HANSEL AND GRETEL: WITCH HUNTERS SLAYS OSCAR-NOMINEES AT BOX OFFICE,
SCORE BY HANS ZIMMER PROTÉGÉ ATLI ORVARSSON
Now In Theaters
(West Hollywood, CA)- January 29, 2013—If the words “other-worldly,” “mysterious,” and “extreme” can be used to describe the preternatural landscapes and stirring emotions that Iceland evokes in our imaginations, then Icelandic composer Atli Orvarsson has certainly hit home with his score for the film Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, now in theaters. Hansel and Gretel is a dark and edgy reinvention of the classic fairytale in which Hansel and Gretel have grown up to become highly-skilled bounty hunters out to rid the world of witches. Tommy Wirkola (Dead Snow) directs the film, and along with Dante Harper, Wirkola also wrote the screenplay. Hansel and Gretel is a Paramount Pictures/MGM production starring Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, and Peter Stormare. In addition to scoring Hansel and Gretel, Orvarsson recently scored the dark drama/thriller A Single Shot starring Sam Rockwell. Orvarsson currently scores the hit NBC series Chicago Fire, for which he provides original music every week, and he is contributing music under Hans Zimmer to the new Zack Snyder Superman reinstallmentMan of Steel. The Hansel and Gretel score album is now available on La-La Land Records.
Orvarsson fondly dubs the music he created for Hansel and Gretel ‘Baroque ‘n Roll’ – a unique and complex mix of heavy metal, early classical and experimental dance influences that infuse heart-pounding energy into the action-packed scenes that comprise this adult-oriented thriller. The development of Orvarsson’s score involved drawing inspiration from the input and ideas of the Hansel and Gretel filmmakers. “If it hadn’t been for all of this experimentation, I never would have come up with this music the way it is,” he explains. “We experimented with going down several different roads during the writing process and ended up with elements from all of them. It was a fun ride.”
Orvarsson’s talent, experience, versatility, and skill combine with his Icelandic roots to produce an individualized and compelling style that contributes to his success as a musician and composer. Orvarsson earned three platinum and two gold records as a member of the Icelandic band Salin hans Jons mins before studying film composing at Berklee College of Music and the North Carolina School of the Arts. After arriving in Los Angeles, Orvarsson began working alongside TV veteran Mike Post on projects such as NYPD Blue and three Law and Order programs. Orvarsson soon caught the attention of the highly renowned composer Hans Zimmer who, impressed, extended an invitation to Orvarsson to join Zimmer’s team at Remote Control Studios. Orvarsson’s credits include orchestrating and writing music for some of Hollywood’s biggest projects, including the Pirates of the Caribbean series. He has contributed music to films including Angels and Demons and The Holiday, and has scored numerous films including The Eagle, Vantage Point, Babylon A.D., the Morgan Freeman caper Thick as Thieves, The Fourth Kind, and the Nicolas Cage medieval fantasy Season of the Witch.
