Lukas Frank Rewrote Tony Gilroy's Song for 'Behemoth' — SkimNews
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- Lukas Frank rewrote "Your God Is Sleeping," an original song that Pedro Pascal's character watches the young musician Viviana perform at a packed Los Angeles music club in Tony Gilroy's film "Behemoth!"
- Tony Gilroy said his relationship with Frank dates back roughly 10 years through Frank's father Scott, and Frank—previously a touring drummer and leader of the band Storefront Church—was "wasn't really going to be part of it originally"
- James Newton Howard, the film's primary music collaborator and a nine-time Oscar nominee, ultimately won the assignment to score the character Viviana after Gilroy said Howard "destroyed" the cues once the "genetics" were established
- Frank had previously pitched several piano requiems for Viviana to Gilroy, all rejected — including one Gilroy labeled "the definition of interesting for interesting's sake," which Frank secretly put on his own record and later was praised as track four
- "Behemoth!" features music from nine different composers, including Oscar winner Michael Giacchino writing a theme for a fictional classic cartoon and music icon Alan Silvestri scoring a fictional blockbuster titled "Open World"
- Howard was "obsessed with what Lukas was doing after 'Your God Is Sleeping,'" and Gilroy called the track a Best Original Song contender, saying "it's the dopest" and "really hard to be that simple and that effective"
Why it matters: On a film stocked with nine composers including multiple Oscar winners and nominees, Gilroy handing a Best Original Song candidate to the youngest newcomer — after Frank repeatedly failed to crack the requiem assignment — shows how non-obvious pairings can yield the film's most award-worthy moment. Frank's arc from rejected pitches to the song Howard and the rest of the composers called "the dopest" rewrites the usual insider-credentialed Oscar song playbook.
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