Composer John Powell (How to Train Your Dragon, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Happy Feet, X-Men: The Last Stand, Shrek, Chicken Run) is reteaming with director Doug Liman on the upcoming romantic comedy/heist movie Locked Down. The film stars Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor as a couple who find life has other plans when they are stuck at home in a mandatory lockdown and call a truce to attempt a high-risk, high-stakes jewellery heist at one of the world’s most exclusive department store, Harrods. Ben Stiller, Stephen Merchant, Lucy Boynton, Ben Kingsley, Mindy Kaling and Dule Hill are co-starring. Steven Knight (Peaky Blinders, Eastern Promises) wrote the screenplay. P.J. van Sandwijk (Citizen K, American Dharma), Alison Winter (Chaos Walking) and Michael Lesslie (The Little Drummer Girl) are producing the AGC Studios production. Powell has previously collaborated with Liman (Edge of Tomorrow, Go) on the features The Bourne Identity, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Jumper and Fair Game. Locked Down will premiere next month exclusively on HBO Max.
I'm glad to see Powell doing something other than animated family films for the first time in quite a while.
I know he chose that path, and spoke out against the violence in Hollywood films, so it was a conscious choice on his part.
But I miss when we used to get 3-4 varied albums from him per year for films of all genres.
I'm sure part of it was also the tragic death of his wife, and him wanting to spend more time with his family, which I completely understand.
I'm just grateful to have music for the first live-action grown up film he has scored in a decade, since Liman's Fair Game. (I know he co-composed Jason Bourne, but my memory of that film is that it had a MASSIVE amount of tracked music from the previous films and wasn't really a full new score.)
Hubris's physical CD was a co-production with CD Baby, like Ferdinand with LLL and HTTYD Deluxe with Varese. They don't directly do their own CD versions.
I'm glad to see Powell doing something other than animated family films for the first time in quite a while.
I know he chose that path, and spoke out against the violence in Hollywood films, so it was a conscious choice on his part.
But I miss when we used to get 3-4 varied albums from him per year for films of all genres.
Yes, that irritates me a little bit. It's his choice, which I respect -- and I can understand where he's coming from -- but I wish he ventured out of family-friendly cozniess once in a while. IMO, he shines more in adult or 'edgy' material. I miss that side of him.
Hubris's physical CD was a co-production with CD Baby, like Ferdinand with LLL and HTTYD Deluxe with Varese. They don't directly do their own CD versions.
Gotcha, I only meant that there have been multiple CDs of his with the 5 Cat logo on them.
I wish he ventured out of family-friendly cozniess once in a while. IMO, he shines more in adult or 'edgy' material. I miss that side of him.
Agreed. I saw a poll on the John Powell fans Facebook page for favorite cues of his, and they were ALL from his animated family films. No United 93, no Bourne Supremacy. None of his many live action films. I was kind of shocked that they seem to already be forgotten by his fans.
Agreed. I saw a poll on the John Powell fans Facebook page for favorite cues of his, and they were ALL from his animated family films. No United 93, no Bourne Supremacy. None of his many live action films. I was kind of shocked that they seem to already be forgotten by his fans.
It's almost as if that kind of music is what he excels at...
Agreed. I saw a poll on the John Powell fans Facebook page for favorite cues of his, and they were ALL from his animated family films. No United 93, no Bourne Supremacy. None of his many live action films. I was kind of shocked that they seem to already be forgotten by his fans.
It's almost as if that kind of music is what he excels at...
I'd disagree there, I think he's equally skilled at all genres, his Bourne scores, especially the second one, set the template for action scoring for a decade.
I can't count how many scores were clearly influenced by it. I sat once at an internship and listened as, in the next room, a major action film a couple of years later was edited almost entirely to The Bourne Supremacy as a temp track, which the eventual composer mimicked closely.
I think it's just that since he hasn't done anything but family films in a decade, those are the scores people are most familiar with.
It's Friday now in NZ/AU and there is no OST album up on their iTunes
In other news I found one review of the film that mentioned the score
Digressing, as Paxton and Linda start to emerge from their relationship funk, they have to actually decide if they want to go through with stealing the diamond on the spot while carrying out their respective jobs. Some aggressive music from regular Doug Liman composer John Powell adds to that suspense, whereas the planning itself of the operation is anything but formulaic for the genre yet still more than cinematic enough to work.
Whilst “Lockdown” has been a way of life for us all recently, a few weeks ago it became a rather wonderful reunion for me. When Doug Liman, who hired me all those years ago for The Bourne Identity, asked if I could jump on board a ridiculously fast scheduled production called “Lockdown” I was delighted to oblige. Doug and his team had created, shot, and edited the film in no time at all, so part of the attraction was to join them in their madness—to see if I could score the film as quickly and with the same made-at-home-during-a-pandemic energy. In the end, I didn’t need to write much—between the cues near the end and a few dodgy “interpretations” of Beethoven piano concertos, we were done as quickly as you could say “Melania, where’s my Twitter account?!”
It was fun returning to Doug’s totally bonkers approach to filmmaking, reminding me that the phrase “Actually, I don’t think we need any music until reel 6!” can sometimes be the greatest news a composer can hear all day
Streaming now on HBO Max!
Score Composed & Produced by John Powell Additional Music & Arrangements by Batu Sener Score Engineer John Michael Caldwell Score Recorded & Mixed at 5 Cat Studios
Powell has said in a Facebook comment that there won’t be any release of the score. From his description in the above post it sounds like there’s very little score in it.
So there's always a chance. 
