Original score from the 2024 action feature film directed by Scott Windhauser, starring Tom Welling, Cam Gigandet and Cher Cosenza, produced by The Motus Studios, Umbrelic Entertainment, Safier Entertainment and Satyricon Pictures, released by Saban Films (USA).

THE STORY: An ex-con gets released early from prison only to be forced into an undercover unit of six men and on his first day the other five are all killed. Now he must face the men who he was tasked to spy on.

THE SCORE: “Director Scott Windhauser is a fellow film music fan, which made working with him a dream. When writing action music, I do my best to apply rhythm programming and odd/mixed meters to keep the music exciting and interesting. This movie also gave me the opportunity to write some character themes and motifs: Terry’s (Tom Welling) theme consists of a blend of trumpet and synthesizer, paired with a restless rhythm, signifying the protagonist’s need to think and act quickly under enormous stress. For Terry’s main antagonist, Griff (Cam Gigandet), I wrote a three-note motif which underscores his unpredictability by appearing irregularly in any register and on any instrument. A melancholy motif accompanies Terry’s mysterious ally, Spinx (Cher Cosenza); it evolves as we learn more about her character. Since Detective Lombardi (Chris Mullinax) views his work as more of a calling than just a job, his theme is a ‘religioso’ arpeggio figure played on a church organ. The theme for mafia boss Rossi (Al Linea) consists of a tarantella, which is an Italian folk dance, slowed down in this case to a menacing crawl and primarily played on staccato strings, in an homage to Ennio Morricone’s instrumentations for similar genre movies. – Edwin Wendler

THE COMPOSER: Edwin Wendler is a former Vienna Choir boy who has worked on projects which have earned more than $3 billion in box office income worldwide. His feature film credits as a composer include DreamScapes (narrated by Academy Award winner Kate Winslet), Glowzies (starring James Remar), and Dead Ant (starring Tom Arnold and Sean Astin). His score for the documentary The Right to Love: An American Family was nominated for a GoldSpirit Award. In addition, Wendler has been prolific in video games, writing music for more than two dozen games including Synced, Torchlight: Infinite, PUBG, Apex Legends, Call of Duty: Mobile, Ring of Elysium, as well as additional music for Tencent’s most profitable game, Honor of Kings, for which he received a G.A.N.G. Award as well as a Hollywood Music in Media Award nomination. Edwin Wendler composed additional music for the box office hit, Non-Stop (starring Liam Neeson). He worked as an arranger and additional composer on movies such as X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Nice Guys (starring Russell Crowe and Ryan Gosling), and Little Fockers (starring Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro). In television, Wendler arranged and wrote additional music for Sleeper Cell and the ratings hit, Fear Factor.

MMS24040 MAFIA WARS (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Music Composed by EDWIN WENDLER
Release date: October 11, 2024