In news that’s probably shocking to no one really, Phoenix frontman Thomas Mars is apparently going to be contributing original music to Sofia Coppola’s next feature-film, the hotel-based, father-daughter relationship drama, “Somewhere.”
No shocker as he is Coppola’s life-partner and the father of their child Romy. The entire band has a cameo in Coppola’s previous effort, “Marie Antoinette,” as a lute-playing quartet that serenade Kirsten Dunst’s main character (you can see the scene here).
“Somewhere,” chronicles a bad boy actor (Stephen Dorff) whose celebrity-clad Chateau Marmont existence is upended when his when his estranged 11 year-old daughter (Elle Fanning) shows up for an unexpected visit. According to Boombox Serenade, who spoke to sound designer Richard Beggs (who has worked on all of Coppola’s features), the film’s vibe will be “airy, open, transparent” (gee, another shocker when it comes to Coppola films).
Musically the film will also feature a cameo from Rooney (the band’s lead singer Robert Schwartzman, is Jason Schwartzman’s younger brother and is a cousin of Coppolas), possibly The Veronicas and that’s all we know so far, but obviously contemporary music is a big deal to the filmmaker, Air having scored “The Virgin Suicides,” My Bloody Valentine frontman Kevin Shields creating music for parts of “Lost In Translation,” and a fantastic anachronistic mixtape of Aphex Twin, Gang of Four, New Order, The Cure and more being utilized for “Marie Antoinette.”
“Somewhere,” also features “Jackass” star Chris Pontius, a cameo by Benicio del Toro as himself and some playboy bunnies, but since the film has already shot (and most of the case names are already on IMDB; smaller actors like Caitlin Keats and Laura Ramsey), don’t expect bigger A-list names to be announced. Though big-name cameos could still be kept a secret. Expect it to be mostly be a two-hander ala “Lost In Translation” (which was also mostly set in a hotel) and a father and daughter tale… with cool music and atmospheric cinematography. The picture will hit sometime in 2010.