Warner Bros Apologizes For "300" Score
 

From the Offical 300 DVD website, posted on 7/31:

Warner Bros. Pictures acknowledges and regrets that a number of the music cues for the score of "300" were, without our knowledge or participation, derived from music composed by Academy Award winning composer Elliot Goldenthal for the motion picture "Titus." Warner Bros. Pictures has great respect for Elliot, our longtime collaborator, and is pleased to have amicably resolved this matter.

This is the first time in recent memory in which anyone, let alone a studio, has made a public apology for a score that (obviously) followed too closely to its temptrack. While some are curious as to what 300 composer Tyler Bates has to say about this - the person who should be put in the hot seat is the director or producers, whom surely are the ones who asked Bates to follow Goldenthal's "Titus" so closely.

I talked to someone who worked with Goldenthal many times in the past, and they said he didn't especially care about the situation - however, "amicably resolved" makes it sound like there was some form of litigation threatened or followed through (and WB's statement is written like that was part of the out-of-court agreement).

Hah, figures. I knew it sounded too similar to be coincidence. Never heard of any sort of public apology for something like this though... You'd figure they would keep this sorta thing shrouded in mystery.

Good. Perhaps this will give people incentive to try something new. :rolleyes: I am sure Tyler Bates can'y be completely blamed for this. Musicians do what they are told. They are contracted and given complete instruction on what to work with.
Studios these days don't exactly go for writing new scores, because they believe that experimentation is more likely to result in failure. Therefore, anything that has 'come before' is fair game for being ripped off.

An apology isn't needed. Just allow something original to be written instead of taking the low road.

Can someone provide some samples from both OSTs? I'm just curious.

Even though copying which is quite a shameful act, I still I hope Tyler doesn't get banned from composing for Hollywood (which is probably unlikely anyways).

Nah, Bates isn't banned--he's actually on the rise in Hollywood, with the score to the third Resident Evil movie, remakes of Halloween and Day of the Dead, and a film adaptation of Watchmen in the pipeline.

As for Warner Bros.' apology, I can only say that I had a good chuckle at it. Somebody must have raised a stink about it outside of the usual messageboard posts, since Goldenthal himself reportedly didn't care. I can't think of any other time something like that has happened, save when Nino Rota's executors sued the makers of "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" for appropriating Amarcord.

I can't wait to hear his halloween score.

Now all wee need is for someone to notice that James Horner used parts of Star Trek II & III for Willow, Aliens and Titanic to name but a few :)

It's a dark day when working on the third Resident Evil movie means you are considered to be "on the rise".