Even at 69, Danny Elfman is showing absolutely no signs of slowing down. The acclaimed, four-time Oscar-nominated composer made his Coachella debut earlier this year, and he recently released his latest solo album, Big Mess, which just had a remix, Bigger. Messier., drop earlier this week. And that’s in addition to composing for one of the biggest movies of the year, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Suffice to say, Elfman is keeping himself as busy as ever these days, and that’s a trend that hopefully isn’t going to stop anytime soon, particularly as he recently announced that he’ll compose the score for White Noise, the latest film from writer-director Noah Baumbach.
The news came from Elfman’s recent profile with inews.co.uk, where the composer discussed his career and his most recent work, including the aforementioned Bigger. Messier. remix. As the acclaimed music-maker discussed what his fifth decade of being a musician will entail, including another Coachella show, he revealed that he’s currently working on the score for Baumbach’s soon-to-be-released Netflix title, which is slated to make its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival at the end of August, while also making its North American debut as the opening night title at the New York Film Festival in September.
That’s not a lot of time to throw it together, but it sounds like Elfman thrives under this type of pressure. The heavily in-demand artist has well over a hundred credits as a composer, though he’s best known for his work with Tim Burton, having scored nearly all of Burton’s films. But away from these notable films, Elfman has also worked on a number of notable dramas and Oscar-friendly titles, including Milk, Good Will Hunting, Silver Linings Playbook, Men in Black, and American Hustle, to name just a few. The man isn’t solely known for his genre works, it should be made clear, though White Noise could still prove to be quite a noted departure for the familiar musician.
Danny Elfman On ‘Doctor Strange In The Multiverse Of Madness’, Sam Raimi, And Collaborating On ‘Darkman’
The latest film from the filmmaker behind Marriage Story is expected to be something of an expansive magnum opus, particularly as an adaptation of Don DeLillo‘s 1985 novel of the same name, which has been deemed “unfilmable.” Starring Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig, it’s only a matter of time before we see how Baumbach fared with this reportedly hard-to-adapt material, but this existential comedy-horror could either be entirely up Elfman’s funky wheelhouse or something radically different from what we’ve heard from the ever-busy composer. Thankfully, we don’t have long to wait to see which way it will fare.
In addition to this upcoming film, Elfman is also reuniting with Burton to compose his new Netflix series, Wednesday. Additionally, he’s writing the music for next year’s 65, which also stars Driver, and Bloody Bridget, the latest film from his brother, Richard Elfman. As noted, the man likes to keep himself busy!
White Noise is expected to premiere on Netflix later this year. Be sure to check out some footage from Elfman’s Coachella performance below.
