Being a fan of a property that’s getting the movie or TV treatment certainly isn’t a prerequisite to work on such a project, but it doesn’t hurt either. Such is the case for Tom Holkenborg, a.k.a. Junkie XL, who is composing the upcoming Godzilla vs. Kong, but was already a huge Godzilla fan when he boarded the fourth MonsterVerse installment.
It was announced back in June that Tom Holkenborg would handle scoring duties on Godzilla vs. Kong, and here’s what the composer recently had to say about how he got involved with the movie:
A perfect example is the Godzilla vs. Kong movie that is coming out next year. I’m such a Godzilla freak. I have all the Japanese versions of the movies. At a certain point, just for shits and giggles, I wrote something for Godzilla. About two years ago, I met the director because he showed interest in me as a composer. I asked him, ‘Do you know I’m the biggest Godzilla fan on the planet, and, years ago, I wrote some stuff.’ He was like, ‘You’re kidding me?’ So we started communicating, I tweaked what I did, played it for him, and he was totally in love.
So Tom Holkenborg just writing some Godzilla-related music for the hell of it and later playing it for director Adam Wingard actually led to him being hired as Godzilla vs. Kong’s composer. Holkenborg didn’t say anything about if he’s just as passionate about King Kong, but this clearly sounds like a dream come true for him.
Of course, Tom Holkenborg is no stranger to scoring major motion pictures. In the last half decade alone, his music credits have included Mad Max: Fury Road, Deadpool, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Tomb Raider, Terminator: Dark Fate, Alita: Battle Angel and Sonic the Hedgehog. Still, the fact that he now gets to leave his stamp on a franchise he’s been passionate about for a long time surely makes Godzilla vs. Kong a standout entry on his resume.
Tom Holkenborg is the fourth composer to work on the MonsterVerse franchise, with his predecessors being Alexandre Desplat on Godzilla, Henry Jackman on Kong: Skull Island and Bear McCreary on Godzilla: King of the Monsters. As for what we can expect from Holkenborg’s Godzilla vs. Kong music, he also teased during his interview with Forbes that he requested the biggest bass drum on the planet, and his wish was granted. So expect some percussion from a bass drum eight feet in diameter as the gigantic reptile and gorilla come to blows, which Holkenborg said was “worth the money.”
Besides Godzilla and King Kong crossing paths for the first time in a Hollywood production, Godzilla vs. Kong will also follow the scientific organization Monarch embarking on an expedition to unearth clues about the Titans’ origins, as well as reveal a conspiracy underway to wipe out these monstrous creatures. The cast includes Millie Bobby Brown, Kyle Chandler, Zhang Ziyi, Alexander Skarsgård, Rebecca Hall, Brian Tyree Henry, Eiza González, Jessica Henpeck, Julian Dennison, Demián Bichir and Lance Reddick.
Having previously been slated for a November release, Godzilla vs. Kong will now hit theaters on May 21, 2021, so fingers crossed a trailer will arrive in the coming months. Learn other movies that are supposed to come out next year with our 2021 release schedule, and also keep an ear out for Tom Holkenborg’s music in Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which will premiere on HBO Max in 2021.
