James Newton Howard And Six Other Composers To Write Music For Tony Gilroy's 'Behemoth'

TV & Film

Jan 15

James Newton Howard conducting the Dallas Symphony Orchestra in 2012. — Image Source: Flickr.com

And God said, “Let there be music!”

It has officially been confirmed that Academy Award-nominated film composer James Newton Howard will provide the score for the upcoming Tony Gilroy film, Behemoth! Not only that, but Howard will be one of seven composers working on the film. While the identities of the other six composers are currently unknown, Howard seemed to have revealed in his Instagram comments that Alan Silvestri (who is currently working onAvengers: Doomsday) is one of them.

Starting off as a session musician for the likes of Diana Ross, Ringo Starr, and Harry Nilsson, James Newton Howard got his career going as a music arranger for legendary singer-songwriter Elton John. Howard began working as a film composer in the 1980s, but wouldn’t truly hit his stride until the 1990s with scores for Garry Marshall’s Pretty Woman, Andrew Davis’ The Fugitive, and Barbara Streisand’s The Prince of Tides, the latter two earning him his first two Oscar nominations. The 90s also marked the start of his 14-year collaboration with M. Night Shyamalan, scoring all his films from The Sixth Sense to After Earth. Regardless of Shyamalan’s dwindling critical reception of his post-Signs films, Howard’s music was frequently hailed as a highlight, even earning an Oscar nomination for The Village. Howard has also frequently collaborated with filmmakers P.J. Hogan, Lawrence Kasdan, and Francis Lawrence. Other prominent scores in his filmography include the first two installments of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy (which he scored alongside Hans Zimmer), Peter Jackson’s King Kong, Edward Zwick’s Defiance, and Dan Gilroy’s Nightcrawler. Howard has also scored every installment of The Hunger Games franchise, the Fantastic Beasts trilogy, and a handful of Walt Disney Animation Studios films, including Atlantis: The Lost Empire and Treasure Planet.

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Tony Gilroy at the premiere of Andor season 2 in 2025. — Image Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Behemoth! marks Tony Gilroy’s long-awaited return to the director’s chair. Starting off as a prolific screenwriter, Gilroy made his directorial debut in 2007 with Michael Clayton, starring George Clooney and Tilda Swinton. Receiving critical acclaim, the film earned seven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. He also directed the 2009 romantic crime comedy Duplicity and the 2012 action film The Bourne Legacy (after co-writing the first three Bourne films). In 2016, Gilroy rewrote and directed reshoots for Gareth Edwards’ Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, earning him a screenplay credit alongside Chris Weitz. Years later, Kathleen Kennedy hired Gilroy to replace Stephen Schiff as the showrunner of Andor. Despite Gilroy dropping out of directing duties due to COVID-19 restrictions, Gilroy served as showrunner for both seasons. Andor received universal critical acclaim and has frequently been hailed as one of the greatest pieces of Star Wars media ever made. Gilroy would receive a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series for both seasons of the show.

Behemoth! was first reported to be in development in March 2025 by reporter Jeff Sneider, who stated that Gilroy was shopping the script around with the intention of Oscar Isaac being the star. When the project was picked by Searchlight Pictures the following August, Pedro Pascal was hired to replace Isaac. Pascal will be joined by Eva Victor (Sorry, Baby), Olivia Wilde, Margarita Levieva (Daredevil: Born Again), and Matthew Lillard. David Harbour was originally set to star and even filmed scenes, but departed the film earlier this month, allegedly due to exhaustion from working on the fifth and final season ofStranger Things. Will Arnett (hot off his acclaimed performance in Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On?) was hired as Harbour’s replacement. Plot details for the film are unknown, but reports indicate it is about a cellist. Behemoth! will mark the 4th collaboration between Tony Gilroy and James Newton Howard.