No-one quite understands the source material like a fan does, which is why the music score for Godzilla vs Kong, composed by Tom Holkenborg, is set to be nothing short of epic.
While there is no news on when the film will be released, other than it will be sometime in 2021, people looking forward to it can at least rest assured the soundtrack is in good hands. It was announced back in June that Holkenborg would be in charge of music, but it has now been revealed that he has been a life-long fan of Godzilla.
Holkenborg was such a huge fan of Godzilla he had even composed some music inspired by the monster of his own accord before he even became involved with this project. “I’m such a Godzilla freak. I have all the Japanese versions of the movies. At a certain point, just for s**ts and giggles, I wrote something for Godzilla,” he explained.
Then, almost as if it was written in the stars, a chance encounter with Godzilla vs Kong director Adam Wingard meant Holkenborg would be given the perfect platform to show off his talents and love 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,” Holkenborg added.
Creating a musical score for a movie featuring both King Kong and Godzilla is no easy feat. The global popularity of both monsters means there will be millions and millions of fans who all have their idea of how it should sound.
Both characters are so popular; their influence extends well beyond the film industry. They appear in literature, such as the Godzilla: Aftershock and Doc Savage: Skull Island books, but it is in gaming where the two franchises have branched out.
There have been no less than 55 video game titles made featuring Godzilla, although around half of those were published exclusively for the Japanese market. Some of the biggest titles include 2013’s Godzilla for the PlayStation 3 and Godzilla Defense Force for iOS and Android.
There is also a slot game titled King Kong that players can discover at casino brands such as Betregal, NetBet, and Betfair. BetRegal offers a sign-up bonus, which makes it very popular with new players, and the franchise even has its own themed pinball machine.
Of course, it isn’t just the fact that Holkenborg is a superfan that is going to make the musical score for Kong vs Godzilla amazing. He is also a composer with a, quite frankly, absurd amount of experience making soundtracks for Hollywood films, especially with the likes of a comic book, superhero, and monster-themed movies.
Among his movie soundtrack credits, just in the last five years, are Sonic the Hedgehog, Terminator: Dark Fate, Tomb Raider, The Dark Tower, Deadpool, and Mad Max: Fury Road, to name just a few. He has also signed on to compose the score for Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which is set for release in 2021 as well. He’s even been called ‘Hollywood’s new musical genius’.
Despite being a famous artist, known as Junkie XL, before his move to Hollywood, Holkenborg made the conscious decision not to use his celebrity to get his foot in the door as a film soundtrack composer. “I worked as an assistant for a well-known composer and slowly I learned everything and I studied a lot,” he explained.
