John Carpenter to Score A24 Movie Starring Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega

Legendary horror filmmaker John Carpenter returned to the director’s chair this year to helm an episode of John Carpenter’s Suburban Screams, with A24 Films confirming that Carpenter will be working behind the scenes on their new dark comedy Death of a Unicorne. Carpenter, along with Daniel Davies and Cody Carpenter, will be crafting the score for the new film, which stars Paul Rudd and Jenna Ortega. While Carpenter is mainly known for his work in the horror and sci-fi realms, his 1992 film Memoirs of an Invisible Man integrated comedy, though that film’s score was composed by Shirley Walker. Stay tuned for updates on Death of a Unicorne.

The movie is described, “A father (Rudd) and daughter (Ortega) accidentally hit and kill a unicorn while en route to a weekend retreat, where his billionaire boss (Richard Grant) seeks to exploit the creature’s miraculous curative properties.”

Also starring in the movie are Téa Leoni (Jurassic Park III, Spanglish), Will Poulter (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3), Anthony Carrigan (Bill & Ted Face the Music, Barry), Sunita Mani (Servant, Glow), Jessica Hynes (Shaun of the Dead, Paddington 2), and Stephen Park (Asteroid City). Death of a Unicorne was written and directed by Alex Scharfman’s (Resurrection, Lyle), which had Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar) serve as a producer.

Production on the film wrapped this summer under an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA. While the film doesn’t currently have a release date, the film entering its post-production phase means we’ll likely see its release sooner rather than later. 

Carpenter composed the scores for a majority of the films he directed, initially as a cost-efficient method of finding the right tone for his movies. After directing 2010’s The Ward, Carpenter focused much more on music, releasing three albums of original tracks, while also going on multiple global tours. In addition to the score for Death of a Unicorne, Carpenter recently teased another original album was in the works.

While speaking with ComicBook.com about plans to do more live shows, Carpenter detailed, “No plans, exactly, but we’ll see what happens. We have another Lost Themes in the making coming up, so we’ll see. Never say never in this business.”

Carpenter, Davies, and son Cody also crafted the scores for David Gordon Green’s Halloween, Halloween Kills, and Halloween Ends, as well as the score for last year’s Firestarter.

Stay tuned for updates on Death of a Unicorne.

Are you looking forward to the new movie? Let us know in the comments or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!