Remember for a minute there when the theme to “Requiem For a Dream” (titled “Lux Aeterna,” yes it has its own Wiki entry) by composer Clint Mansell had become the trailer song of the moment?
Around 2003 and after, every studio looking to inject their film with do-or-die gravitas began using the powerfully, grand and claustrophobic Mansell song to sell their film. The trend began with “Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers,” which set its escalating war and drama to the tune originally featured in Darren Aronofsky’s brutalizing aforementioned drug-drama (actually it was a slightly tweaked remix called “Requiem For A Tower” that was made exclusively for the ‘Towers’ trailer). Others took notice of the song and followed suit including producers for “The Da Vinci Code,” “Zathura,” and accordimg to Wikipedia, “Smokin’ Aces” (grain of salt taken even though yes, Mansell scored that film). More recently Danny Boyle’s “Sunshine,” also used the track to spice-up his psycho space odyssey.
Ironically, it’s now Boyle who’s getting his music bit. His “28 Days Later” and “28 Weeks Later” song, “In The House – In A Heartbeat,” by composer John Murphy (which we mentioned sounds very Godspeed-esque; the backstory of which we wrote about extensively) has become the new trailer song of the moment.
So far this summer threee trailers are using it: Lindsay Lohan’s box-office poison, “I Know Who Killed Me,” Robert Zemeckis’ fantasy/Jolie-naked spectacle, “Beowulf,” and the upcoming Kevin Bacon I’ll-fuck-with-you-if-you-fuck-with-my-family revenge thriller, “Death Sentence.” Witness…
Watch: “Death Sentence” trailer (around the 2:23 mark)
Watch: “Beowulf” trailer (around the 1:11 mark)
Watch: “I Know Who Killed Me” (around the 1:48 mark)
Download: John Murphy – “In The House – A Heartbeat”
Requiem Biters
Watch: “LOTR: The Two Towers” trailer (around the 1:36 mark)
Watch: “Sunshine” trailer (around the :53 minute mark)
Download: Clint Mansell – “Lux Aeterna” (i.e. the “Requiem For A Dream” theme)
*The over-caffeinated, bombastic orchestral remix of the song that goes by “Requiem For A Tower” is way too over-the-top for our taste, as are the 2-3 slightly different versions of it that sometimes are recycled for Hollywood’s trailer trash.