Ahoy, squirts. Quint here with some sad news on KING KONG. We got wind of a rumor late last night that Howard Shore was leaving KING KONG and that James Newton Howard has been brought in to work his magic instead.
We here at AICN thought that rumor must surely be bogus, especially considering we've seen a recent production diary on Kongisking.net that had Shore scoring in Wellington. But we sent off emails asking for rumor control to people all over Peter Jackson's camp and waited.
I went to go see THE FOG (big mistake) this afternoon, so I was gone when the confirmation came in and started spreading around the net. It is true that Howard Shore is off KING KONG and James Newton Howard is on. This is sad news to me because I was really looking forward to hearing Shore's score, but at the same time I'm very interested in hearing James Newton Howard's take.
JNH is in a similar place to where Shore was before LOTR. He's a solid composer, but hasn't really had an opportunity to compose his big adventure score. I love his score to SIXTH SENSE and SIGNS, but wished his BATMAN BEGINS score was more heroic than moody. I'm very curious to give a listen to what he's got in store for KING KONG.
Anyway, here is the official statement:
Universal confirmed today that James Newton Howard will compose the original score for Universal Pictures' dramatic adventure KING KONG, which is directed by triple Academy Award winner Peter Jackson. Mr. Howard replaces Howard Shore, who is leaving the project.
Peter Jackson made the following statement: "I have greatly enjoyed my collaborations with Howard Shore, whose musical themes made immeasurable contributions to the Lord Of The Rings trilogy. During the last few weeks, Howard and I came to realize that we had differing creative aspirations for the score of KING KONG. Rather than waste time arguing with a friend and trying to unify our points of view, we decided amicably to let another composer score the film. I'm looking forward to working with James Newton Howard, a composer whose work I've long admired, and I thank Howard Shore, whose talent is surpassed only by his graciousness."
