Logan Loses Composer Cliff Martinez, Gains Marco Beltrami

Cliff Martinez is one of the most exciting composers in Hollywood today. Most recently, his scores in The Neon Demon and Steven Soderbergh’s Cinemax series The Knick are among the richest, most expressive music compositions of the past few years. As such, we were excited to hear what he would do with Logan, but alas, we’ll never know. For reasons unknown, Martinez has been replaced by Marco Beltrami, director James Mangold’s regular composer, who also worked on 2013’s The Wolverine.

The news came from Mangold’s own Twitter account (via Film Music Reporter). When pressed by a diehard Beltrami fan as to why the composer wouldn’t return, the filmmaker corrected him.

@marco_beltrami Sure! But always wise to start softer and hear from other side before making accusations. Relax. Marco is scoring the film.

— Mangold (@mang0ld) December 30, 2016

There’s no explanation as to why Martinez stepped aside for Beltrami. Perhaps it was a scheduling conflict, or maybe Mangold preferred what Beltrami brought to the table? In any case, Beltrami got the job, and he’s certainly no amateur. He composed Mangold’s Oscar-nominated score for 3:10 to Yuma, and also worked on The Hurt Locker, Snowpiercer and all four Scream films, to name a few.

It’s certainly not going to be his first superhero rodeo, either. In addition to The Wolverine, he also composed 2015’s Fantastic Four, Jonah Hex, Hellboy and Blade II. Still, it’s more than a little disappointing to see Martinez leave the Fox blockbuster. It’s no dealbreaker, though. We’re still as excited as can be for what’s to come in the March 3rd release.

Featuring Hugh Jackman’s last spin with the adamantium claws, Logan also stars Patrick Stewart, Richard E. Grant, Boyd Holbrook, Stephen Merchant, Dafne Keen, Eriq La Salle, Elise Neal and Elizabeth Rodriguez.