FLY ME TO THE MOON ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK OUT JULY 12TH, 2024
WITH MUSIC BY ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATED AND EMMY WINNING COMPOSER DANIEL PEMBERTON
Platoon will release the original soundtrack for Apple Original Films’ Fly Me To The Moon on Friday, July 12th, the same day the upcoming feature film starring Scarlett Johansson (Kelly Jones) and Channing Tatum (Cole Davis) will be released in theaters by Columbia Pictures. Fly Me To The Moon is a sharp, stylish romantic comedy set against the high-stakes backdrop of NASA’s historic Apollo 11 moon landing. The original soundtrack features music by Academy Award-nominated and Emmy winning composer and songwriter Daniel Pemberton. Regularly cited as one of the most exciting and original new voices working in modern film scoring today, Pemberton has scored films for some of the industry’s most legendary figures such as Ridley Scott (All the Money in the World, The Counselor), Michael Mann, (Ferrari), Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse), Danny Boyle (Yesterday, Steve Jobs), Aaron Sorkin (Being The Ricardos, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Molly’s Game), David O Russell (Amsterdam), and written songs with the likes of Mick Jagger, Iggy Pop, Drake, Celeste and many more (Daniel Pemberton on IMDB).
Pemberton was sought out for this film by director Greg Berlanti in part because of his knack for conveying a wide range of emotional resonance within his work as a composer. On the Fly Me To The Moon Original Soundtrack, Pemberton expertly balances the movie’s juxtaposition of the weighty importance of NASA’s mission to the moon alongside more comedic and heist-like episodes within the story. Not to mention the tender and sometimes contentious moments surrounding the budding relationship between buttoned up launch director Cole Davis and live wire Kelly Jones, a marketing maven brought in to fix NASA’s public image. That contrast can be heard between tracks like “For All Mankind”, an orchestral piece that delicately builds to an awe inspiring crescendo evoking the majesty and wonder we’ve come to associate with space flight, and “Kelly Jones, Creative Director” a jazzy big band inspired number that perfectly introduces Johansson’s turn as the beguiling and clever Jones.
Pemberton also took care to incorporate the film’s time period into the score as well, composing with a nod to the various needle drops throughout the film from artists like Sam Cook. “I really wanted to capture that sense of fun energy and sort of lightness that some of those great 60s records had,” he shares, referencing work by Quincy Jones including The Italian Job soundtrack and Big Band Bossa Nova. “They have a really fun vibe that’s still interesting musically, but has a lightness and a great kind of positive energy to it.” Elsewhere Pemberton drew upon his love of composer John Barry when writing songs for the romantic scenes within the film. “I think with ‘Kelly and Cole’ there’s a bit where we talked about an Out of Africa moment,” he shares, “Barry’s always been a massive influence and inspiration for me as a composer.”
The diversity found within the score was one of the things Pemberton most enjoyed about writing the music for Fly Me To The Moon, especially when it came to composing various themes specific to a given character or story line within the film. “I’m happy I got to play a bit in that sandpit,” he says, “because I think big themes within a film score are not as prevalent as they used to be.” Pemberton feels one of the things people will enjoy with this score are the themes that get to play out musically. Indeed, the sonic cues within the film end up just as important as anything on screen. There’s “Kelly and Cole”, which is revisited as the film captures their burgeoning love affair, or “Tricky Moe”, the theme written for the conniving NASA bureaucrat Moe Berkus (Woody Harrelson) that follows his scenes throughout the film, and “Apollo Memorial” which sets the tone for moments that harken back to the Apollo I disaster that weighs heavily over the program.
All of these themes fit together cohesively into a score that mirrors Fly Me To The Moon’s portrayal of such a pivotal moment in American history, with various people coming together for the good of a common goal. “Greg Berlanti was always talking about a kind of melancholic wonder and nostalgia for this time,” says Pembeton, “when America really did feel very united, and I really tried to convey the optimism and the sense of achievement that embodied that time.”
Daniel Pemberton has been nominated five times as Film Composer Of The Year for his vastly broad range of work by the World Soundtrack Awards (WSA) as well as winning the prestigious honor in 2021 from both the WSA and also the international film music critics association IFMCA. Pemberton received a 2021 Best Original Song Oscar nomination for “Hear My Voice” (performed and co-written by Celeste) from Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7. Pemberton has also received multiple Golden Globe nominations for projects including his neo-noir score to Motherless Brooklyn, his mix of opera and electronics for Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs, and for the songs “Hear My Voice” and “Gold” (performed and co- written by Iggy Pop). His score for Being The Ricardos was Oscar shortlisted and BAFTA nominated.