Featuring Music By John Ottman and David Buckley
Lakeshore Records will release THE NICE GUYS – Original Motion Picture Score digitally CD on May 27th and on CD June 24, 2016. The album features original music from composers John Ottman (X-MEN: APOCALYPSE, KISS KISS BANG BANG) and David Buckley (tHE TOWN, TV’s THE GOOD WIFE).
THE NICE GUYS unfolds in 1970s Los Angeles, when down-on-his-luck private eye Holland March and hired enforcer Jackson Healy become the unlikeliest of partners. Working together, they have to find a missing girl, who seems to have a target on her back. And is her case related to the violent death of porn star Misty Mountain in a car crash? During their investigation, March and Healy begin to uncover a shocking conspiracy that reaches up to the highest circles of power … and just might get them both killed.
Oscar winner Russell Crowe (GLADIATOR) and Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling (HALF-NELSON) star as Jackson Healy and Holland March, respectively. The film also stars young actress Angourie Rice, Matt Bomer (MAGIC MIKE, HBO’s THE NORMAL HEART), Margaret Qualley (HBO’s THE LEFTOVERS), Keith David (TV’s COMMUNITY), Beau Knapp (THE GIFT), and Oscar winner Kim Basinger (L.A. CONFIDENTIAL). Shane Black (IRON MAIN 3, KISS KISS BANG BANG, LETHAL WEAPON) directed the film from an original screenplay he wrote with Anthony Bagarozzi. Joel Silver (NON-STOP, THE MATRIX films, the SHERLOCK HOLMES films) produced the film under his Silver Pictures banner. Ken Kao, Hal Sadoff, Bagarozzi, Alex Walton and Michael J. Malone served as executive producers.
To write the music for the duo of March and Healy, director Shane Black and producer Joel Silver put together the dream team of composers John Ottman and David Buckley. “Joel called me before shooting began, asking for a theme that reminded us of classic cop or spy 70s TV shows and movies,” said Ottman. “I wrote a balls-out theme for full orchestra, but the challenge for David Buckley and me was adapting the theme into a score that kept the film fun and quirky without feeling too silly.”
“We found there was a fine line between period accuracy and a descent into joke territory,” Buckley added. “We had some great players on kit, guitar, bass, keys and horns who really helped add a sense of authenticity to the score. These guys, alongside a full orchestra, gave us full range to go between big action set pieces to more intimate emotional cues.”
John Ottman has achieved great success as both a composer and a feature film editor. His work is perhaps best known from his long association with director Bryan Singer for whom he has both scored and edited a wide range of films. Their collaborations include THE USUAL SUSPECTS, APT PUPIL, SUPERMAN RETURNS, VALKYRIE, and the X-MEN sequels, X-MEN 2, X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, and the upcoming X-MEN: APOCALYPSE.
THE NICE GUYS marks his second collaboration with director Shane Black, after the action comedy KISS KISS BANG BANG. Ottman’s long list of scoring credits also includes the Jaume Collet-Serra-directed films NON-STOP, UNKNOWN, ORPHAN and HOUSE OF WAX; FANTASTIC FOUR and FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER for director Tim Story; HIDE AND SEEK; CELLULAR; GOTHIKA; EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS; THE CABLE GUY; LAKE PLACID; and PUMPKIN, to name only a few. He has also composed for television, earning an Emmy Award nomination for the pilot of the FANTASY ISLAND reboot.
David Buckley most recently created the score for the upcoming summer actioner JASON BOURNE, directed by Paul Greengrass. He also scored the Sacha Baron Cohen comedy THE BROTHERS GRIMSBY. His previous film credits include the Joel Schumacher-directed thrillers TRESPASS and BLOOD CREEK; Ben Affleck’s crime drama THE TOWN; the actioner FROM PARIS WITH LOVE; directed by Pierre Morel; the psychological thriller TELL TALE; and Rob Minkoff’s fantasy adventure THE FORBIDDEN KINGDOM. He also composed the music for the 2010 documentary IN THE LAND OF THE FREE … For the small screen, he has composed the music for the hit CBS drama series THE GOOD WIFE.
THE NICE GUYS was the first time that Ottman and Buckley worked together. Regarding the main theme, Ottman said, “It’s not too long before Healy and March meet up in the film, so it made sense for the ‘Nice Guys theme’ to encompass them as a duo and to write different renditions of the theme when they’re together as much as possible.”
“We worked in our own studios and then chatted on the phone each night about what was working and what wasn’t,” Buckley described. “The direction took a few twists and turns along the way but ultimately ended up with our initial musical instincts intact!”
Warner Bros. Pictures presents THE NICE GUYS in theaters May 20, 2016. Lakeshore Records will release THE NICE GUYS – Original Motion Picture Score digitally on May 27 and on CD June 24, 2016.
TRACKLIST
1. Theme from “The Nice Guys”
2. Kids Today
3. Disco Party Fight
4. To The Car Show / Amelia?
5. Pornocchio
6. A Little Favor
7. Equanimity
8. Chet in the Dumps
9. You Got Her / Easy 20
10. Helping Blue Face / Car Crash
11. Meeting John Boy
12. It’s Not a Flight
13. Cars That Drive Themselves
14. YooHoo Delivery / Breaking In
15. Car Show Shoot Out
16. Follow the Yellow Dick Road
17. P.I. Life
18. Flight of the Bumble Bee / The Right Thing to Do (Bonus Track)
2. Kids Today
3. Disco Party Fight
4. To The Car Show / Amelia?
5. Pornocchio
6. A Little Favor
7. Equanimity
8. Chet in the Dumps
9. You Got Her / Easy 20
10. Helping Blue Face / Car Crash
11. Meeting John Boy
12. It’s Not a Flight
13. Cars That Drive Themselves
14. YooHoo Delivery / Breaking In
15. Car Show Shoot Out
16. Follow the Yellow Dick Road
17. P.I. Life
18. Flight of the Bumble Bee / The Right Thing to Do (Bonus Track)