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M83 Will Score Tom Cruise’s ‘Avatar’-Sounding Sci-Fi Thriller

M83's Anthony Gonzalez and Joseph Kosinski, a.k.a. a Man Who is Not Tom Cruise / Photo Courtesy David James/Universal Pictures

If the fact that he is very interested in sci-fi thrillers hasn’t been made abundantly clear by his band’s last two X-Men-esque music videos, M83’s Anthony Gonzalez just drove the point home with his most recent announcement. The Spanish/French auteur behind last year’s Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming will finally get the job of scoring an upcoming Disney sci-fi flick all to himself.

“I’ve wanted to do soundtracks for so long, and starting with such an ambitious project, especially in the sci-fi category, means a lot to me,” Gonzalez reiterated to the Playlist about Oblivion, the feature-length that will star Tom Cruise and Melissa Leo and be helmed by Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski.

Gonzalez says Oblivion features a “character-driven” plot and will “take place in a vast world,” and that his soundtrack will feature “an orchestra and brass and maybe choirs.” The plot, as described by Universal Pictures’ press release:

On a spectacular future Earth that has evolved beyond recognition, one man’s confrontation with the past will lead him on a journey of redemption and discovery as he battles to save mankind.

Jack Harper (Cruise) is one of the last few drone repairmen stationed on Earth. Part of a massive operation to extract vital resources after decades of war with a terrifying threat known as the Scavs, Jack’s mission is nearly complete.

Living and patrolling the breathtaking skies from thousands of feet above, his soaring existence is brought crashing down when he rescues a beautiful stranger from a downed spacecraft. Her arrival triggers a chain of events that forces him to question everything he knows and puts the fate of humanity in his hands.

Oblivion starts filming next month in Iceland, all of which sounds exciting in an especially Game of Thrones meets Prometheus meets Avatar sort of way. It’s slated, at the moment, for an April 2013 release.

Despite the ominous tones Gonzalez and the plot summary describe, it is Disney, after all, and will as a result probably be very family-friendly, which will constitute one step further from the Donkey Punch soundtrack and one closer towards Katy Perry’s next album for M83.