Though he has one of the more enviable careers that a composer could ever hope for, 2015 wasn’t a particularly strong year forHans Zimmer. The biggest film on his docket was the execrableChappie, and his other features, includingWoman in GoldandFreeheld, went virtually unwatched; he also scored an animated take onThe Little Prince, which will be hitting U.S. theaters in early 2016. This is a far cry from his booming work on some of Hollywood’s biggest productions of the last decade or so, including12 Years a Slave,Man of Steel, andThe Amazing Spider-Man 2. His most notable work, however, has been in collaboration withChristopher Nolan, onInterstellar,Inception, and theDark KnightTrilogy specifically, and he’s now looking to continue this partnership by scoring Nolan’s recently announcedDunkirk.
For those unfamiliar,Dunkirkfocuses on the evacuation of Dunkirk at the beginning of World War II, in which 300,000 Allied troops rescued the titular French city from the grip of the Germans. The film has yet to cast its major leads, as Nolan is looking to have essential unknowns for those parts, butTom Hardy,Kenneth Brannagh, andMark Rylanceare all in talks to join the picture. In terms of Nolan’s style, however, Zimmer’s scores are as important to the overall world-building that the director has been mastering for years now as are his actors, with obvious exceptions likeHeath LedgerinThe Dark Knight, Hardy inThe Dark Knight Rises, andMatt DamoninInterstellar.
Zimmer’s docket is pretty full for 2016 as is. He’s already slated to provide music forBatman v Superman: Dawn of JusticeandKung Fu Panda 3, and will also be scoringInferno, the latestDan Brownadaptation to hit the multiplex, andA Cure for Wellness,Gore Verbinski’s mysterious new project, slated to bow later this year.Dunkirk, however, is Zimmer’s first project that is scheduled to be released in 2017, and one could rightfully expect thunderous work from the composer to match Nolan’s typically astonishing technical vision.
