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Duncan Jones Is Re-Teaming With Composer Clint Mansell For 'Mute'

mute composer
By Jacob Hall/

I've gone on the record about not being a particularly big fan of Warcraft, but that doesn't change the fact that I still believe in Duncan Jones. After all, how could you possibly write off the man who made Moon and Source Code? And for its many faults, Warcraft is still a work of passion that is too weird to be dismissed completely.

So I'm choosing to look to the future and toward Mute, the science fiction noir Jones has been teasing since 2009, when it was supposed to be his sophomore feature. Although this project isn't an a direct sequel to Moon, it is apparently set in the same near-future world. So of course Jones would re-team with composer Clint Mansell, who wrote the score for Moon.

This news comes from Jones' Twitter feed, where he responded to a fan question by casually dropping this fresh tidbit:

And this is very cool news because Mansell's Moon score is one of my favorite soundtracks of the past decade. It's chilly and evocative and a perfect representation of the film's quiet menace. I write with it on in the background all the time. Hell, I'm writing this article with this piece of music blasting from my speakers:

In addition to working with Jones, Mansell is the go-to composer for Darren Aronofksy, having composed music for Pi, Requiem For a Dream, The Fountain, The Wrestler, Black Swan, and Noah. He also wrote the standout score for Ben Wheatley's brilliant High-Rise. In an era where too many scores blend into the background and don't leave an impression, Mansell's big, bold, and instantly identifiable themes stand out in a big way. I'm very excited to see what he comes up with for Mute.

Oh, and here's what Mute is about, just in case you haven't been following this project:

Berlin. Forty years from today. A roiling city of immigrants, where East crashes against West in a science-fiction Casablanca. Leo Beiler, a mute bartender has one reason and one reason only for living here, and she's disappeared. But when Leo's search takes him deeper into the city's underbelly, an odd pair of American surgeons seem to be the only recurring clue, and Leo can't tell if they can help, or who he should fear most.

Mute has spent the past six years seeking funding, but it finally appears to be on the right track, with Paul Rudd and Alexander Skarsgard joining the cast late last year. Hopefully, we'll get to learn more very soon.

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