Johnny Marr joins Hans Zimmer to score next James Bond film
Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr will join composer Hans Zimmer to score the upcoming James Bond movie No Time to Die.
Zimmer, widely celebrated for his scores for films such as Gladiator, The Da Vinci Code and the Pirates of the Caribbean series, was drafted in as a last-minute replacement earlier this month.
No Time to Die, which is the 25th James Bond film in the franchise and Daniel Craig’s final fling in the role, will be released in April 2020.
Marr told NME: “Part of the legacy of the Bond films is iconic music, so I’m very happy to be bringing my guitar to No Time To Die.”
The pair had previously collaborated together to score a number of projects, including Inception and The Amazing Spider-Man.
Zimmer replaces Dan Romer, who reportedly departed due to creative differences. It was Zimmer’s close friendship with Bond producer Barbara Broccoli that led to his initial involvement with the film. “I never thought I would do this. I honestly never thought about it other than that Barbara Broccoli is a really dear friend, I just love her as a human being, very much,” he said.
Zimmer is one of Hollywood’s most high-profile composers, winning an Oscar for his 1994 theme for The Lion King. He is best known for his collaborations with Christoper Nolan on Inception, Interstellar and the Dark Knight movies.
Earlier this week, Billie Eilish announced she would be writing and singing the theme song to No Time to Die. The 18-year-old musician is youngest artist to provide the soundtrack to a Bond film, which has over the years morphed into an highly anticipated music event.
Eilish said: “It feels crazy to be a part of this in every way. To be able to score the theme song to a film that is part of such a legendary series is a huge honour. James Bond is the coolest film franchise ever to exist. I’m still in shock.”
She follows some of the industry’s biggest names in creating a song for the franchise, including Shirley Bassey, Paul McCartney, Duran Duran, Madonna, Sam Smith and Adele. The UK’s Official Charts, which described Bond’s theme songs as an “integral part of British music and film legacy”, notes that Smith’s theme song for 2015’s Writing’s On The Wall is the only one in the franchise to reach number one, while Duran Duran’s A View To A Kill and Adele’s Skyfall each peaked at number two in 1985 and 2012 respectively.
