Ridley Scott’s highly anticipated film Gladiator II opens Nov. 22, but for many fans the acid test of the film will come Nov. 15, when the soundtrack is released.
That soundtrack was composed not by Hans Zimmer — who wrote the Oscar-nominated score for Gladiator, with notable contributions from Lisa Gerrard — but by Zimmer protégé Harry Gregson-Williams, whose résumé includes the music for Shrek and The Chronicles of Narnia.
Zimmer’s score for the 2000 film, by turns sweeping, noble and emotional, is widely beloved. He declined to write for the new movie, saying he didn’t want to repeat himself.
“It’s really very simple. I’ve done that world. And I think I did it well,” he said in an interview with the movie website Curzon. “It wouldn’t have mattered if I had written the most amazing score [for the sequel], because the music in the first movie sticks in people’s hearts.”
But he’s given his successor a vote of confidence.
“Harry is family for me. He’s a phenomenal composer,” Zimmer said. “That film is in really good hands. Trust me.
“Harry and I have spoken about it. He feels the old score barking at his heels a little bit. So he’s on his A game.”
Why the angst among music fans? When the first trailer for Gladiator II was released in July, it featured the rap song “No Church in the Wild,” by Jay-Z and Kanye West, setting some fans’ teeth on edge. Some wondered why there was no callback to memorable themes such as “Now We Are Free,” featuring Gerrard’s iconic “wailing woman.”
The most recent trailer has a more conventionally epic musical background, but as with all trailers, the final music might not be reflected.
Perhaps it’s inevitable that the music has been updated. The sequel concentrates on the next generation, with its central focus on Lucius (Paul Mescal), the son of Russell Crowe’s Maximus.
“I thought, what if I could create a theme for Lucius that becomes Hans’ theme from the first movie?” Gregson-Williams says in this behind-the-scenes video.
“I love it that he took it and just expanded it, making something that is so extraordinary,” Zimmer adds.
“Music is a statement. It’s a sound statement,” Scott says, adding hopefully, “I think they’re going to love it.”
Indeed, will fans be entertained, or have their vengeance? Stay tuned.
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