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When “Dune: Part One” wrapped, composer Hans Zimmer continued to write more music for the sci-fi epic. He was told to stop, but Zimmer insisted he would carry on, so much so that director Denis Villeneuve would joke that the composer was locked in the studio.

Except it wasn’t completely a joke. Like many, Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel was hugely influential to Zimmer growing up. He never watched David Lynch’s 1984 film adaptation, but rather “made this movie in my head,” Zimmer notes.

So, when Villeneuve approached him to score “Dune: Part One,” Zimmer was more than excited to hop on board, saying that “the first movie is really a preamble.”

Zimmer told Villeneuve, “I’m writing because I know that we will be greenlit for ‘Part Two.’ And secondly, I think it’d be good for me to carry on writing and maybe inspire you with some things.

“Emancipation” director Antoine Fuqua wanted music that was spiritual but yet untraditional: a tall order for composer Marcelo Zarvos, doing their fifth film together.

“The bar was very high on this one,” Zarvos tells Variety about the Will Smith escape-from-slavery saga. “It’s so relevant and so momentous for the times that we’re living in; it looks back but also shines a light on our current society.”

The Brazilian-born composer – whose other films include Fuqua’s “Brooklyn’s Finest” and “The Guilty” as well as TV’s “Ray Donovan” – employed a traditional orchestra and choir but treated them in unusual and dramatically effective ways.

“There’s definitely a lot of orchestra, but with a lot of detuning, especially in the low-end brass, and it creates a real sense of unease,” Zarvos explains, finding this technique especially useful in the scenes of brutality and as Fassel (Ben Foster) is pursuing...

Emmy-winning executive producer David E. Kelley and Oscar winner Barry Levinson lead Peacock psychological crime thriller “The Calling.”

Kelley, known recently for “Big Little Lies” and “The Undoing,” serves as showrunner, writer, and executive producer of the series, premiering November 10 on the NBCU streamer. Levinson directs multiple episodes including the pilot, as well as executive produces. Hans Zimmer and Steve Mazzaro are co-composers for the gritty police procedural with a twist.

“The Calling” centers on NYPD Detective Avraham Avraham (Jeff Wilbusch) whose belief in mankind is his superpower when it comes to uncovering the truth. Guided by a deep sense of spirituality and religious principles, Avraham is left to question his own humanity when a seemingly routine investigation turns upside down. The series is based on Dror Mishani’s novels of the same name, which showrunner Kelley calls a “riveting and emotionally complicated series of books.”

“Avi is a deeply mysterious,...

Peacock’s just released the first trailer for the upcoming drama The Calling from David E. Kelley (Big Little Lies). The Calling, which was given a straight-to-series order back in October 2021, is adapted from Dror Mishani’s bestselling Avraham Avraham book series and stars Jeff Wilbusch (Unorthodox) as the fictional NYPD detective.

“Dror Mishani wrote a riveting and emotionally complicated series of books, the center of which is Avraham. Avi is a deeply mysterious, spiritual, and compelling detective unlike any protagonist I’ve encountered before. Jeff Wilbusch brings him to rich and hypnotic life in front of the camera, and behind the camera Barry Levinson is… Barry Levinson. What a privilege to have him at the helm. Add Hans Zimmer to the mix, and the final product is something we hope thrills, moves, and instills a bit of hope in the audience,” said writer, executive producer, and showrunner David E.

Germaine Franco became the first female composer of a Disney animated feature when she joined “Encanto,” but that was also unfortunately during the pandemic, which meant she could not go to Colombia for research. Instead, she brought Colombia to her.

“I started listening to music from the early 1800s all the way to current pop and just had so many different videos and scores and songs … What I found was that we have so much in a common, a lot of the Latin American countries, but they’re very different in a different way,” Franco tells Gold Derby during our Meet the Experts: Composers panel (watch above). “I also bought a bunch of instruments. I had a marimba made in Colombia. It’s called a marimba de chonta. It’s a special marimba that you can’t get anywhere else. It’s made out of a palm tree, so I...

Four Vietnam vets return to the place that changed their lives. An alcoholic screenwriter creates a masterpiece. Korean immigrants struggle to succeed on their Arkansas farm. A Civil War vet takes an orphan home. An aspiring jazz pianist discovers his true calling only after his death.

How does music aid the storytelling in each of these films? That’s what Academy voters must weigh in deciding this year’s Oscar winner for original score.

“Da 5 Bloods”

Terence Blanchard received his second Oscar nomination, also for a Spike Lee film (2018’s “BlacKkKlansman” was his first), and boasting his largest orchestra to date: 96 players, plus the unusual addition of the duduk, an Armenian woodwind.

This is the first year in Oscar history that two African-American composers (Jon Batiste and Blanchard) are nominated for original score.

Says Blanchard: “We wanted to have a really grand sound. When I saw that opening shot...

Spike Lee calls his 30-year collaboration with composer Terence Blanchard “a match made in heaven.”

The two have worked together on 17 films and three television projects including their most recent collaboration, “Da 5 Bloods.” Written and directed by Lee, it stars Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Norm Lewis, Isiah Witlock Jr., Clarke Peters and Chadwick Boseman.

Hot off winning the Academy Award for adapted screenplay for “BlacKkKlansman,” Lee moved onto “Da 5 Bloods” with Blanchard on board to score.

“I feel like Spike is the type of artist who never stands still and is never satisfied with something he’s done before,” says the composer. “He’s always upping his game.”

Music has come to be another character in Lee joints, even becoming iconic in his films, such as Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” used in “Do the Right Thing.” With “Da 5 Bloods,” Blanchard’s score, featuring a 90-piece orchestra,...