James Newton Howard

Music Department
Composer
Soundtrack

Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love is a music-infused cinematic journey about the power of one man's voice to inspire millions.

Play trailer2:45

Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love (2008)

James Newton Howard attended the University of Southern California's music school, but dropped out to tour with Elton John, and eventually compose music for film and television. He started with Head Office (1985) in 1985. He has been nominated for eight Academy Awards. He currently is a songwriter, record producer, conductor, keyboardist, and film composer.

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Nominated for 9 Oscars
- 78 wins & 120 nominations total

Photos12

James Newton Howard and Emma Smetana in DVTV (2014)

Composer James Newton Howard (left) and Latin jazz legend Arturo Sandoval (center left) collaborated with Sonnenfeld (center right) and producer Tom Jacobson (right).

Acclaimed composer James Newton Howard, who has scored more than 65 feature films and earned six Academy Award® nominations, wrote the sweeping, emotion-filled score.

Elton John and James Newton Howard at an event for Gnomeo & Juliet (2011)

James Newton Howard at an event for Defiance (2008)

Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard at an event for Batman Begins (2005)

Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, and Jeff Robinov at an event for Batman Begins (2005)

Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, and Christopher Nolan at an event for Batman Begins (2005)

James Newton Howard at an event for Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

Known for

King Kong

7.2

Composer

2005

Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Cillian Murphy, and Chin Han in The Dark Knight (2008)

The Dark Knight

9.0

Music Department(piano, uncredited)

2008

I Am Legend

7.2

Music Department(uncredited)

2007

The Village

6.6

Composer

2004

Credits

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IMDbPro

Music Department

Willow
- main themes by
- TV Series
- 2022–2023
Emily in Paris
- theme music composer
- composer: original theme music
- TV Series
- 2021–2022
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
- score producer
- 2022
EXTRAS-The Hunger Games
- music
- TV Mini Series
- 2020
The Truffle Hunters
- music: Sundance Lab Fellows & Community
- 2020
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
- composer: music themes (uncredited)
- 2019
A Hidden Life
- score producer
- 2019
BaseBoys
- music
- TV Series
- 2018
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
- score producer (uncredited)
- 2018
Sherlock Gnomes
- music consultant
- 2018
Red Sparrow
- score producer
- 2018
Split
- composer: theme from "Unbreakable"
- 2016
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2
- score producer (uncredited)
- 2015
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
- score producer (uncredited)
- 2014
Pawn Sacrifice
- score producer
- 2014

Composer

Willow
- Composer
- TV Series
- 2022
Light & Magic
- Composer
- TV Mini Series
- 2022
Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
- Composer (music by)
- 2022
Jungle Cruise
- Composer (music by)
- 2021
Raya and the Last Dragon
- Composer (original score by)
- 2021
News of the World
- Composer (music by)
- 2020
Emily in Paris
- Composer
- TV Series
- 2020
Cine Chalom
- Composer (music by)
- TV Mini Series
- 2020
The Last Ice
- Composer
- 2020
A Hidden Life
- Composer
- 2019
Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
- Composer (music by)
- 2018
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
- Composer (music by)
- 2018
Saved
- Composer
- Short
- 2018
Red Sparrow
- Composer (music by)
- 2018
Roman J. Israel, Esq.
- Composer (music by)
- 2017

Soundtrack

Jungle Cruise
- Soundtrack ("Nothing Else Matters")
- 2021
Diminishing Returns
- writer: "Buggin'"
- Podcast Series
- 2021
Forfiter
- performer: "Head Towards The Animals"
- Short
- 2021
The Prom
- writer: "You Were Jealous"
- 2020
Diminishing Returns Diminisodes
- Soundtrack ("Theme from The Hunger Games")
- Podcast Series
- 2020
Pose
- writer: "Everything"
- TV Series
- 2019
Glass
- performer: "Goodnight", "Mr. Glass", "Falling Down"
- writer: "Goodnight", "Mr. Glass", "Falling Down" ("David at Home", "Joseph Parking Lot", "Joseph Leaves Casey Arrives", "David and Elijah Speak", "Joseph and David")
- 2019
The Nutcracker and the Four Realms
- producer: "The Nutcracker Suite", "When You Wish Upon A Star"
- 2018
The Hunger Flames
- performer: "Katniss", "Incoming Bombers", "The Games Begin", "Horn of Plenty", "Mockingjay Graffiti", "Muttations", "Jamming the Capitol", "Katniss Afoot", "The Fog"
- writer: "Katniss", "Incoming Bombers", "The Games Begin", "Horn of Plenty", "Mockingjay Graffiti", "Muttations", "Jamming the Capitol", "Katniss Afoot", "The Fog"
- Short
- 2018
Star Wars Ep 6: The Last Laser Master
- performer: "Tarawa"
- Video
- 2018
The Footy Show
- writer: "Theme from ER" (uncredited)
- TV Series
- 2017
DVTV
- music: "The Hanging Tree"
- performer: "The Hanging Tree"
- TV Series
- 2017
The Shack
- performer: "Bobby Wins"
- writer: "Bobby Wins"
- 2017
The Simpsons
- writer: "Theme from ER" (uncredited)
- TV Series
- 2017
Split
- performer: "Unbreakable"
- writer: "Unbreakable"
- 2016

In-development projects at IMDbPro

Videos2

Full Movie 14:47

The Dark Knight Project

Trailer 2:45

Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love

Personal details

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Official sites
- Facebook
- Instagram
Alternative names
- James Howard Newton
Height
- 5′ 10″ (1.78 m)
Born
- June 9, 1951
- Los Angeles, California, USA
Spouses
Relatives
Other works
Wrote original music for the theatrical trailer of Batman Begins (2005).

Did you know

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Trivia
Although he scored the two first Batman films from Christopher Nolan's reboot, along with Hans Zimmer, he turned down the opportunity to score The Dark Knight Rises (2012), as he felt that Nolan and Zimmer make a better partnership than the three combined.

Quotes
I wish I had some great words of advice. The only advice I have ever been able to give anybody is to focus on writing music, and if you're writing a movie score particularly, don't worry about the picture. Just write great music and the rest will take care of itself.