It has just been revealed thatJunkie XL, aka Tom Holkenborg, recently finished his score for the upcomingMortal Enginesmovie. Before it was revealed that the composer was going to take on the project, a few internet forums had already decided that he’d be a good fit because of his work onMad Max: Fury Road. As evidenced by theMortal Enginestrailer, it has a similar feel to Fury Road, and while that’s not necessarily a reason to choose a composer, Junkie XL’s use of atmospherics and extreme moods does make him a rather perfect candidate.
Mortal Enginesis anupcoming post-apocalyptic filmdirected by Christian Rivers off of a screenplay byPeter Jackson, Fran Walsh, and Philippa Boyens. The story is based on the novel of the same name by Phillip Reeve and it takes place in the steampunk world where cities have been mounted on wheels and become motorized. The bigger cities prey on the smaller, engulfing them and taking them over. The movie looks pretty intense and perfectly in the wheelhouse of composer Junkie XL.
Junkie XL is from the Netherlands and he has scored numerous projects over the years. His career truly launched in 2002 when he was asked to remix the Elvis Presley song “A Little Less Conversation,” which was the first time that the Presley estate had allowed someone to remix one of the King’s songs and it became a worldwide number one hit. He had previously scored the movieSiberiaandThe Deliverybefore the Elvis attention happened. The composer was also working on his own solo albums at the time, which have also been critically acclaimed over the years.
Mad Max: Fury Roadis one of the main scores that Junkie XL is known best for, and was probably a deciding factor for him landing theMortal Enginesgig. Since then, he has composed the scores forDeadpool,Batman v Superman,The Dark Tower,Tomb Raider, andAlita: Battle Angel. Junkie XL also helped to compose theWonder Womantheme song, which was first used inBatman v Superman. Though updated, the movie utilized what he and Hans Zimmer had originally composed for the Zack Snyder film.
Mortal Enginesis preparing for its December 14th release date. The film has been in development since 2009, but production on the project did not begin until October of 2016. There has been a lot of post-production work being done on the movie to make it unlike anything that we’ve ever seen on the big screen before. Peter Jackson has said that, “it’s got to be something I’ve never seen,” when speaking about the project, and for him to say that, you know that it carries some weight. Now that the release date is getting closer, fans are hoping to get some more promotional footage after the first two trailers were so well-received. With Junkie XL officially on board,Mortal Engineshas just been stepped up a few notches. This report originated fromFilm Music Reporter.
