Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood will provide the soundtrack to the film adaptation of Haruki Murakami's novel 'Nowegian Wood'. The score will be based on a composition written by Greenwood for the BBC Concert Orchestra, which was debuted at Maida Vale Studios last month.
 
Speaking about the piece, Greenwood said: "I wrote [it] mostly in hotels and dressing rooms while touring with Radiohead. This was more practical than glamorous - lots of time sitting indoors, lots of instruments about - and aside from picking up a few geographical working titles, I can't think that it had any effect where, on tour, it was written".
 
The film is expected to be released in the autumn. It is being directed by Oscar nominated French director Tran Anh Hung and stars Kenichi Matsuyama, Rinko Kikuchi and Kiko Mizuhara.

Mathew Horne will play Culture Club drummer Jon Moss in a new BBC drama about the life of Boy George. The dramatisation will follow Boy George's early career, and therefore the period when the Culture Club frontman was in a relationship with Moss. George will be played by Douglas Booth, while Marc Warren will play Steve Strange, and Mark Gatiss will pretend to be Malcolm McLaren.

The life and death of French musician Serge Gainsbourg has been captured on film in the directorial debut of comic book writer Joann Sfar.

Entitled 'Serge Gainsbourg: Une Vie Heroique', the film was originally set to star Charlotte Gainsbourg as her father, although she pulled out of the project prior to filming, to be replaced by Eric Elmosnino. Co-vocalist on the star's best known hit, 'Je T'aime', and Charlotte's mother, Jane Birkin, is played by British actress Lucy Gordon, and another of Serge's lovers, Brigitte Bardot is played by Laetitia Casta.

Sfar told the BBC: "I know it was perhaps a foolhardy thing to take on the life of Serge Gainsbourg. He is such an icon. But thankfully the initial reaction of audiences has been positive. A lot of people have come up to me and said - thank you for not taking away our Gainsbourg".

No UK release date for the film has yet been announced.

Animal Collective have released a trailer for their long-awaited "visual album", 'ODDSAC', which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last week.

Speaking about the film, the band's Avery Tare told the NME: "We tried to make the music go along with the visuals as much as possible. We didn't want it to sound just like a soundtrack, but then we didn't want it to be like a music video either".

Director Danny Perez added: "It's kinda like a psychedelic film, it's not like a narrative film or anything. There are more cohesive moments in it, but then there are some that are a little more abstract".

Watch the trailer here.

It's been rumoured for some time, but Simon Fuller has now confirmed that a Spice Girls musical is in the works. The show is being put together by 'Mamma Mia!' producer Judy Craymer. I was going to make a joke about the title probably being something really half-arsed, like 'Viva Forever', but apparently that actually is the title.

Announcing the project, Fuller said:"The girls and I are very excited to be working with Judy Craymer. What Judy has achieved with her all conquering box office smash hit 'Mamma Mia!' and what the Spice Girls created with their powerful record breaking mix of 'girl power' and hit songs, has influenced pop culture more than anyone can imagine. Now with this incredible new project 'Viva Forever' we all come together as partners with a combined focus to create something really special for this next decade."

Craymer added: "I'm delighted that Simon Fuller and The Spice Girls are so supportive of the idea of 'Viva Forever'. I want to create a unique celebration of the band and its music, with its own flavour and joyful message. It is important to me that the excitement, style and humour of The Spice Girls is well represented on stage".

Organisers of the Bono and The Edge-penned musical, 'Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark' have offered refunds to ticketholders after announcing that the production would not be ready to open on 25 Feb, as had been planned. Those of a more optimistic nature are able to hang on and exchange their tickets for another date once a new performance schedule is announced later this year.

The production, which stars Alan Cumming as The Green Goblin, Evan Rachel Wood as Mary Jane Parker and relative unknown Reeve Carney as the lead, has been beset with financial problems, with production shutting down completely last summer when it ran short of cash. In October, an 'insider' told The Hollywood Reporter that the project was "a $45m mess", though insisted that it would eventually make it to the stage.

Peter Serafinowicz has been announced as the voice of Paul McCartney in 'Back To The Future' director Robert Zemeckis' unnecessary remake of 'Yellow Submarine'. Having appeared in shows such as 'Spaced', 'Look Around You' and his own 'Peter Serafinowicz Show', this will be the comedian's highest profile voice acting roll since he uttered Darth Maul's sole line in 'Star Wars: Episode One'.

Playing the other three Beatles will be 'Shameless' actor Dean Lennox Kelly as John Lennon, 'Robin Hood: Men In Tights' star Cary Elwes as George Harrison, and Adam Campbell, who has previously appeared in such classics as 'Date Movie' and 'Epic Movie', as Ringo Starr. The soundtrack will be provided by The Fab Four themselves, Beatles tribute band The Fab Four.

The news of Serafinowicz's casting comes just days after he announced his resignation from the BBC: www.peterserafinowicz.com/blog/bbc/

A musical based on Green Day's 'American Idiot' album, which premiered in California last September and ran for eight sold out weeks, is set to move to Broadway. Previews begin at the St James Theatre on 24 Mar, before the official opening night on 20 Apr. The cast for the show has not yet been confirmed.

More information is available from www.americanidiotonbroadway.com

Never ones to take things easy, Mastodon took two weeks of a break from their hectic touring schedule to record a score for upcoming movie 'Jonah Hex', based on a DC comic of the same name. The film, due for release in June, stars Josh Brolin and Megan Fox.

Mastodon bassist Troy Sanders told Paste: "[Director Jimmy Hayward] played scenes for us and gave us all day long to create music that matched the emotion of the scene. It was flattering to be given 100% creative control in this movie. It was very pure, it was real creative and totally spur of the moment. We wrote variations on themes for each character, different variables for a bunch of riffs: faster, slower, heavier, lighter. It's the Darth Vader approach. Some of it was heavy, some of it was very moody. A lot of it was spacey, Melvins B-sides, Pink Floyd-like, surreal outer space, like Neil Young's Dead Man. Swirling, nausea music".

As for any potential criticism that band might come up against for rubbing up to Hollywood, Sadners added: "[The movie's budget] covered our studio fees, but it was a break even deal. [John] Malkovich, Brolin and Megan Fox all took pay cuts to be a part of this movie - that alone speaks volumes about how much people care about this film. I guarantee an incredibly popular misconception will be, 'Oh my god, they're selling out doing a fucking comic-book movie. They probably got a huge paycheck and don't give a shit about integrity'. The fact is the exact opposite. We sacrificed another two weeks away from home to give away an album's worth of material for nothing in return but satisfaction in being a part of something incredible".

There's no official word yet on whether or not the soundtrack will be released as an album. It probably will be.

The opera written by that Rufus Wainwright blokey - 'Prima Donna' - which premiered at the Manchester International Festival earlier this year, will play for four performances in London next April, on 12, 14, 16 and 17 Apr at the Sadler's Wells theatre.

Wu-Tang Clan's RZA has announced that he will unveil a piece of art entitled 'Victory Or Death' on New Year's Day. The giant canvas was created with WAIL (When Art Imitates Life), an organisation which focuses on creating art with musicians, and will commemorate twenty years of something.

Speaking about the piece, RZA told AllHipHop.com: "[It's a] reworking of history onto massive canvas that focuses on the concept of 'hearing the call and revolution in an inspiring and provocative way'. It didn't begin twenty years ago, more like 200 years ago. And when you see the piece we're making right here, you're going to know what I'm talking about. We're about to rewrite and change history".

No further details of the project have been made available, except that 360 prints of the canvas will be available for sale from 1 Jan.

There's very little extra info at the following URL, but there are some amusing images, so take a look: www.whenartimitateslife.com

The new film telling the story of The Kinks, and in particular the rocky relationship between the band's Ray and Dave Davies, has gone into production. Tentatively titled 'You Really Got Me', it will be directed by Julien Temple, who has previously worked on films such as 'The Great Rock N Roll Swindle', Sex Pistols documentary 'The Filth And The Fury' and 2006's 'Glastonbury'.

Temple told Screen Daily: "At the heart of it is the extraordinary love-hate relationship between these two brothers: love/hate, sibling rivalry is at the core. I think it's a very rich social, cultural nexus around The Kinks. Their story is the untold story of all those big bands of the 1960s".

A documentary following Blur on this year's reunion tour will hit cinemas on 19 Jan, it has been announced. Entitled 'No Distance Left To Run', after that song they wrote, it was directed by production duo 32, aka Dylan Southern and Will Lovelace, and features interviews with the band and rehearsal footage.

You can watch the trailer for the film on the band's official website, here: www.blur.co.uk

The DVD release of Michael Jackson's 'This Is It', the inappropriately named documentary pieced together from the singer's ill-fated O2 residency rehearsals, will hit stores on 26 Jan. In addition to the film itself, it will feature more than 90 minutes of extra footage in the form of two additional documentaries, 'Staging The Return: Beyond The Show' and 'Staging The Return: The Adventure Begins'. The Blu-ray version will also feature the uncut music videos for 'Thriller' and 'Smooth Criminal'.

50 Cent's Cheetah Vision Films production company has entered into a new joint venture with Action Jackson Films to produce and finance three to five movies per year, the first of which will be 'The Gun', a film written by 50 Cent himself. The rapper will also co-star in the movie, alognside Val Kilmer, and filming is set to begin next month with director Jesse Terro.

Speaking to Variety about 'The Gun', one of three scripts he has penned, 50 Cent said: "When you write a song, you need to say it in three minutes or it is overkill, but I like creating stories and going in depth with characters".

Björk has written a song for the soundtrack of a forthcoming film based on 80s kids TV show, 'The Moomins'. Obviously. Possibly called 'The Comet Song', it was co-written with frequent collaborator and fellow Moomins fan Sigurjón Sigurðsson
 
Produced by Finnish children's movie company Filmkompaniet, 'Moomins And The Comet Chase' is set for release next autumn.

Ray Davies has said he is considering a TV talent contest to find the lead for a Kinks musical he is developing, though it's possible he was joking. Davies has revealed he is writing a stage show about his childhood, his turbulent relationship with brother and onetime band mate Dave Davies, and the rise of his band in the sixties.

Talking to WENN about the show, he said: "I'm developing a Kinks musical now which is really exciting. It's about the band. People think of the Kinks as these guys in red hunting jackets who sang 'You Really Got Me' and made these weird records, like 'Lola', but it's about us, how we evolved and a certain time in my life when I confronted many of my demons.

He continued: "The issues involved in the show are things that most people are dealing with in their lives and I'm hoping it can connect with audiences on many levels rather than being just a jukebox musical. [But] it will have all the Kinks music because doing a Kinks musical without Kinks music in it would be a ridiculous project".

Asked who he'd like to play the various Kinks in the stage show, Davies said he hadn't yet identified any suitable actors. It was that which led him to remark: "I might have to start a reality contest to find who will play The Kinks"

So, no surprise here. With Michael Jackson documentary film 'This Is It' raking in the cash left, right and centre, and seemingly winning some critical acclaim, Sony Pictures have announced that the original two week limited period screenings of the movie in cinemas will now be extended to a month. Just as we and everyone else predicted they would.

The premiere of the Michael Jackson non-concert film 'This Is It' took place simultaneously in eighteen cities around the world last night. This meant that those attending the London event didn't get to watch it until 4am.

The LA screening was attended by Jackson's brothers and Jackson Five bandmates Jermaine, Marlon, Tito and Randy, as well as the film's director, Kenny Ortega, who while introducing it called it "the last sacred document of our leader and friend".

Those were not sentiments echoed by some fans in London though, who have started a campaign they are calling This Is Not It, and staged a protest in Leicester Square last night. They believe those previously reported rumours that AEG Live are using 'This Is It' to try to show Jackson was in good health in the week's before his death, in a bid to counter suggestions they worked him too hard, in part causing his death. Footage, these fans say, has been selectively picked to hide what they claim was Jackson's actual ill-health. AEG have, of course, already denied those rumours, claiming film studio Sony had complete control over what footage was used.

Far from showing Jacko in too good a light, Jermaine Jackson said he feared fans might be disappointed with his late brother's rehearsal performances, which make up a chunk of the film, because, he says, the singer would never put as much effort into a practice performance than the real thing. He told reporters: "We're going to see him going through the motions, not giving 1000% because he's making sure everyone else is going to do their part but, at the same time, once he got on that stage, he was going to give them 100,000%".

Whatever, having seen the film Jackson's friend Elizabeth Taylor said it was: "The single most brilliant piece of filmmaking I have ever seen".
 
The film is now being released in 110 countries for a limited two week run. Though I'm still fairly sure they'll make a bit song and dance about extending the run in about ten day's time.

No, okay, this isn't really music news, but The Mighty Boosh have always had close connections with music, staging their own festival last year, writing songs for their TV shows, and performing, on occasion, as a band. Now the duo, Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding have announced that they are expanding into the world of film.

They confirmed the news while attending the premiere of the new film by Boosh director Paul King, 'Bunny And The Bull', in which they both play small parts. Fielding also said that they were working on an album, but it's not clear if this is a soundtrack to the film or a separate project.

Barratt told the BBC: "We've been very inspired by ['Bunny And The Bull'] because we've been doing the show and touring a lot and we've finally got round to writing. We try and do, on TV, quite magical epic journeys and we thought if you're doing a film we should really do it in one room, basically just kind of a sitcom for 90 minutes. So we might do that. We might do exactly what we didn't do on TV".