Douglas Pipes: City of Ember

The composer of Monster House and Warner Bros' upcoming horror film Trick r' Treat, Douglas Pipes, has landed his third major feature film scoring assignment: City of Ember, according to the Gorfaine-Schwartz Agency. Gil Kenan, who did Monster House and has been working with Pipes since they studied together, directs. A co-production between Universal, Walden Media and Playtone, City of Ember is a fantasy adventure based on Jeanne Duprau's novel, starring Bill Murray, Tim Robbins, Martin Landau, Toby Jones and Saoirse Ronan. The film is scheduled to be released through 20th Century Fox in October next year.

Michael Price: Wild Child

Wild Child, a comedy about a rebellious American teenage girl who is sent to a strict English boarding school, gets an original score by Michael Price. The film is produced by Working Title and Universal, stars Emma Robert and Natasha Richardson, directed by Nick Moore. Michael Price has worked with many of big film composers, including Michael Kamen (co-producing scores such as X-Men, Band of Brothers and Event Horizon), Howard Shore (he was a music editor on the Lord of the Rings trilogy), and Patrick Doyle (as a music editor on Nanny McPhee and The Last Legion). He also worked with David Arnold doing additional music for Hot Fuzz, and recently writing the score based on Arnold's themes for Agent Crush. Wild Child is scheduled to premiere on April 8

Michael Giacchino: Speed Racer

The Gorfaine-Schwartz Agency confirms that Michael Giacchino (The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Mission: Impossible III) is attached to Speed Racer, the eagerly anticipated new action film by brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski (of The Matrix fame). The film, which is scheduled to premiere on May 9, is based on the 1960's Japanese animated series about a young race car driver and his advanced car, Mach 5. Emile Hirsch, Susan Sarandon, Christina Ricci and John Goodman stars in the film, which is produced by Warner Bros and Joel Silver's Silver Pictures.

Paul Haslinger: Make It Happen

The Weinstein Company has confirmed to Upcoming Film Scores/Film Music Weekly that Paul Haslinger has been hired to score Make It Happen, a drama about a young woman who invents a new style of dance to fulfill her dreams as a dancer. Mary Elizabeth Winstead stars together with Riley Smith and Tessa Thompson. Darren Grant (Diary of a Mad Black Woman) directs. Paul Haslinger's recent credits include Gardener of Eden and horror films Vacancy and Turistas.

John Debney: Bachelor No. 2 / Swing Vote

John Debney continues to add high profile comedies to his filmography: according Gorfaine-Schwartz Agency's latest update of his resumee, he will score Bachelor No. 2, directed by Howard Deutch, and Swing Vote, directed by Joshua Michael Stern. Bachelor No. 2 (not to be confused with Bachelor Party 2!) stars Dane Cook, Kate Hudson, Alec Baldwin and Jason Biggs in a romantic story about a man who is asked by his best friend to take his ex-girlfriend out on a lousy date in order to make her realize how great her former boyfriend is. Kevin Costner produces and stars in Swing Vote together with Kelsey Grammer, Dennis Hopper, Stanley Tucci and Judge Reinhold. Costner stars as a man who is thrown into the spotlight after the presidential election comes down to his single vote. According to Disney chariman Dick Cook, "Swing Vote is a timely and heartfelt story that is sure to touch and entertain moviegoers in the same way that some of the classic films by Frank Capra have done in the past".

Alan Silvestri: G.I. Joe

According to the Gorfaine-Schwartz Agency, Alan Silvestri is attached to Stephen Sommers' new action adventure, G.I. Joe, which is based on Hasbro's line of action figures. The film follows the recent success of Transformers, which was also based on a Hasbro brand, and is currently in pre-production with shooting scheduled to begin in February. Alan Silvestri, whose epic music is currently heard all over the globe in Robert Zemeckis' Beowulf, has previously worked with Sommers on The Mummy Returns and Van Helsing. G.I. Joe, which is produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura, will be released by Paramount Pictures in the summer of 2009.

Theodore Shapiro: Nowhereland

Theodore Shapiro, who has scored many blockbuster comedies including The Devil Wears Prada, Blades of Glory and Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, has been hired to score Paramount Pictures' new Eddie Murphy comedy, Nowhereland. The film is directed by Karey Kirkpatrick, whose recent credits include directing the animated Over the Hedge and writing the script for and producing the upcoming fantasy adventure The Spiderwick Chronicles. Nowhereland also has some fantasy elements: Eddie Murphy is a father who enters his daughter's imaginary world. Lorenzo di Bonaventura produces and the film should be ready for theatrical release on September 26, 2008. Theodore Shapiro is also doing the music for Semi-Pro (yet another sports comedy, starring Will Ferrell and Woody Harrelson) and Tropic Thunder (an action comedy directed by Ben Stiller).

David Buckley: The Forbidden Kingdom

David Buckley has been hired to score The Forbidden Kingdom, a martial arts action movie starring the genre's two biggest stars, Jet Li and Jackie Chan. Rob Minkoff, whose previous films include Stuart Little and Haunted Mansion, directs from a script by John Fusco (Hidalgo, Young Guns). The Forbidden Kingdom takes place in China, where an American kung fu fanatic takes part in an adventure together with a band of martial arts warriors on a mission to free the imprisoned Monkey King. David Buckley has been a member of Harry Gregson-Williams' scoring team for a couple of years, doing additional music for films such as Flushed Away and Shrek the Third. Harry Gregson-Williams will produce David's score together with Adam Smalley, who is also the music supervisor on the picture. David Buckley has also been hired to do the music for Joel Schumacher's new film, Town Creek. The Forbidden Kingdom is scheduled to premiere on April 18, 2008.

James Michael Dooley: The Little Mermaid III

Disney's third film in the Little Mermaid series, which kicked off with the ground-breaking Alan Menken-scored theatrical feature in 1989, will get an original score by James Michael Dooley. DisneyToon Studios produces for release directly to DVD, in 2008 with Peggy Holmes making her directing debut. According to the Gorfaine-Schwartz Agency, Dooley will also do the score for Impy's Island 2, a follow-up to the German animated 2006 feature which was also scored by Dooley. His other recent scores include Daddy Day Camp and Bachelor Party 2: The Last Temptation.

Andrea Guerra: The Accidental Husband

Italian composer Andrea Guerra, best known for his award-winning musical contributions to Hotel Rwanda, is doing the music for the upcoming romantic comedy The Accidental Husband, starring Uma Thurman, Colin Firth, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Sam Shepard. The film is scheduled to premiere on March 7, 2008, and is directed by Griffin Dunne. Guerra, who is represented by First Artists Management and scored one of last year's most succesful Hollywood movies, The Pursuit of Happyness, has also recently written the music for a Spanish-Italian animated comedy based on the Cervantes classic, entitled Donkey Xote.

Richard Harvey: Les Deux Mondes

Richard Harvey has recently written a big orchestral fantasy film score for the French movie, Les Deux Mondes, directed by Daniel Cohen and produced by Mathieu Kassovitz. Harvey, who has also recently composed the music for Eichmann (starring Thomas Kretschmann), recorded the score at Abbey Road. Les Deux Mondes is a time-travel story about a French tradesman who liberates an oppressed tribe in another world. The film combines adventure with comedy and stars Benoit Poelvoorde, Florence Loiret-Caille and Augustin Legrand. Harvey's previous credits include Luther and Death of a President and he also contributed additional music to The Da Vinci Code.

Paul Englishby: Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day, a comedy starring Frances McDormand, Amy Adams and Lee Pace, gets an original score composed by Paul Englishby. Represented by Air-Edel Associates, he is a British composer whose previous credits include Confetti and Magicians, and he also conducted scores by Stephen Warbeck (Proof) and Adrian Johnston (Becoming Jane). Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day tells the story about a woman in London who loses her job and attempts to gain new employment, suddenly finding herself entering the glamorous world of a popular American artist. The film is based on Winifred Watson's novel and is directed by Bharat Nalluri (The Crow: Salvation). Scheduled premiere date: March 7, 2008.