Alexandre Desplat Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

The 66th BFI London Film Festival is set to host the world premiere of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, the Oscar-winning director’s dark take on the classic fairy tale about a wooden marionette brought to life to mend the heart of a grieving woodcarver named Geppetto.

It’s amazing how a score can impact a Hollywood composer’s career, similar to how a breakout movie can turn an actor’s fate around.

The current, somewhat glib joke about George Clooney as a filmmaker is that he makes movies that “don’t exist,” i.e., are not made for the current cinematic zeitgeist and are often out of step with what the culture is watching and consuming. And there’s an argument to be made, no matter how shallow and maybe that ageist the joke is, that there’s something to it, perhaps going as far back as 2008’s throwback comedy “Leatherheads,” which really wasn’t for audiences at the time either.

Jon Burlingame Ninety-four songs and 149 scores have been deemed eligible in the music categories for the 96th annual Academy Awards, Variety has learned. Voting began this morning, with 390 members of the Academy music branch eligible to vote in this year’s competition.

Caroline Brew editor Billie Eilish and Finneas along with Lenny Kravitz and Diane Warren are among the nominees at the Hollywood Music in Media Awards. Eilish and Finneas landed a nomination for “What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie.

EXCLUSIVE: Netflix debuts the first track of Nyad score ahead of the film’s theatrical release. The film is scored by two-time Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat (The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Shape of Water).

France has submitted The Taste Of Things as its candidate for the Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards, in a major upset after Justine Triet’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner and hot favorite Anatomy Of A Fall was shut out.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent “Anatomy of a Fall,” Justine Triet’s Palme d’Or winning film, is one of the five movies shortlisted by France’s Oscars committee to represent the country in the international feature film race. The movie, which was acquired by Neon at Cannes, was pre-selected alongside “The Taste of Things” (previously titled “The Pot-au-Feu,” a culinary romance starring Juliette Binoche which won best director at Cannes for French-Vietnamese filmmaker Trần Anh Hùng); “The Scent of Green Papaya”; Clement Cogitore’s “Goutte d’or”; Thomas Cailley’s supernatural coming-of-age drama “The Animal Kingdom”; and Denis Imbert’s “Sur les chemins noirs.” The year’s selection committee includes sales agents Sabine Chemaly and Tanja Meissner, producers Charles Gillibert and Patrick Wachsberger, directors Olivier Assayas and Mounia Meddour, and Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat.

France has unveiled the five titles in the running to be its entry for Best International Feature Film at the 96th Academy Awards.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Indie studios IFC Films and Neon are facing off with the hopes of one of their films being selected as France’s official submission to the Oscars for the international feature film prize. Neon aims to position Palme d’Or winner “Anatomy of a Fall” as the best option for the country. IFC is making its case for “The Taste of Things” from French-Vietnamese filmmaker Trần Anh Hùn, who won the director prize at Cannes.

Roman Polanski’s Venice Film Festival feature The Palace received a 3 minute ovation tonight at its world premiere screening.

Wes Anderson beamed with joy as his 40-minute short film “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” received a nearly 4-minute standing ovation at its Venice Film Festival premiere. Prior to the screening, Anderson was presented with Cartier’s Glory to the Filmmaker Award, which was presented to him by his frequent collaborator Alexandre Desplat.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat has scored the music for Netflix’s “Nyad.” Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, “Nyad” stars Annette Bening as Diana Nyad, an athlete, who at 60, achieves her lifelong dream of finishing the 110-mile open ocean swim from Cuba to Florida. In a statement to Variety, Desplat said, “Chai and Jimmy’s direction is very strong.

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline can reveal the international trailer for Roman Polanski’s ensemble dark comedy The Palace ahead of its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September.

Naman Ramachandran France has named a heavyweight Oscar selection committee to decide the submission in the international feature film category at the 2024 Academy Awards. France’s Minister of Culture Rima Abdul Malak has appointed a seven-person committee proposed by Dominique Boutonnat, president of French film board CNC. They include composer Alexandre Desplat, whose 11 Oscar nominations have led to two wins for “The Shape of Water” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel”; former Lionsgate executive and producer Patrick Wachsberger, Oscar winner for “CODA”; and two-time Cesar winning producer Charles Gillibert (“Mustang,” “M”).

Lionsgate film co-chief Patrick Wachsberger has been named as one of the members of the selection committee that will decide the French entry for the Best International Film Oscar category this year.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent Cesar-winning French actor Roschdy Zem (“Days of Glory”) and “Fauda” star Laëtitia Eïdo are co-starring in “Fatum,” a timely action film directed by Florent-Emilio Siri (“Hostage”) and scored by Oscar-winning Alexandre Desplat. “Fatum,” which started filming on July 4 in Morocco, is produced by Mathias Rubin at Récifilms (“November,” “Möbius”). Orange Studio is co-producing and has French distribution rights, as well as handles international sales. The film is also co-produced by France 2 Cinéma which pre-bought it along with Canal+, Disney+ and Palatine Etoile 21. Zem, one of France’s most bankable actors who previously won a Cannes prize with “Days of Glory” and recently won a Cesar Award with “Oh Mercy!” stars in “Fatum” as Elyas, a former Special Forces soldier who has become solitary and paranoid since serving Afghanistan. Elyas is recruited to provide the security for Amina (Eido) and her daughter Nour who fled the Emirates and found refuge in a French castle. When a commando tracks down Amina and Nour, Elyas once again becomes the fearless soldier he was on the frontlines to rescue the pair.

Steven Spielberg’s Amblin Partners has sold a 50% stake in its catalog of music publishing and music master rights from the film music library to Multimedia Music, including  marquee and award-winning films 1917, Green Book, The BFG, Bridge of Spies, The Post, Office Christmas Party, Thank You For Your Service and The Girl on the Train and others. The catalog features iconic music from several of the most renowned and celebrated composers in the world including John Williams, Thomas Newman, Danny Elfman, Alexandre Desplat, Rachel Portman, Mark Isham and Rob Simonsen. 

Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City has been released – check it out below.Set during a junior stargazer convention in 1950s America, the film stars a mix of new and frequent collaborators from Anderson’s past works, including Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston and Edward Norton.The comedy-drama had its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2023, where it competed for the Palme d’Or prize. It was later released in cinemas on June 23.Alexandre Desplat created the film’s score, who has previously worked with Anderson on Fantastic Mr. Fox, Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Isle Of Dogs and The French Dispatch.His other notable credits include Guillermo Del Toro’s Shape Of Water, Little Women directed by Greta Gerwig and both parts of Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows.Desplat’s score is joined by various other country-orientated songs, including tracks by The Springfields featuring Dusty Springfield, Slim Whitman and Bing Crosby.Jarvis Cocker, who has a cameo in the film, contributes two original songs to the soundtrack titled ‘Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven)’ and ‘You Can’t Wake Up If You Don’t Fall Asleep’.

Wes Anderson’s soundtracks were initially known for their Rolling Stones, David Bowie, The Who, and lots of ’60s and 70s rock at first. Eventually, that started to change; Anderson split with composer Mark Mothersbaugh, found a new ally in French composer Alexandre Desplat, and the music choices were less immediately identifiable, not quite as conventionally hip, but still tasteful choices (think the use of Hank Williams in “Moonrise Kingdom,” The Bobby Fuller Band in “Fantastic Mr.

Terry Flores “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” has picked up another award on its march to the Oscars, nabbing the feature prize at the 50th Annie Awards, presented by ASIFA-Hollywood, on Saturday evening. In addition to being named the top film by the animation industry, “Pinocchio” led the winners’ list with five trophies overall, including the award for best direction for del Toro and fellow director Mark Gustafson. The stop-motion movie also picked up wins for music (Alexandre Desplat, Roeban Katz, del Toro and Patrick McHale), production design (Curt Enderle and Guy Davis) and character design (Tucker Barrie). Del Toro, who came directly from the PGA Awards where he received the trophy for producing ‘Pinocchio,’ was thrilled to win the Annie for direction alongside Gustafson. “Can I say this? I wanted the fucking Annie so much. It’s the most gorgeous thing in the world!” He noted that the Annies ceremony was the one place that he didn’t have to point out that animation is a medium and not a genre. “What I can say is about ‘Pinocchio’ is that it was done by artists, and the animators were treated like cast and not technicians.”

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Diane Warren and Son Lux were among the winners Wednesday evening at the 4th annual Society of Composers & Lyricists Awards. The awards recognize original score and songs in visual media across seven categories. Darren Criss, hosted the banquet at the Skirball Center in Los Angeles. Damien Chazelle and his go-to composer Justin Hurwitz received the Spirit of Collaboration Award. The duo has collaborated on five films including “Babylon,” “La La Land,” “Whiplash,” “First Man” and “Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench.” The presentation of the award was accompanied by a musical performance including “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” from “La La Land,” the “First Man” theme for harp and theremin, and a “Babylon” medley which included “Voodoo Mama” and “Herman’s Hustle.”

Outstanding Score for a Studio Film: Michael Abels, “Nope”Outstanding Score for an Independent Film: Son Lux, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”Outstanding Song for a Musical/Comedy: Alexandre Desplat, Roeban Katz, Guillermo del Toro, “Ciao Papa” from “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio”Outstanding Song for a Drama/Documentary: Diane Warren, “Applause” from “Tell It Like a Woman”Outstanding Score for Television: Cristobal Tapia de Veer, “The White Lotus”Outstanding Score for Interactive Media: Stephanie Economou, “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Dawn of Ragnarok”David Raskin Award for Emerging Talent: Nami Melumad, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds”

The Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) presented the winners of the 4th Annual SCL Awards for score and songs in visual media tonight at the Skirball Cultural Center.

It’s impossible to talk about Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio without considering the music. Del Toro’s Netflix adaptation of the Carlo Collodi story takes place in 1930s Italy, during the Fascist reign of Benito Mussolini. In this story, woodcarver Geppetto (David Bradley) loses his son Carlo in an aerial bombing and carves Pinocchio (Gregory Mann) from the tree at his son’s grave. Composer Alexandre Desplat, who worked with del Toro on The Shape of Water, was tasked with capturing the “joyous melancholy” of the wooden boy in music. To enhance the connection between the character of Pinocchio and the music, Desplat made the choice to only use wooden instruments in the score. Below, Desplat breaks down three key pieces of the score – “Carlo’s Theme”, “Going to Town” and “Saving Geppetto” – with the corresponding scenes included for reference.

Chatting away to Sally Hawkins, as you do, in the fabled Abbey Road Studios in posh North London neighborhood of St. John’s Wood, she tells me ”I feel fine” when I inquire after her well-being.

The Society of Composers & Lyricists has unveiled its SCL Award nominees for 2023, naming composers Alexandre Desplat (Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio), Carter Burwell (The Banshees of Inisherin), Michael Abels (Nope), Michael Giacchino (The Batman) and John Powell (Don’t Worry Darling) as its contenders for Outstanding Score for a Studio Film.

The Film Academy has unveiled its 15-track shortlist for the Best Original Song Oscar in 2023, which marks a confluence between stars old and new.

Director Guillermo del Toro is known for the intense originality of his work, on vivid display in Oscar-winning films from Pan’s Labyrinth to The Shape of Water. For his latest, the Netflix animated film Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, he again set a high bar for himself.

Deadline’s Sound & Screen Film award-season event last week showcased the music and scores from nine buzzy awards-season movies, with composers and songwriters performing their work with the help of a 60-piece orchestra in front of an live audience at UCLA’s Royce Hall.

Alexandre Desplat opened Deadline’s Sound & Stage awards-season event representing the music from his latest project, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio. The Netflix animated film currently available to stream and is the duo’s second collaboration following Best Picture Oscar winner The Shape of Water.

Some people may be slow to go to cinemas as the pandemic eases, but here in Los Angeles, they’re certainly not sluggish to head to awards season events, and Netflix took over the old Amoeba Records space on Sunset Blvd Monday (aka The Lighthouse Artspace) for their very swanky, in-person concert Playlist event which touted a lineup of platinum composers and music supervisors working on their projects.

An enthusiastic rendition of Happy Birthday rang through the auditorium at the world premiere of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio as the London audience was informed Gregory Mann, the film’s lead voice actor, had just turned 13. 

Jon Burlingame editorBrian Tyler, composer of the “Fast and Furious” franchise, “The Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Crazy Rich Asians,” was named a BMI Icon at Wednesday night’s 38th annual Broadcast Music Inc. Film, TV and Visual Media Awards in Beverly Hills.Tyler (above, right) is among the top 10 highest-grossing film composers of all time.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentGerman actor Oliver Masucci and French star Fanny Ardant have joined the cast of Roman Polanski’s new movie “The Palace,” which will surely be a subject of controversy at the Cannes Film Festival where distribution rights are being sold.The ensemble drama, which had already cast Mickey Rourke, will be headlined by Masucci, the German actor who appeared in “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” and the Netflix series “Dark,” and Ardant, the esteemed French star of “La Belle Epoque” and “8 Women.” Budgeted at €13 million ($13.9 million), the movie is currently shooting on location in Gstaad, Switzerland, and is being sold by Wild Bunch International, the powerhouse behind several movies competing at Cannes, notably Arnaud Desplechin’s “Brother and Sister,” Claire Denis’s “Stars at Noon” and the opening night film “Final Cut” from Michel Hazanavicius. The key crew includes Oscar-winning music composer Alexandre Desplat, along with Polanski’s regular cinematographer Pawel Edelman, who previously worked with Polanski on “An Officer and a Spy,” “The Pianist,” “Oliver Twist” and “The Ghost Writer,” as well as set designer Monica Sironi (“Volare”).“The Palace” is produced by Luca Barbareschi at Eliseo Entertainment company, and co-produced by CAB Productions in Switzerland and Lucky Bob in Poland.Penned by Polanski and Jerzy Skolimowski, the movie takes place at a palace in Gstaad on New Year’s Eve in 1999.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has shared 10 shortlists of potential nominees at the 94th Oscars ceremony, which will take place on Sunday, March 27, 2022. Today's announcement includes possible candidates in the categories of Documentary Feature, Music (Original Score), and Music (Original Song), among others.