Elfman out, then back in "Wolfman"; some clips

[JacksonArcher]

Anybody's who has been keeping an eye on The Wolfman knows that calling it a troubled production would be something of an understatement. From Mark Romanek dropping out of the director's chair just prior to filming, to Joe Johnston (Jurassic Park 3) entering the game at the last minute, the film certainly has had its problems and bumps along the way.

Well, in August 2008 Danny Elfman was brought in to compose The Wolfman. In an interview with Johnston right after he got the gig, he said he wanted Elfman from the start and said he would let him go wild, as an avid fan of the composer. Then in November Universal decided to remove Elfman's score because of creative differences, and brought in Paul Haslinger (Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Death Race) to compose a new score.

To complicate matters, Universal rejected Haslinger's score and went back to Elfman. Apparently the shuffling had more to do with Universal's tonal shifts with the film rather than their dislike of Elfman's material. Back last year they were contemplating two different cuts of the film. They screened both and went with the version that we'll see in theaters next week... the version with the R rating.

Elfman is known for his Gothic, fantastical scores and Haslinger is known for his electronic-driven scores, and once Universal settled on a cut of the film they realized Haslinger's synth heavy score just didn't mix. However, Elfman was unable to continue work on the score, since he is busy composing Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, so rumor has it additional composers were brought in to interweave Elfman's score into the final cut, which purportedly went through significant changes since Elfman's departure from the project.

Despite the problem-laden production, I'm very much so looking forward to The Wolfman. The trailers look moody and atmospheric and the cast is sublime. Danny Elfman works best when he deals with tales of Gothic fantasia (as evident whenever he does a score for Burton) so I'm glad to see his score back in the game.

Here are some clips of Elfman's score.

Source 1: http://screenrant.com/the-wolfman-da...re-ross-42292/

Source 2: http://www.hitfix.com/blogs/2008-12-...-best-look-yet

Also, HitFix has some clips from the film and it just reassures me that The Wolfman will be a winner. Check 'em out.

[Captaindemotion]

I'm looking forward to hearing Danny Wolfman's score for The Elfman.

[S. Gomez]

Let the bootleg albums burst forth.

[CaptJimboJones]

I'm not a big fan of Elfman's. His scores all tend to sound the same to me - over-the-top with whimsy and goofiness. I know he has a lot of fans, so I guess I just have different tastes, but I'd much rather hear something like the Underworld score than two hours of Elfman.

[JacksonArcher]

I'm a huge fan of Elfman. He can also go out and do something completely different, too, like his scores for Red Dragon and Milk.

[tharpdevenport]

Some composer did provide additional score, including John Williams orchestrator, Conrad Pope (I think I read like 20 minutes).

Right at the time when Haslinger's score was rejected, Elfman had already recorded Alice, so that's sort of an industry excuse. I think the real reason is Elfman had "better" things to do and didn't want to come back to the film.


As I write this, there may be little pieces of Haslinger's score left in the film when it is shown.


VareseSarabande.com is releasing Elfman's score, and there are samples.

[Sisko_is_my_captain]

I like it. 'Wolf Suite Pt. 1' and 'Travel Montage' are definitely reminiscent of Wojciech Kilar's score for 'Bram Stoker's Dracula'. Actually, there's a really strong amount of similarity between those scores.

[Nardpuncher]

Captaindemotion wrote:

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I'm looking forward to hearing Danny Wolfman's score for The Elfman.

I was coming in to make a joke about the names but yours is better than mine would've been!

[Captaindemotion]

^ Thank you. And don't forget Danny Batman's score for Elfman and Danny Spider-man's score for Elf-man (Yes, Danny also did the Burton and Raimi movies)

[S. Gomez]

^Not to mention his score for Elfmen In Black...

[Captaindemotion]

S. Gomez wrote:

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^Not to mention his score for Elfmen In Black...

^ Good one. Never thought of that!

[JacksonArcher]

Devin from CHUD has an audio clip from Paul Haslinger's rejected score for The Wolfman and let me tell you I am very glad Universal went with Danny Elfman's score instead. Haslinger's clip (as most of his music) would be suitable for any generic action movie, but not for Joe Johnston's The Wolfman, which was oozing with atmosphere and period dread.

[tharpdevenport]

I contacted someone a couple weeks ago who worked on Haslinger's score, sent him a YouTube link which has the same music as the one linked in CHUD, and asked if that was in fact Haslinger's score: he said NO.

[JacksonArcher]

tharpdevenport wrote:

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I contacted someone a couple weeks ago who worked on Haslinger's score, sent him a YouTube link which has the same music as the one linked in CHUD, and asked if that was in fact Haslinger's score: he said NO.

Huh. Interesting. You should contact Devin, then.

[Captaindemotion]

Danny Elfman should have done the music for The Lord of The Rings.