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How Do You Go From Fast X to Super Mario Bros.? Composer Brian Tyler On Scoring 2023's Biggest Blockbusters
Tyler, who is now the seventh-highest grossing film composer of all time, describes the experience as "pretty wild."
Brian Tyler takes a well-deserved victory lap when we hop on the phone this week to discuss his recent film scores.
Over the last six months, the composer has seen his name attached to three giant blockbusters: Scream VI (Paramount Pictures), The Super Mario Bros. Movie (Illumination Entertainment, Universal Pictures, and Nintendo), and Fast X (Universal Pictures).
“I’ve been really lucky with the films that I’ve done ... It’s ridiculous," he giddily confesses to SYFY WIRE. "Somehow I became a musician and this is what I do for my life. It’s still a 'pinch me' kind of situation."
The 2023 titles mentioned above have collectively brought in over $2 billion at the worldwide box office so far, with Super Mario Bros. becoming the most lucrative video game adaptation ever. Thanks to an astonishing $14 billion accrued throughout his career to date, Tyler is now the seventh-highest grossing movie composer in history after Hans Zimmer, John Williams, Michael Giacchino, James Newton Howard, Alan Silvestri, and Danny Elfman. Not bad company to keep.
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Brian Tyler On Scoring The Super Mario Bros. Movie & Fast X
"It's pretty wild," he says when we bring up Mario and Fast X. "These are two things that have been with me for a long time, having scored Fast & Furious for a couple decades, and then Mario is just something that I grew up playing. The fact that the crowd’s responded and everything is really cool. I remember, of course, the last Mario movie tanking and [people were not fans of it], including myself. So it was really cool when I saw how seriously they were taking this to make it true to the experience of Mario."
He continues: "Writing music for both of these just felt incredible. Both of them are really challenging and both of them are wall-to-wall scores of very challenging music — technically and creatively. But those are really satisfying. And then when the audience takes in your movie and music, seeing those responses, it feels really good. It really does."
At the time of our call, Tyler is gearing up for production on Are We Dreaming, "a completely immersive audio-visual experience that explores the universe and our place in it through exhilarating and moving music and powerful imagery," reads the website description.
"I get to see it from another angle now, being behind the camera ... shooting on location and all over the world," the composer concludes. "This year has been crazy. Having these films come out — and Scream [VI] as well and then Yellowstone just killing it — and then being able to jump into the chair of the people that I work with all the time, directors, is a really cool way to divide the year. It's like the second half of the year begins...now."
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Check back in with SYFY WIRE over the coming weeks for more of our lengthy interview with Mr. Tyler!
The Super Mario Bros. Movie is now available on Digital, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and DVD. The "Power Up" Edition contains a warp pipe chock full of bonus features. You can also catch it on the big screen before Asteroid City, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One, Oppenheimer, and Barbie take over your local multiplex.
Fast X, meanwhile, can be found in theaters or on digital platforms like Vudu and Apple TV.
Need more animation and fast-paced action in your life? Head over to Peacock for Despicable Me, Despicable Me 2, The Fast and the Furious, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, Fast & Furious, Fast Five, and Furious 7.
