Los Angeles, CA (Top40 Charts/ CineMedia Promotions) Lionsgate Records has released the soundtrack for THE LEGEND OF HERCULES, featuring original music composed by Tuomas Kantelinen (PURGE, THE ITALIAN KEY), through digital distribution channels. The film is the second pairing of Kantelinen for director Renny Harlin, with whom he previously teamed on MINDHUNTERS.
"I was ecstatic to get to tackle the score of a movie that plays on such a grand scale," said Kantelinen. "The film has both huge action scenes - where one can go crazy with brass and percussion - and a beautiful love story, with opportunities for a softer musical approach. From the get-go Renny wanted a more 'old-fashioned' score in the vein of classic swords and sandals movies, and as a big fan of orchestral music I was more than happy to go with his idea."
Film music composer Tuomas Kantelinen (THE LEGEND OF HERCULES, PURGE) studied classical composing in his native Finland and continues to make music for both cinema and concert audiences. Kantelinen has scored orchestral film music for over 30 feature films, including Klaus Haro's awarded MOTHER OF MINE, Sergei Bodrov's epic MONGOL: THE RISE OF GENHIS KHAN, and Rosa Karo's THE ITALIAN KEY, which earned Kantelinen several awards.
His recent credits include PURGE, ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE NORTH, YAKUZA'S DAUGHTER, both ARN: THE KNIGHT TEMPLAR and ARN: THE KINGDOM AT THE ROAD'S END, and the dark thriller MINDHUNTERS, directed by THE LEGEND OF HERCULES director Renny Harlin.
Because of their previous relationship, Kantelinen's involvement with the project began unusually early. "I read many versions of the script and visited Bulgaria when the movie was being shot, so I got to be on set and meet the cast and crew," he explained. "I had already started writing some themes back then and was lucky to be in
Sofia when they played my piece on the set the whole day while shooting that particular scene. The cue is in the completed movie as well, so the actors where really hearing the same music on set as the audience hears in the theaters, which rarely happens."
In the epic origin story THE LEGEND OF HERCULES, Kellan Lutz stars as the mythical Greek hero - the son of Zeus, a half-god, half-man blessed with extraordinary strength. Betrayed by his stepfather, the King, and exiled and sold into slavery because of a forbidden love, Hercules must use his formidable powers to fight his way back to his rightful kingdom. Through harrowing battles and gladiator-arena death matches, Hercules embarks on a legendary odyssey to overthrow the King and restore peace to the land.
"We were first exploring ideas of using some music reminiscent of Ancient Greece but very soon came to our senses." Kantelinen explained. "We did end up using some ethnic elements of course. For instance, we had three wonderful female vocalists, experts in different ethnic traditions, who gave subtle flavors of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and even a bit of Asian and Scandinavian influences into the mix. We thought that many different ethnic musical traditions must have been coexisting in those times as well, due to musicians as well as prisoners of war and slaves being brought in from all over the world."
Summit Entertainment presents THE LEGEND OF HERCULES, currently in theaters. The Lionsgate Records release of THE LEGEND OF HERCULES - Original Motion Picture
Soundtrack is currently available through digital distribution channels.
