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Danny Elfman to Score 'Oz: The Great and Powerful' with Sam Raimi

by Ethan Anderton
June 20, 2011
Source: Buzzine

His fantastic scores have been heard in countless Tim Burton films from Beetlejuice to Alice in Wonderland, but composer Danny Elfman was also responsible for the score and theme to the first two installments of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man franchise. Now the composer and director are set to collaborate again. Buzzine (via The Playlist) attended a Q&A with Elfman for a retrospective of his 25 years of collaborating with Burton and the composer revealed that he would be composing the score for Oz: The Great and Powerful. In addition, Elfman said he's also in talks to potentially score The Hunger Games adaptation.

Elfman's re-collaboration with Raimi again comes as a bit of a surprise as the composer and filmmaker famously butted heads on Spider-Man 2. Here's what Elfman had to say about the situation back in 2005:

"It's like my connection with Sam got completely severed. As far as I'm concerned, he went to sleep, somebody put a pod next to him and when he awoke, he wasn't the same person I'd known for a decade. He went from right there number two on my list of favorite directors to the exact opposite of what I look for in a film experience. Everything I could do on ‘Spider-Man 1,' I couldn't do on ‘Spider-Man 2.‘ He got so intensely attached to the music that I couldn't even adapt my own music close enough. It's the first time I've ever walked from a director in 20 years. I'd rather go back to waiting tables than to do ‘Spider-Man 2' again, to have to have the same experience."

So with arguments in the past, it appears Elfman and Raimi have a future working together again. Speaking of the future, Elfman recently revealed another potential scoring gig in addition to providing his talents for Tim Burton's Frankenweenie, Dark Shadows and also next summer's sequel Men in Black 3. The composer says he's currently in talks to compose music for The Hunger Games adaptation from director Gary Ross, but it doesn't appear to be a done deal yet. Elfman confirmed the aforementioned films and said:

"And then another one called 'The Hunger Games' popped up, which seemed like really interesting thing. Different -- and different catches my attention in a way that's like, 'Oh, I can't ever pass up a chance to do something different.' So that deal's not even closed, it may not even happen, but we're well along with that."

So it sounds like he's going to be quite busy over the next few years with more Burton and Raimi projects, among others. It's good to hear that time has healed the wounds between Raimi and Elfman the composer's work really helped bring Spider-Man to life on the big screen. And of course, Elfman working with Burton again is always good news for the film world. But for my money, I'm most interested in seeing what he can bring to The Hunger Games if that deal comes through in the end. As he says, it's something different for him, and that's always an exciting prospect for any veteran talent. We'll continue to keep you updated!

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