5.2 C
Scarborough

Radiohead wants ‘Melania’ doc to remove their music

Must read

“Phantom Thread” director Paul Thomas Anderson and Radiohead’s Jonny Greenwood have asked for a segment of music from the 2017 film to be removed from the controversial “Melania” documentary. Greenwood wrote the score for “Phantom Thread.”

“It has come to our attention that a piece of music from Phantom Thread has been used in the ‘Melania‘ documentary,” the pair said in a statement, obtained by Variety from Greenwood’s rep. “While Jonny Greenwood does not own the copyright in the score, Universal failed to consult Jonny on this third-party use which is a breach of his composer agreement. As a result Jonny and Paul Thomas Anderson have asked for it to be removed from the documentary.”

The Brett Ratner-directed documentary, an ostensibly closer look at the First Lady that is ultimately unrevealing, has earned $13.35 million domestically after two weekends of release, a notable tally for a documentary that isn’t about nature or music.

However, “Melania” cost more than just about any documentary in history. Amazon MGM spent a staggering sum of money, acquiring the film and an accompanying straight-to-streaming docu-series for $40 million and then shelling out $35 million on the theatrical marketing spend. Those are unprecedented costs considering documentaries aren’t traditionally a driver of big box office dollars.

Amazon MGM’s lavish spend has prompted others in the industry to speculate whether the doc is the studio’s attempt to cozy up to the current administration. Since theater owners keep about half of ticket sales, it will be difficult to justify the cost of “Melania.” In an unusual move, though, Amazon MGM released a statement to address the second weekend results.

Over the past 25 years, Greenwood more active as a film composer than he has as a rock musician, writing or contributing to the scores for 12 films, including “One Battle After Another,” “There Will Be Blood,” “Inherent Vice” and “Liquorice Pizza,” among others.

Variety‘s Owen Gleiberman wrote of Greenwood’s work in “Phantom Thread” in his 2017 review, “We’re all too aware that something ominous has to be lurking in the shadows… and the plangent pull of Jonny Greenwood’s musical score, rapturous with longing and anxiety, summons an unmistakable ’50s-Hitchcock vibe.”

– Variety 

More articles

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest article