Emmy, Ivor Novello and multiple World Soundtrack Award nominated composer Benjamin Wallfisch provides a powerful and emotional score for the dramatic thriller, Hours starring Paul Walker (Fast & Furious) and Genesis Rodriguez (Man on a Ledge). The directorial debut of Eric Heisserer (Final Destination 5), Hours is a suspense drama set in the midst of Hurricane Katrina and follows a father's desperate attempt to keep his newborn daughter alive in the wake of the storm's destruction. Pantelion Films/LIONSGATE will distribute the film theatrically and on VOD in the U.S. on December 13, 2013. The Hours - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be released by Varèse Sarabande on December 10. Preview samples from the score are available on SoundCloud.
Nolan Hayes (Paul Walker) arrives at a New Orleans hospital with his pregnant wife, Abigail (Genesis Rodriguez), who has gone into early labor. What should be one of the happiest days of Nolan's life quickly spirals out of control when the birth goes tragically wrong and Hurricane Katrina ravages the hospital, forcing an evacuation. Told to stay with his child, who is on a ventilator, and await transfer by ambulance, Nolan and his newborn are soon cut off from the world by power outages and rising floodwaters. When no one returns to help, Nolan faces one life-and-death decision after another, fighting to keep his daughter alive, as minute-by-agonizing minute passes... becoming unimaginable hours.
"I'm grateful to have Benjamin's passionate commitment to this story," said Eric Heisserer, Writer/Director. "Thanks to him, Nolan is never alone. We glimpse all the things he doesn't say through Benjamin's music. If you find subtext in the movie, it's not from my writing, but from his score."
Benjamin Wallfisch's recent features include the romantic drama Summer In February starring Dan Stevens (Downton Abbey), Dominic Cooper and Emily Browning; the Viking saga thriller from Vertigo Films, Hammer Of The Gods, directed by Farren Blackburn (Luther, Doctor Who); the action epic Conquest 1453, the most successful film in Turkish cinema; and the historical drama Bhopal: A Prayer For Rain starring Martin Sheen and Mischa Barton. Current projects include the Iran-set drama Desert Dancer starring Frieda Pinto (Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Slumdog Millionaire) and Reece Ritchie (Hercules, 10,000 BC), and the BBC original movie, The Thirteenth Tale adapted for television by Academy Award-winning writer Christopher Hampton (Atonement), directed by James Kent (The White Queen), produced by David Heyman (Harry Potter) and starring Vanessa Redgrave. The Thirteenth Tale is set to premiere end of 2013. Relativity Media will release Desert Dancer in 2014.
Wallfisch is also known for orchestrating and conducting Dario Marianelli's Oscar and Golden Globe-winning score for Atonement and the Oscar and Golden Globe nominated score for Anna Karenina. He has also worked as sole orchestrator on numerous other studio pictures such as Pride and Prejudice (Oscar nominated, Best Original Score 2006), V for Vendetta, The Soloist, Eat Pray Love, Jane Eyre and Ridley Scott's Robin Hood. Furthermore he arranged the music for the acclaimed feature documentary Life in a Day, produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin MacDonald, and composed additional music for The Rite, starring Anthony Hopkins and also for Red Riding Hood, directed by Catherine Hardwicke of the Twilight series.
Benjamin made his scoring debut at the age of 24, composing the music for Thomas Vinterberg's Dear Wendy. This score earned him his first nomination as 'Discovery of the Year' in the 2005 World Soundtrack Awards and also a nomination for 'Best Original Score' in the 2006 Danish Film Academy Awards. His subsequent score, for Rupert Wyatt's suspense thriller The Escapist earned him a nomination as 'Best Original Film Score' in the 2009 Ivor Novello Awards and his second nomination as 'Discovery of the Year' in the 2008 World Soundtrack Awards. The score for Summer In February garnered Wallfisch his third nomination at the 2013 World Soundtrack Awards, following its release on Deutsche Grammophon to international critical acclaim, including Classic FM - "Wallfisch's lush score is sumptuously romantic and atmospheric... Glorious romantic movie music from Benjamin Wallfisch," and Film Score Monthly—"A gorgeous listening experience."
Classically trained, Benjamin is also in demand as a concert composer and conductor and has worked closely with orchestras including the Los Angeles Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Sydney Symphony Orchestra, performing in venues including the Hollywood Bowl, Sydney Opera House and London's Royal Festival Hall and Barbican.