Danny Elfman on success of ‘Wednesday’: “I thought it would be a little cult thing”
Danny Elfman has said he was “surprised” by the success of Netflix series Wednesday.
The composer collaborated with Chris Bacon to create the show’s soundtrack. It marks Elfman’s latest collaboration with Tim Burton, who serves as an executive producer, following Batman, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas and others.
After The Addams Family spinoff was released in November, the show has crossed 1billion viewing hours within one month. The only other Netflix shows to pass the milestone are Squid Game and Stranger Things season four.
Speaking to NME about whether he was surprised by the reaction, Elfman said: “Yeah, completely. But you’ve gotta realise I’m surprised by anything I do having any success.
“When Batman came out, I was composing to a cut that was so dark on the video I could barely even tell what was happening half the time. I thought, ‘This is going to be a little cult film at best.’ So the fact that it was a big hit, that shocked and surprised me. I’m surprised every time I have anything happen that’s successful.
“I thought Wednesday would be, like Batman, I thought it would be a little cult thing.”
Speaking about creating the show’s soundtrack, Elfman said: “Wednesday was just fun. I grew up on The Addams Family but I also really dug the Charles Addams cartoons even moreso. So to do a variation on this, it was just fun.”
Created by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, the series follows Wednesday’s (Jenna Ortega) life as a student at supernatural boarding school Nevermore Academy. The show also stars Catherine Zeta-Jones, Fred Armisen, Gwendoline Christie and Christina Ricci.
In a four-star review of Wednesday, NME wrote: “If there’s one thing fans of The Addams Family should know before watching Netflix reboot Wednesday, it’s to expect the unexpected.”
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Adam Starkey
NME
