On a very special episode of Collider Connected, we are thrilled to be joined by one of the best film composers working today: James Newton Howard. The man has been working as a film composer for over three decades now, but even before that had an accomplished career as a musician who toured with the likes of Elton John. He’s since gone on to earn eight Oscar nominations for his work in the film world on movies ranging from The Fugitive to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and his filmography is as diverse as it is impressive.
In this exclusive interview, Howard gets candid about the ups and downs of his career, from how The Fugitive changed everything to how M. Night Shyamalan changed how he writes music. He also went in-depth on how he and Hans Zimmer collaborated on Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, and why he didn’t score The Dark Knight Rises, and talked about replacing Howard Shore at the last minute on Peter Jackson’s King Kong.
We also talked about his brilliant score for the Tom Hanks Western drama News of the World and the challenges of finding the right theme, why action music is the hardest to do well, and his work on franchises like Fantastic Beasts and The Hunger Games. He also gave his opinion on using temp score and spoke candidly about serving a director or studio’s vision while maintaining artistic integrity.
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