KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES Soundtrack Available Now

Hollywood Records has released the KINGDOM OF THE PLANET OF THE APES Original Motion Picture Soundtrack. Scored by acclaimed composer John Paesano, the album, available on all digital platforms, captures the sound and fury of the all-new action-adventure spectacle of the summer, open now exclusively in theaters worldwide.

Fans will be thrilled to hear Paesano’s stunning score, which includes the electrifying “Human Hunt,” an homage to legendary composer Jerry Goldsmith’s “The Hunt” from the original 1968 film, “Planet of the Apes.”

“I wanted to ensure that we returned to the essence of the original 1968 Jerry Goldsmith score,” says Paesano. “It’s so iconic. I aimed to enhance the original Jerry piano motif from ‘The Hunt’ and give it a more robust, modern cinematic quality. I modernized the arrangement while preserving Jerry’s distinctive character. 

“[Director] Wes [Ball] and I discussed our appreciation for the audible presence of real instruments in Jerry’s score. It felt so intimate. Listening to them, you can discern the texture of each instrument, and I was resolute about not overloading the score and losing that essence.

“Wes and I wanted to not only honor the musical language from the ‘Planet of the Apes’ franchise that Jerry established, but also carve our own path forward for this next chapter. It was crucial for us to pay homage to the legacy of the franchise while also bringing something fresh and unique to the table.”

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” opens in movie theaters globally on May 10 and will be available in IMAX®, Dolby Cinema®, 4DX, ScreenX, and premium screens everywhere.

Director Wes Ball breathes new life into 20th Century Studios’ global epic franchise set several generations in the future following Caesar’s reign, in which apes are the dominant species living harmoniously, and humans have been reduced to living in the shadows. As a new tyrannical ape leader builds his empire, one young ape undertakes a harrowing journey that will cause him to question all that he has known about the past and to make choices that will define a future for apes and humans alike.

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” is directed by Wes Ball (the “Maze Runner” trilogy) and stars Owen Teague (“IT”), Freya Allan (“The Witcher”), Kevin Durand (“Locke & Key”), Peter Macon (“Shameless”), and William H. Macy (“Fargo”). The film is written by Josh Friedman (“War of the Worlds”), based on characters created by Rick Jaffa & Amanda Silver (“Avatar: The Way of Water”), and the producers are Wes Ball, Joe Hartwick, Jr., p.g.a. (“The Maze Runner”), Rick Jaffa, p.g.a., Amanda Silver, p.g.a., Jason Reed, p.g.a. (“Mulan”), with Peter Chernin (the “Planet of the Apes” trilogy) and Jenno Topping (“Ford v. Ferrari”) serving as executive producers.

About John Paesano

JOHN PAESANO is an Emmy Award®-nominated and BAFTA-winning composer, producer, conductor, and arranger for film, television, and video games. He studied classical music with Professor Sally Dow Miller of Conservatoire de Paris, and continued his studies at Berklee College of Music, focusing on composition. 

On his path to creating film scores of his own, he has worked on some of the industry’s most prestigious films, including on scores by Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams. Some of Paesano’s notable credits include the upcoming 20th Century Studios’ "Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes," Marvel’s “Daredevil,” and 20th Century Fox’s "The Maze Runner" Trilogy. His scores for PlayStation’s “Spider-Man” and “Miles Morales” have received seven best score nominations, along with a BAFTA win for “Spider-Man: Miles Morales” and BAFTA nomination for “Spider-Man 2”. 

Paesano collected an Annie Award for best music for his work on the DreamWorks animated series “Dragons: Riders of Berk,” based on the Academy Award® nominated film “How to Train Your Dragon,” as well as a World Soundtrack Award for his score to the well-received young adult adaptation of “The Maze Runner.” He went on to complete the hugely successful trilogy, creating equally impressive scores for “The Scorch Trials” and “The Death Cure”. 

His recent scores for the Ethan Hawke-led “Tesla” and for the John Logan and Sam Mendes-produced “Penny Dreadful: City of Angels” are a testament to his range and ability to craft scores to the project’s needs, whether for large scale franchise films or intimate character-driven dramas. He continues work on the critically acclaimed Amazon series “Invincible” (with voices by Steven Yeun, Seth Rogen, Sandra Oh, Zazie Beats, Mahershala Ali, JK Simmons, and Gillian Jacobs.

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