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.
How far along are you on Super 8? The trailer seems like it has a very Amblin/ 70’s 80’s Spielberg vibe to it, does the score echo that sentiment?
Giacchino: I’m going for ultimately what works for the film. There are shades of that for sure in the score. I’ve pretty much written probably 90% of the score at this point. And then I’ve gotta go and record Cars 2 on Saturday, finish up all that for a week, and then I’ll go back to Super 8 and then in three weeks I’ll record that. So it’s been a crazy schedule for the last couple months, but yeah I’m excited about that one, that’s gonna be a really fun thing. I’m in a position where I get to go make something with my friends. Me and J.J. [Abrams] it’s like, the kid who lives next door, “Okay let’s go do this, that’d be cool wouldn’t it? Yeah that’d be fun!”
Have you started work on John Carter of Mars yet or are you still in the discussion phase?
Giacchino: Haven’t started anything on that musically. They’re working their butts off just trying to get that together. They shot it and now they’re in post and dealing with animation and all kinds of stuff, so there’s a lot to do before I actually sit down. Probably before I touch that I’ll be with Brad [Bird] on Mission: Impossible first. So it’ll go Super 8, Mission: Impossible, and then John Carter.
Have you started any work on Mission: Impossible yet?
Giacchino: Nope. [I] don’t even wanna think about it until I get through Cars and Super 8 and then I’ll go to that. They’re all like boom, one after another so I try to separate them as much as I can. But the good news is they’re all extremely different projects, so it’s not like I’m gonna write the same thing for this film that I’d write for Super 8, this film is nowhere near like Super 8 and vice versa, so it’s nice that they’re all so different.
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Giacchino is definitely one of the best composers working in Hollywood today and I’m glad to see him getting a lot of work, but I am a little disappointed that Thomas Newman won’t be scoring John Carter of Mars. Like I said Giacchino is amazing, but Tom Newman did some fantastic work on Finding Nemo and WALL•E and I know Andrew Stanton has said repeatedly that he feels there’s sort of a magic that happens creatively between the two of them.
this guy consistently makes great scores. him and Desplat are the best today at crafting “classical orchestral” scores that are memorable.. Giacchino’s Let Me In score might not be memorable, but it was definitely good and worked well for the quiet tone of the picture. his scores for Brad Bird’s films or should i say Pixar films(Incredibles, Ratatouille, and Up) are definitely his best. though i prefer him to take less films so he could concentrate more in delivering great work, it’s nice that all of his upcoming films are with previous collaborators.
i can’t wait for Super 8 and Ghost Protocol. Super 8 for its sheer love on movies that it was influence with(the trailer really had that Spielberg vibe) and Ghost Protocol for Brad Bird’s entry to live action filmaking. and i love to see an IMAX action scene that will make my jaw dropped again(it’s been so long since TDK in IMAX)
Lucky guy!
Giacchino is THE worthy successor of John Williams. No other composer comes close other than Hans Zimmer.
I agree! Giacchino has a very Williams vibe to them. I enjoy Hans Zimmer very much but I just prefer the sound of a traditional orchestra.