 24^th.

SUPER 8 Review

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: June 9th, 2011 at 2:32 pm

J.J. Abrams Super 8 is an echo.  It echoes the innocence of Steven Spielberg’s Amblin films of the 1980s, it echoes the imagined purity of small town America, and it echoes the innocence and coming of age through the lens of aspiring filmmakers.  But Super 8 never makes its own noise. While the film manages to capture the fun, adventure, thrills, laughs, and characters of Spielberg’s movies, Super 8 never conjures its own magic.

Exclusive: Composer Michael Giacchino Talks CARS 2, SUPER 8, JOHN CARTER, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE, More

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: May 1st, 2011 at 9:07 am

Continuing our coverage from our visit to Pixar in anticipation of the release of Cars 2, we have our exclusive interview with Michael Giacchino.  One of the most in-demand composers at the moment (and rightly so), Giacchino has been a bit of a mainstay at Pixar having scored The Incredibles, Ratatouille, and most recently Up, for which he won the Academy Award.  His versatile work is undeniably brilliant, from the sweeping tones of Lost to the bombastic panache of Star Trek.

In our interview, Giacchino talked about his approach to the score for Cars 2, what influences he used in creating the music, what the process of a composer at Pixar is like, and also gave an update on his scores for some highly anticipated upcoming films (Super 8, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, and John Carter of Mars).  Hit the jump to check it out.

Exclusive: Composer Michael Giacchino Talks SUPER 8, JOHN CARTER OF MARS and MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: April 10th, 2011 at 7:17 am

Recently I got the chance to talk to immensely talented composer Michael Giacchino about his work on Pixar’s upcoming Cars 2.  As one of the most coveted composers working today, Giacchino’s body of work ranges from Lost, to Star Trek, to his Academy Award-winning score for 2009’s Up.  While the full interview will be running a bit closer to Cars 2’s release, Giacchino gave an update on his work on J.J. Abrams’ Super 8, Andrew Stanton’s long-awaited John Carter of Mars and Brad Bird’s Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol.  Hit the jump to see what Giacchino had to say about these upcoming projects.

First Images from Disney Animated Short THE BALLAD OF NESSIE

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: March 14th, 2011 at 2:42 pm

Disney has released the first images from its upcoming animated short film The Ballad of Nessie.  The short was directed by Stevie Wermers-Skelton and Kevin Deters (Prep & Landing) and centers on the Lochness Monster contending with greedy land developer MacFroogle who wants to build a golf course on top of Nessie’s home.  To be fair, a Loch Ness monster would be a killer obstacle.

I like that they’ve gone with a hand-drawn look for the short and I’m even happier that Up composer Michael Giacchino will be providing the music.  The Ballad of Nessie will open this Spring in theaters in select international markets and will play in front of Winnie the Pooh, which opens July 15th.  Hit the jump to check out the images along with a synopsis.

Michael Giacchino’s LOST Music Set to TOY STORY 3

by Jake Horowitz    Posted: November 11th, 2010 at 5:24 pm

If anyone’s been feeling a bit inhuman lately and needs to show a little emotion, I dare you to watch this clip and say you felt nothing. Back in June we all got pretty teary over Toy Story 3, most notably the incinerator scene, and now thanks to YouTube we can experience it again. This time however, the clip features some of Michael Giacchino’s finest work from the score of Lost, and it’s impossible to not be blown away by it.

I’ll reserve my words for after the clip, so grab some Kleenex, hit the jump, and don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Josh Holloway On the Set of MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 4

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: October 14th, 2010 at 11:21 am

The first images of Josh Holloway on the set of director Brad Bird’s Mission Impossible IV have hit the net.  While I would love to point out the cool costume he’s wearing, or talk about him running down a street with an awesome gun, the first images feature Holloway standing around on set.  However, with this being the first thing Holloway has worked on since Lost wrapped, I figured they were worth checking out.

While many have soured on Tom Cruise, I’m really looking forward to MI4.  It’s because of one person: Brad Bird. As the director of The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille, Bird is nothing short of a genius.  I’m extremely excited to see his first live action project.  Also, he’s assembled an all star cast featuring Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Anil Kapoor, Halloway, Ving Rhames, Lea Seydoux and Vladimir Mashkov.  He also landed Michael Giacchino to do the score.  So, yeah, I’m excited for this one.  Hit the jump for the images:

Michael Giacchino to Score CARS 2, SUPER 8, MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE IV, and JOHN CARTER OF MARS

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: October 13th, 2010 at 1:44 pm

Michael Giacchino is one of the best composers working today.  It’s difficult to imagine Up, Lost, and The Incredibles without his beautiful scores.  A new profile of Giacchino in Variety reveals that his upcoming slate of films includes John Lasseter’s Cars 2 (Randy Newman scored the first film), J.J. Abrams’ Super 8 (the pair have worked together since Abrams hired Giacchino to do Alias back in 2001), the fourth Mission: Impossible (which is being directed by Incredibles helmer Brad Bird), and John Carter of Mars (which is directed by Andrew Stanton whose previous work includes Finding Nemo and WALL-E).  Giacchino is also set to adapt John Williams’ themes for the revamped Star Tours ride at Disneyland.  He’s also doing an original piece for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra next fall.

Variety reports that Giacchino’s due to be finished with Cars 2 in the spring.  This year he’s already done the PBS documentary Earth Days, the Pixar short Day & Night, the holiday special Prep and Landing, Matt Reeves’ Let Me In, and Abrams’ pilot for NBC’s Undercovers, and doing the music for the final season of Lost.  The dude is impressive and now I have another reason to look forward to Cars 2, Super 8, M:I-4, and John Carter of Mars.

Director Matt Reeves Exclusive Video Interview LET ME IN; Plus Updates on the CLOVERFIELD Sequel and THE INVISIBLE WOMAN

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: August 1st, 2010 at 8:36 pm

At this year’s Comic-Con, I was able to sit down with writer-director Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) for Let Me In.  Based on the best-selling Swedish novel Lat den Ratte Komma In (Let the Right One In) by John Ajvide Lindqvist, and the highly-acclaimed film of the same name by Tomas Alfredson, Reeves film has been the subject of a lot of online bashing since before filming began.  However, over the past few weeks, as footage and images have been released, you can see the tide turning online, with many now excited to see Reeves take on the material.  Also, it didn’t hurt that the panel for Let Me In at Comic-Con was loaded with some great footage.

Anyway, before the panel, I managed to get some time with Reeves.  We talked about the online buzz for his movie and how things have been changing, how much of the original movie is in his version, has he already deleted sequences for the DVD/Blu-ray, what has the test screening process been like, how did he get Michael Giacchino to do the score, what is it like for him to be at Comic-Con and what does he collect/geek out over, and a lot more.  If you’re interested Let Me In and why Reeves wanted to do a remake, you’ll love the interview.

Finally, for all you Cloverfield fans, I asked if there’s been any movement on a sequel/prequel (the answer is no), and Reeves mentioned he’d still like to get back to The Invisible Woman someday.  It’s all after the jump:

Copyright ©2005 - 2012. All Rights Reserved. California web design