Marco Beltrami

Marco Beltrami (born October 7, 1966) is an American composer of film and television scores. He has worked in a number of genres, including horror (Scream, Mimic, The Faculty, Resident Evil, The Woman in Black, Carrie, A Quiet Place, the Fear Street trilogy, and The Nun II), action (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, Live Free or Die Hard, World War Z), science fiction (I, Robot; Snowpiercer), Western (3:10 to Yuma, Jonah Hex, The Homesman), and superhero (Blade II, Hellboy, Jonah Hex, The Wolverine, Fantastic Four, Logan, Venom: Let There Be Carnage).

A long-time collaborator of Wes Craven, Beltrami scored seven of the director's films including the original four Craven-directed films in the Scream franchise (1996–2011), later returning for the seventh in 2026. He has also worked with such directors as James Mangold, Guillermo del Toro, Tommy Lee Jones, Alex Proyas, Ole Bornedal, Kathryn Bigelow, Bong Joon Ho, Dan Gilroy, and John Krasinski.

Beltrami has been nominated for two Academy Awards for 3:10 to Yuma (2007) and The Hurt Locker (2008), and a Golden Globe Award for A Quiet Place (2018). He won a Satellite Award for Soul Surfer (2011) and an Emmy Award for Free Solo (2018).

Early life Beltrami was born on Setauket, New York, of Italian and Greek descent. He attended Ward Melville High School, and afterwards, graduated from Brown University and studied at the Yale School of Music, and then moved west to the USC Thornton School of Music in Los Angeles, where he studied under composer Jerry Goldsmith.

Career A few classical commissions and USC student films aside, Beltrami scored his first feature in 1994, the thriller Death Match for director Joe Coppolletta, and reached a higher level of public acclaim in 1996 when he wrote the score for Wes Craven's smash hit shocker Scream. Since then, Beltrami has become firmly entrenched as a composer of choice for the horror/thriller and action genre, with the Scream sequels and hit films such as Mimic (1997), The Faculty (1998), Angel Eyes (2001), Joy Ride (2001), Resident Evil (2002), which he co-composed with Marilyn Manson, Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004), I, Robot (2004), and Red Eye (2005) featuring prominently in his resume. Apart from horror/thriller and action, he also scores certain independent films such as The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys and Tommy Lee Jones' The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his score for the film David and Lisa in 1998, indicating a desire to spread his musical wings beyond the bounds of his genre pigeonholing.

He has composed the recent entries in the Die Hard franchise, Live Free or Die Hard and A Good Day to Die Hard, taking over from Michael Kamen from whom Beltrami used some of the original themes from the previous three films due to Kamen's death in 2003. Beltrami earned an Academy Award nomination for his work on James Mangold's acclaimed 2007 western remake, 3:10 to Yuma. Despite having met a mixed critical response, he was also nominated, alongside Buck Sanders, for the 2010 Academy Award for Best Original Score for his score to The Hurt Locker. In 2011, he was met with critical praise and won a Satellite Award for Best Original Score for his score to the drama film Soul Surfer. Beltrami composed the soundtrack for Pierce Brosnan's 2014 spy film November Man. He co-composed the score for the 2015 Fantastic Four film with Philip Glass.

Beltrami's signature style is based around highly percussive texture. He often employs both traditional percussive instruments such as bass drums, as well as violins and brass instruments, forming layers of hits and stabs.

Collaborations

Beltrami has worked repeatedly with such directors as Wes Craven, James Mangold, Guillermo del Toro, Tommy Lee Jones, Alex Proyas, Len Wiseman, John Moore, Jean-François Richet, Jonathan Levine, and John Krasinski. He has also worked with other musicians, including Marilyn Manson (for Resident Evil).

It was reported in October 2002 on Beltrami's official website that he had worked on orchestral arrangements for "Thyme", "The General", and "Elvis Presley and the Monster of Soul" (also known as "Leave Me Alone") from the then-unreleased Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy. While none of those tracks appear on the final track listing of the album, they were confirmed as being recorded during the sessions with a chance of release in the future. However, he was credited officially for providing arrangements on "Street of Dreams", "Madagascar", "There Was a Time", "This I Love", and "Prostitute". "Chinese Democracy" is also the name of a track on Beltrami's score for 3:10 to Yuma. In 2023 he was credited on the final single release of "The General".

Filmography

Film Davis GuggenheimComposed with Buck Sanders 2026 Scream 7 Kevin Williamson The Truth and Tragedy of Moriah Wilson Marina Zenovich Documentary film Unabomber Janus Metz PedersenPost-production 2027 Ally Bong Joon Ho First composition for an animated film

Television

Video games Year Title Notes 2017FortniteTheme and additional music

Actor Year Title Director Role Notes 2011 Scream: The Inside Story Daniel Farrands Himself Documentary film Still Screaming: The Ultimate Scary Movie Retrospective Ryan Turek Himself Documentary film 2022 Scream Matt Bettinelli-OlpinTyler Gillett Partygoer Vocal cameo

Awards and nominations NominationsAcademy AwardsGolden Globe AwardsCésar AwardPrimetime Emmy Awards

Industry awards

Academy Awards Year Category Work Result 2008 Best Original Score 3:10 to Yuma 2010 Best Original Score The Hurt Locker

Golden Globes Year Category Work Result 2019 Best Original Score A Quiet Place

Primetime Emmy Awards Year Category Work Result 1999 Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries or a Movie (Dramatic Underscore) David and Lisa 2019 Outstanding Music Composition for a Documentary Series or Special (Original Dramatic Score) Free Solo

AACTA Award for Best Original Music Score 2016: Gods of Egypt (nominated) César Award for Best Original Music 2009: Mesrine (nominated)Cinema Eye Honors Award for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Score 2019: Free Solo (nominated) Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Score 1998: Mimic (nominated) 2002: Joy Ride (nominated) 2005: Hellboy (nominated) 2013: The Woman in Black (nominated) Fright Meter Award for Best Score 2012: The Woman in Black (nominated) 2018: A Quiet Place (nominated) Grand Bell Award for Best Music 2013: Snowpiercer (nominated) Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Score 2018: Free Solo (nominated) 2019: Ford v. Ferrari (won) Satellite Award for Best Original Score 2011: Soul Surfer (won) 2019: Ford v. Ferrari (nominated)

Critics awards

Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Score 2008: 3:10 to Yuma (nominated) Denver Film Critics Society Award for Best Original Score 2019: A Quiet Place (nominated) Film Critics Circle of Australia Award for Best Music 2017: Gods of Egypt (nominated) Hawaii Film Critics Society Award for Best Original Score 2019: A Quiet Place (nominated) Houston Film Critics Society Award for Best Original Score 2008: 3:10 to Yuma (nominated)