Tony Gilroy Returns After 14 Years With 'Behemoth' at NYFF — SkimNews
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- Tony Gilroy returned to feature directing with 'Behemoth!' at the New York Film Festival, 14 years after his last film 'The Bourne Legacy' (2012) and following his acclaimed TV work on 'Andor.'
- Pedro Pascal stars as Alex Serian, a lifelong cellist and Hollywood session musician who returns to Los Angeles after 20 years on the road, suspects a 15-year-old pop prodigy (Alexa Swinton) may be his daughter, and confronts his aging mother's failing health.
- The Behemoth! Collective — nine composers including Michael Giacchino, James Newton Howard, Michael Abels, Emily Bear, Lukas Frank, Henry Jackman, Nami Melumad, Brandon Roberts, and Alan Silvestri — created the score, while 303 AFM musicians in Los Angeles performed the on-screen musical sequences.
- The supporting cast includes Olivia Wilde, Eva Victor, Hank Azaria, JoBeth Williams, Will Arnett, Matthew Lillard, Margarita Levieva, Kaya Ralls, and Erik Griffin in a non-linear narrative intercutting present-day scoring sessions with flashbacks across Chicago, Dallas, and Los Angeles.
- Searchlight will release 'Behemoth!' theatrically on December 4, 2026, with a running time of 2 hours 7 minutes; John Gilroy serves as both producer and editor.
- The original song 'Your God Is Sleeping,' written for the fictional prodigy Viviana, was singled out by the reviewer as a potential breakout hit, complementing what the review called 'hands down the year's best' score.
Why it matters: This is Gilroy's first feature in 14 years, and the comeback vehicle for Pascal — already drawing Oscar-contention speculation (IndieWire) and described by the star as 'intimate and healing' (Deadline). The production also employed 303 real AFM session musicians in Los Angeles, a city where scoring-stage work has been contracting, making the film itself a kind of industry love letter at a moment when that community is under pressure.
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