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Known For

James Newton Howard is known for:

  • The Hunger Games
    Every year in the ruins of what was once North America, the nation of Panem forces each of its twelve districts to send a teenage boy and girl to compete in the Hunger Games. Part twisted entertainment, part government intimidation tactic, the Hunger Games are a nationally televised event in which “Tributes” must fight with one another until one survivor remains. Pitted against highly-trained Tributes who have prepared for these Games their entire lives, Katniss is forced to rely upon her sharp instincts as well as the mentorship of drunken former victor Haymitch Abernathy. If she’s ever to return home to District 12, Katniss must make impossible choices in the arena that weigh survival against humanity and life against love. The world will be watching.
  • Batman Begins
    Driven by tragedy, billionaire Bruce Wayne dedicates his life to uncovering and defeating the corruption that plagues his home, Gotham City. Unable to work within the system, he instead creates a new identity, a symbol of fear for the criminal underworld - The Batman.
  • The Dark Knight
    Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as the Joker.

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Biography

American composer, orchestrator, and music producer James Newton Howard is an eight-time Academy Award nominee.  He is best known for his frequent collaborations with director M. Night Shyamalan. He is well known for his highly emotional and powerfully subtle music, supplying his talent to an array of films such as The Fugitive, The Sixth Sense, Signs, The Village, the two Christopher Nolan Batman films; Batman Begins and The Dark Knight with Hans After Howard left the University of Southern California, he toured with Elton John as a keyboardist during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Howard also arranged strings for several of Elton's songs during this period including on the hits "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" and "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word", as well as playing additional keyboards and synthesizers on several of Elton's studio albums, including "Rock of The Westies" (1975), "Blue Moves" (1976), "21 At 33" (1980), and "The Fox" (1981). After his tenure with John, Howard toured briefly with Crosby, Stills and Nash before moving into film music in the mid-1980s. Howard scored the blockbuster Pretty Woman (1990). He received his first Academy Award nomination for his score for Barbra Streisand's drama The Prince of Tides (1991). Howard achieved four more best original score Oscar nominations, for the Harrison Ford action feature The Fugitive (1993), the Julia Roberts romantic comedy My Best Friend's Wedding (1997), M. Night Shyamalan's The Village (2004) and most recently, Michael Clayton (2007). In addition, Howard received Best Song nods for scoring the Western epic Wyatt Earp (1994), Kevin Costner's Waterworld (1995), and Primal Fear (1996).   Howard scored Space Jam (1996), Dante's Peak (1997) (theme only - score was composed by John Frizzell), and Collateral (2004). Howard has  scored three Disney films which are Dinosaur (2000), Treasure Planet and Atlantis: The Lost Empire. Howard also earned an Emmy nomination in 1995 the theme and pilot to the television drama, ER. He also won an Emmy for the them to Gideon's Crossing.  He went on to win a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Score for the feature King Kong. He went on to receive Oscar nominations for the features Michael Clayton (2007) and Defiace (2008).