Here’s why Hans Zimmer isn’t working on Christopher Nolan’s next film

Watching the trailer for Chris Nolan’s next film Tenet is going to be a pretty weird experience. Partly because it’s said to be a return to his mind-bending high-concept Inception / Interstellar-style premises, and partly because it won’t feature an iconic score from Hans Zimmer, which means probably no more ‘BWAAAAMS’ to break up clips from the movie.

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Still, after working on Nolan’s past six films, Zimmer has a good reason for passing on the next one. He’s too busy working on Dune.

“‘Dune’ is one of my favorite books from my teenage years,” Zimmer said. “I love Denis, obviously, and Joe Walker, his editor. We did ’12 Years A Slave’ together and ‘Widows.’ We started working together in 1988 for the BBC together. It’s nice working with family.”

Still, Nolan has a more than adequate replacement in the form of Ludwig Göransson. The composer has had a strong twelve months, winning the Best Original Score Oscar for his Black Panther score, adding a couple Grammy Awards to his trophy cabinet for his work on Donald Glover’s ‘This Is America.’

“It is interesting how a lot of the hard work comes [to fruition at once]. You can compare Ryan Coogler’s career [arc] with Donald Glover’s, a little bit.” Göransson told Complex, “We’ve been working together for 10 years. I worked with Ryan for 10 years and Donald for 10 years. The same year, they’re blowing up, and I’m just here for the ride. I’m just lucky to be able to ride it.”

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So, Tenet is in good hands - even if Zimmer will be missed.

“I have to do [Dune],” Zimmer said. “Chris [Nolan] understands I have to do it. He’s going to be just fine. Ludwig and I are friends. Forget the friend part, he’s really good.”

Dune will be released on November 20, 2020. Nolan’s Tenet will be out months earlier, on July 17, 2020.