F9 releases in the US today! After being delayed several times, the prolific Fast & Furious franchise is finally able to release its 9th installment in the saga that has collectively earned over $6 billion worldwide. The widespread adoration of the franchise and its characters cannot be overstated, which is why I am thrilled to announce that I contributed to the score for this titan of a film.
Fans of the previous Fast & Furious scores will not be disappointed! The story is heavily character-driven so you will hear those nostalgic Dom, Letty, Mia, and Han themes reprised. Of course, we had to hit you with some aggressive action-packed hybrid orchestral-electronic cues that are part and parcel to the franchise, but you will also hear beautiful string adagio renditions of Dom’s theme in tandem with the new Jakob theme. There is serious emotional range in this score so prepare for a musical joyride (pun maybe intended).
Developing the score for F9 was a journey filled with twists and turns, which in hindsight seems quite fitting for a movie whose M.O. is harrowing car chases. As everyone is well aware, 2020 brought some unique challenges that few anticipated. On Sunday, March 15, 2020, the entire music team was scheduled to fly to London to record the score at the historic Abbey Road Studios. Needless to say, I was extremely excited to spend a week in London at the famed recording space. But a few days before our flight, things had taken a very serious turn with COVID-19. Fearing that we may be stranded in London or worse, contract a novel virus we knew next to nothing about, we canceled our trip. The lockdown began the day after we were to fly to London.
As the saying goes, “the show must go on” and the score still had to be recorded and completed. Universal Pictures wanted everyone to be safe, so we decided to record remotely since we had no idea how long the pandemic would last. We recorded a few months later in September at AIR Lyndhurst Studio with the famed Philharmonia Orchestra while sitting at a safe distance of 5,400 miles away in Brian Tyler’s studio. It was not the ideal situation (especially since downbeat was at 6am PT to accommodate for London time), but we were very happy to be able to record at all.
One year and two months after the initial scheduled release, we are finally able to present the hard work of a multitude of people who had to jump through many different hoops to finally bring this to the big screen. I once heard Brian [Tyler] say that completing any film is like a “small miracle”; moviemaking has so many tiny moving parts, from the gaffer to the PAs to the sound and visual effects departments, that getting it all to come together in the end is nothing short of miraculous. Throw in a pandemic and this rings all the more true.
Go see F9 in theaters now!