English film music composer and music conductor
John Powell
John Powell in 2008
Background information Born (1963-09-18 ) 18 September 1963 (age 62) Origin East Sussex , EnglandGenres Film score Occupation(s) Music composer, music conductor Years active 1989–present Labels 5 Cat Studios Website johnpowellmusic
Musical artist
John Powell (born 18 September 1963)[ 1] film composer andmusic conductor . Based inLos Angeles, California since 1997, he has composed music for over 70 feature films, includingFace/Off Bourne franchiseHappy Feet Happy Feet Two United 93 X-Men: The Last Stand Wicked Wicked: For Good Evolution Dr. Seuss' The Lorax Migration Drumline Hancock The Call of the Wild Bolt That Christmas Thelma the Unicorn Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie Blue Sky Studios films, and tenDreamWorks Animation films.
Powell's work onHappy Feet ,Ferdinand ,Solo: A Star Wars Story Wicked , and thelive-action remake ofHow to Train Your Dragon have earned him sixGrammy Award nominations.[ 2] Academy Award for Best Original Score nominations for the originalHow to Train Your Dragon Wicked .[ 3]
Powell was a member ofHans Zimmer 's music studio,Remote Control Productions , and has collaborated frequently with other composers from the studio, includingHarry Gregson-Williams onAntz Chicken Run Shrek Chill Factor The Road to El Dorado first two Kung Fu Panda Carlos Saldanha ,Dean DeBlois ,Chris Sanders ,Jon M. Chu ,George Miller ,John Woo ,Ron Underwood ,Doug Liman ,Charles Stone III andPaul Greengrass .
Early life and education [ edit ] Powell was born inLondon , England.[ 1] Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance inGreenwich , London). There, he met John Ashton Thomas, who orchestrated many of Powell's scores. Powell played for Faboulistics, an amateur rock and roll band.[ 4]
After finishing college, he composed music for commercials, which led to a job as an assistant to the composerPatrick Doyle on several film productions, includingMuch Ado About Nothing [ 5] Gavin Greenaway ,[ 6]
Powell's first score was for the Season 4 of the TV seriesStay Lucky . He moved to Los Angeles in 1997 and scored his first major film,Face/Off Antz DreamWorks Animation , which he co-scored with fellow British composerHarry Gregson-Williams , which also marked the duo's first score for an animated film. Two years later, Powell collaborated with composerHans Zimmer on the score forThe Road to El Dorado Chicken Run Shrek subsequent Shrek films and thesequel toChicken Run himself. In 2001 he also scoredEvolution I Am Sam Just Visiting Rat Race
In 2002 Powell was hired to scoreThe Bourne Identity Doug Liman afterCarter Burwell left the project. He also returned to score the series' other two films,The Bourne Supremacy The Bourne Ultimatum Paul Greengrass .
Powell collaborated with Liman again to scoreMr. & Mrs. Smith Robots Blue Sky Studios , and went on to score many of the studio's subsequent films until 2017'sFerdinand
In 2006, he scored Greengrass'United 93 Ice Age: The Meltdown David Newman , who scored the firstIce Age X-Men: The Last Stand Happy Feet The Bourne Ultimatum . In 2008 he reunited with Hans Zimmer and returned to DreamWorks Animation to scoreKung Fu Panda Jumper Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! Hancock Bolt Ice Age series;Dawn of the Dinosaurs
In 2010, Powell composed thescore toHow to Train Your Dragon ,Academy Award for Best Original Score . It was his sixth DreamWorks Animation film, although the first where he composed the whole score himself. That year he also scored Greengrass'sGreen Zone Knight and Day
In 2013, Powell took a sabbatical year from film scoring. In April 2014, after completing his scores to sequelsRio 2 How to Train Your Dragon 2 Michael Petry , premiered on 6 March 2016 at TheRoyal Festival Hall , London withJosé Serebrier conducting thePhilharmonia Orchestra .[ 7]
Powell composed the score forSolo: A Star Wars Story [ 8] John Williams , who wrote Han Solo's theme. In 2019, Powell scoredHow to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World How to Train Your Dragon series. In November 2023, it was announced that Powell would compose the musical score for the 2024Netflix andLocksmith Animation filmThat Christmas How to Train Your Dragon [ 9] two-part film adaptation ofWicked Stephen Schwartz .[ 10] [ 11] [ 12]
Year Title Director(s) Company credits Note 2000 The Road to El Dorado Don PaulEric "Bibo" Bergeron Jeffrey Katzenberg DreamWorks Pictures DreamWorks Animation Co-composed withHans Zimmer Klaus Badelt ,Gavin Greenaway , James McKee Smith andGeoff Zanelli Chicken Run Peter Lord Nick Park Aardman Animations DreamWorks Animation DreamWorks Pictures Allied Filmmakers Pathé Co-composed withHarry Gregson-Williams Don L. Harper ,Alastair King , James McKee Smith, Geoff Zanelli andSteve Jablonsky 2001 Just Visiting Jean-Marie Poiré Gaumont Hollywood Pictures Hughes Entertainment Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Additional music composed byNick Glennie-Smith , James McKee Smith and Geoff Zanelli Shrek Andrew Adamson Vicky Jenson DreamWorks Pictures DreamWorks Animation PDI/DreamWorks Co-composed withHarry Gregson-Williams Toby Chu Evolution Ivan Reitman The Montecito Picture Company DreamWorks Pictures Columbia Pictures Trailer music composed by Daniel Nielsen Rat Race Jerry Zucker Fireworks Pictures Alphaville Films Zucker Productions Paramount Pictures Originally composed byElmer Bernstein I Am Sam Jessie Nelson The Bedford Falls Company New Line Cinema — 2002 D-Tox Jim Gillespie Universal Pictures Imagine Entertainment Additional music composed by Nick Glennie-Smith, James McKee Smith,William Ross and Geoff Zanelli The Bourne Identity Doug Liman Stillking Films Hypnotic The Kennedy/Marshall Company Universal Pictures Originally composed byCarter Burwell Drumline Charles Stone III 20th Century Fox Fox 2000 Pictures Wendy Finerman Productions — The Adventures of Pluto Nash Ron Underwood Castle Rock Entertainment Village Roadshow Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures Additional music composed by James McKee Smith, Joel J. Richard and John Ashton Thomas Two Weeks Notice Marc Lawrence Fortis Films Castle Rock Entertainment Village Roadshow Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures — 2003 Agent Cody Banks Harald Zwart Maverick Films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Additional music composed by James McKee Smith and John Ashton Thomas The Italian Job F. Gary Gray Paramount Pictures De Line Pictures Working Title Films Also a guitaristRupert Parkes and John Ashton Thomas Gigli Martin Brest Columbia Pictures Revolution Studios Casey Silver Productions Sony Pictures Releasing Originally composed by Carter Burwell Paycheck John Woo Davis Entertainment Paramount Pictures DreamWorks Pictures Lion Rock Productions Also a soundtrack producer 2004 The Bourne Supremacy Paul Greengrass The Kennedy/Marshall Company Universal Pictures Ludlum Entertainment Hypnotic Trailer music composed by Daniel Nielsen Mr. 3000 Charles Stone III The Kennedy/Marshall Company Spyglass Entertainment Dimension Films Touchstone Pictures Buena Vista Pictures Distribution — Alfie Charles Shyer Paramount Pictures Co-composed withMick Jagger andDavid A. Stewart 2005 Be Cool F. Gary Gray Jersey Films Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Also a guitaristDylan Berry Robots Chris Wedge 20th Century Fox 20th Century Fox Animation Blue Sky Studios Trailer music composed by Daniel Nielsen Mr. & Mrs. Smith Doug Liman Weed Road Pictures Regency Enterprises Summit Entertainment 20th Century Fox Also a music conductor 2006 Ice Age: The Meltdown Carlos Saldanha 20th Century Fox 20th Century Fox Animation Blue Sky Studios Originally composed byDavid Newman United 93 Paul Greengrass Universal Pictures StudioCanal Sidney Kimmel Entertainment Working Title Films — X-Men: The Last Stand Brett Ratner 20th Century Fox Marvel Entertainment The Donners' Company Dune Entertainment Ingenious Film Partners Bad Hat Harry Productions Additional music composed by James McKee Smith and John Ashton Thomas Happy Feet George Miller Animal Logic Kennedy Miller Productions Village Roadshow Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures Also a song arranger and a song producerGrammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album for Motion Picture, Television or Other Media 2007 The Bourne Ultimatum Paul Greengrass The Kennedy/Marshall Company Universal Pictures Ludlum Entertainment Studio Babelsberg Additional music composed by James McKee Smith, Joel J. Richard, John Ashton Thomas and Islam Sabry P.S. I Love You Richard LaGravenese Alcon Entertainment Wendy Finerman Productions Also a guitaristScott Liggett 2008 Jumper Doug Liman Regency Enterprises 20th Century Fox Dune Entertainment Hypnotic Additional music composed by James McKee Smith and John Ashton Thomas Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! Jimmy Hayward Steve Martino 20th Century Fox 20th Century Fox Animation Blue Sky Studios Additional music by James McKee Smith, John Ashton Thomas andPaul Mounsey Stop-Loss Kimberly Peirce MTV Films Paramount Pictures Scott Rudin Productions Also a music conductor and a solo guitarist Kung Fu Panda John Stevenson Mark Osborne Paramount Pictures DreamWorks Animation Co-composed with Hans ZimmerHenry Jackman Hancock Peter Berg Overbrook Entertainment Relativity Media Columbia Pictures Weed Road Pictures Sony Pictures Releasing Trailer music composed by Ernst Meinrath Bolt Chris Williams Byron Howard Walt Disney Pictures Walt Disney Animation Studios Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Walt Disney Animation Studios theme music composed byWilfred Jackson 2009 Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Carlos Saldanha 20th Century Fox 20th Century Fox Animation Blue Sky Studios Additional music composed by James McKee Smith and Paul Mounsey
Year Title Director(s) Company credits Note(s) 2010 Green Zone Paul Greengrass Universal Pictures StudioCanal Relativity Media Working Title Films Dentsu Antena 3 Films — How to Train Your Dragon Chris Sanders Dean DeBlois Paramount Pictures DreamWorks Animation Also a soundtrack producerAcademy Award for Best Original Score Paul Mounsey Fair Game Doug Liman Participant Media River Road Entertainment Hypnotic Summit Entertainment Additional music composed by Paul Mounsey Knight and Day James Mangold Dune Entertainment Regency Enterprises 20th Century Fox Roth Films Additional music composed by Beth Caucci, Paul Mounsey and James McKee Smith 2011 Mars Needs Moms Simon Wells Walt Disney Pictures ImageMovers Digital Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Additional music composed by Paul Mounsey, Beth Caucci, Victor Chaga andMichael Z. Gordon Rio Carlos Saldanha 20th Century Fox 20th Century Fox Animation Blue Sky Studios Also a whistlerDominic Lewis and Paul Mounsey Kung Fu Panda 2 Jennifer Yuh Nelson Paramount Pictures DreamWorks Animation Co-composed withHans Zimmer Lorne Balfe and Dominic Lewis Happy Feet Two George Miller Village Roadshow Pictures Kennedy Miller Mitchell Warner Bros. Pictures Dr. D Studios Additional music composed by Paul Mounsey and Hélène Muddiman 2012 Dr. Seuss' The Lorax Chris Renaud Universal Pictures Illumination Entertainment Also a song writer and a guitarist Ice Age: Continental Drift Steve Martino Mike Thurmeier 20th Century Fox 20th Century Fox Animation Blue Sky Studios Additional music composed by Paul Mounsey, Beth Caucci, Victor Chaga and Hélène Muddiman 2014 Rio 2 Carlos Saldanha Additional music composed by Anthony B. Willis and Paul Mounsey How to Train Your Dragon 2 [ 13] Dean DeBlois 20th Century Fox DreamWorks Animation Additional music composed by Anthony Willis and Paul Mounsey 2015 Pan Joe Wright Berlanti Productions RatPac-Dune Entertainment Warner Bros. Pictures Additional music composed by Anthony Willis,Batu Sener and Paul Mounsey 2016 Jason Bourne Paul Greengrass Perfect World Pictures Captivate Entertainment Pearl Street Films The Kennedy/Marshall Company Universal Pictures Co-composed withDavid Buckley Batu Sener 2017 Ferdinand Carlos Saldanha 20th Century Fox 20th Century Fox Animation Blue Sky Studios Davis Entertainment Also a music conductor, a score producer and a soundtrack producerGrammy Award for Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella Batu Sener , Anthony Willis and Paul Mounsey 2018 Solo: A Star Wars Story [ 14] Ron Howard Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Lucasfilm Ltd. Allison Shearmur Productions Lord Miller Nominated for aGrammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition "Han Solo theme music and originalStar Wars John Williams Batu Sener , Anthony Willis,Sebastien Pan and Paul MounseyGerrit Kinkel , Alex Klingle, Michael Werner Maas and Denis Surov 2019 How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World [ 15] Dean DeBlois Universal Pictures DreamWorks Animation Trailer music composed by Benjamin SquiresBatu Sener , Anthony Willis and Paul Mounsey
Year Title Category Notes Label Catalogue Number 2018 Hubris: Choral Works by John Powell [ 29] Classical First release on John Powell's own label, 5 Cats Studios.John Powell's first original project.
Performed with thePhilharmonia Orchestra .
5 Cat Studios FCS001 2020 Piano Solos from "How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World" [ 30] Solo Piano Music by John Powell.Piano solos performed byBatu Sener .
FCS005 Piano Solos from "The Call of the Wild" FCS007 Film Suites, Vol. 1 Classical Performed with Jose Serebrier,Philharmonia Orchestra , and The Philharmonia Voices. FCS010
Archival soundtrack albums [ edit ] Year Title Notes Label Catalogue Number 2020 Forces of Nature (Music from the Motion Picture) Released onAudio CD .Limited 1000 copies. Co-composed withOliver J. Lieber
The first awaiting official score album since the 1999 film debut.
Includes 2 bonus tracks/demos.
5 Cat Studios,La-La Land Records How to Train Your Dragon (The Deluxe Edition) [ 31] Deluxe Edition of the 2010 film score.Includes alternate versions and demos.
5 Cat Studios,Varèse Sarabande Solo: A Star Wars Story (Deluxe Edition) Deluxe Edition of the 2018 film score.Includes over two hours of original/unedited music as written for the film, and an end credits suite.
Han Solo Theme & OriginalStar Wars Music byJohn Williams .
Additional Music byBatu Sener , Anthony Willis &Paul Mounsey .
5 Cat Studios,Walt Disney Records 2021 Paycheck: The Deluxe Edition (Music From The Motion Picture) [ 32] Deluxe Edition of the 2003 film score.This Deluxe Edition greatly expands the playing time to over 95 minutes.[ 32]
5 Cat Studios,Varèse Sarabande 2022 How to Train Your Dragon 2 (The Deluxe Edition) Deluxe Edition of the 2014 film score.Includes alternate versions and demos.
5 Cat Studios,Varèse Sarabande ,Back Lot Music The Bourne Identity (Tumescent Edition) Expanded score with alternate versions of cues. 5 Cat Studios,Varèse Sarabande 888072412774 2024 How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (The Deluxe Edition) [ 33] Deluxe Edition of the 2019 film score.Includes alternate versions and demos.
Additional Music byBatu Sener , Anthony Willis &Paul Mounsey .
5 Cat Studios,Varèse Sarabande
^a b "John Powell Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & More..." AllMusic . Retrieved18 September 2025 .^ "John Powell | Artist | GRAMMY.com" .grammy.com . Retrieved8 November 2025 .^ "From Gigli to Oscar: Composer John Powell Reacts to His Nomination" . Movieline. 25 January 2011. Retrieved3 November 2014 .^ "John Powell – Composer Biography, Facts and Music Compositions" .FAMOUS COMPOSERS . Retrieved12 November 2020 .^ "Much Ado About Nothing · British Universities Film & Video Council" .bufvc.ac.uk . Retrieved8 May 2022 .^ "John Powell receives IFMCA Award for The Call of the Wild" .IFMCA: International Film Music Critics Association . Retrieved11 March 2024 .^ "John Powell's 'A Prussian Requiem' to be performed live in London" .SoundtracksAndTrailerMusic.com . 5 November 2015. Retrieved8 January 2016 .^ "John Powell on Scoring The "Completely Absorbing World" of Solo: A Star Wars Story" .Star Wars . 10 September 2018. Retrieved12 November 2020 .^ Gearan, Hannah (16 February 2023)."How To Train Your Dragon Live-Action Movie Bringing Back Key Original Creator" .ScreenRant . Retrieved11 March 2024 . ^a b c "John Powell Scoring Jon M. Chu's 'Wicked' .Film Music Reporter . 3 July 2024. Retrieved3 July 2024 .^ Sharpe, Josh (8 July 2024)."John Powell Scoring WICKED Movie With Stephen Schwartz" .BroadwayWorld.com . Retrieved10 July 2024 . ^ Giere, Carol de."The Schwartz Scene updates on the Wicked Soundtrack from Stephen Schwartz" .The Schwartz Scene . Retrieved10 July 2024 . ^ V., Erin (2 April 2012)."Interview: Dean DeBlois, director of 'How To Train Your Dragon' .One Movie, Five Views . Retrieved12 May 2012 . ^ "John Powell to Score Untitled Han Solo Movie" .Star Wars .Lucasfilm . 26 July 2017. Retrieved26 July 2017 .^ "How to Train Your Dragon 3 Pushed Back to 2017" . ComingSoon.net. 2 September 2014. Retrieved26 June 2022 .^ "Soundtrakd - Discover Songs in Movies & TV Shows" .Soundtrakd.com . Retrieved18 September 2025 .^ "John Powell Scoring Doug Liman's 'Locked Down' .Film Music Reporter . Retrieved6 January 2021 .^ "John Powell Scoring Olivia Wilde'sDon't Worry Darling " .Film Music Reporter . 6 January 2022. Retrieved7 January 2022 .^ "John Powell Scoring Illumination Entertainment's 'Migration' | Film Music Reporter" . Retrieved19 June 2023 .^ "IMDb Full Music Credits" .IMDb .^ "John Powell Scoring Lynn Wang's & Jared Hess'Thelma the Unicorn " .Film Music Reporter . 5 December 2023.^ "IMDb Full Music Department Credits" .IMDb .^ Powell, John (30 November 2023)."Scoring my 25th animated film and my first Xmas movie at Abbey Road Studios this week 🎶 Coming next winter! ❄️ #JohnPowell #soundtrack…" . Retrieved1 December 2023 – via Instagram. ^ "John Powell Scoring Locksmith Animation's 'That Christmas' .Film Music Reporter . Retrieved1 December 2023 .^ "IMDb Full Music Department Credits" .IMDb .^ "John Powell to Score Dean DeBlois' 'How to Train Your Dragon' Live-Action Film Adaptation" .Film Music Reporter . 15 February 2023. Retrieved16 February 2023 .^ "Batu Sener Scoring Disney+'s 'Ice Age: Scrat Tales' | Film Music Reporter" . Retrieved23 February 2022 .^ "Ice Age: Scrat Tales" .ComicBook . Retrieved23 February 2022 .^ "Hubris: Choral Works by John Powell (192kHz / 24-bit)" .John Powell . Archived fromthe original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved16 June 2018 .^ "Piano Solos from 'How to Train Your Dragon: A Hidden World' Released" .Filmmusicreporter.com . Retrieved18 September 2025 .^ "How To Train Your Dragon: The Deluxe Edition (CD)" .Varèse Sarabande . Retrieved30 September 2021 .^a b "Paycheck: The Deluxe Edition (Music From The Motion Picture) (2-CD)" .Varèse Sarabande . Retrieved11 June 2021 .^ "Instagram" .Instagram.com . Retrieved18 September 2025 .
Awards for John Powell
Alan Menken andStephen Schwartz (1995)Randy Newman (1996)Randy Newman (1997)Matthew Wilder ,David Zippel andJerry Goldsmith (1998)Michael Kamen (1999)Randy Newman (2000)John Powell andHarry Gregson-Williams (2001)Joe Hisaishi (2002)Thomas Newman (2003)Michael Giacchino (2004)Julian Nott (2005)Randy Newman (2006)Michael Giacchino (2007)Hans Zimmer andJohn Powell (2008)Bruno Coulais (2009)John Powell (2010)John Williams (2011)Henry Jackman ,Skrillex ,Adam Young ,Matthew Thiessen , Jamie Houston andYasushi Akimoto (2012)Kristen Anderson-Lopez ,Robert Lopez andChristophe Beck (2013)John Powell andJónsi (2014)Michael Giacchino (2015)Hans Zimmer ,Richard Harvey , andCamille (2016)Kristen Anderson-Lopez ,Robert Lopez ,Germaine Franco ,Adrian Molina andMichael Giacchino (2017)Michael Giacchino (2018)Dan Levy (2019)Trent Reznor ,Atticus Ross andJon Batiste (2020)Germaine Franco andLin-Manuel Miranda (2021)Alexandre Desplat , Roeban Katz,Guillermo del Toro andPatrick McHale (2022)Daniel Pemberton andMetro Boomin (2023)Kris Bowers (2024)
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