Fifty Shades Darker to Trolls and Tron – the sweet sounds of silver-screen success

Bad film plus star-studded soundtrack equals formula for success
Sultry success: Taylor Swift in the video for the Fifty Shades Darker theme
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It's either got you whipping yourself into a frenzy or pinching yourself in disbelief but a new Fifty Shades film is hitting cinemas next Friday, cable ties and all. As a film, Fifty Shades Darker doesn’t have a lot to live up to, with a derisory 25 per cent “fresh rating” for Fifty Shades of Grey on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. But the soundtrack is a whopper. Taylor Swift, Zayn Malik, Nick Jonas and Nicki Minaj line up like notches on a bedpost.

It’s a tried-and-tested formula: bad film plus star-studded soundtrack equals formula for success. Sam Taylor-Johnson’s 2015 original boasted Annie Lennox, The Weeknd, The Rolling Stones and Beyoncé, and racked up $571 million worldwide despite its critical drubbing.

The latest erotic blockbuster takes a leaf out of the same playbook. Swift and Malik dropped I Don’t Want To Live Forever in December last year, and teased us further by releasing a video on January 27. In it, the megastars cavort around the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel, and it’s had more than 39 million hits on YouTube alone.

“Even if the plot is not involving us or the performances are boring us, then we’ve already got a relationship with the song,” says Matthew Sweet, host of BBC’s Sound of Cinema. “That can make up for shortcomings in what we’re seeing, because what we hear has such a powerful influence over what we see in cinema. It can change our whole perception.” And Fifty Shades isn’t the only film with a better bark than bite. While all that glitters isn’t Academy Award gold, these films show there’s more than one way to polish a stinker.

Fifty Shades Darker Premiere

1/15

Trolls

Like the hair-dos sported by its technicolor Dreamworks cast, Trolls had megaflop potential. The “happiest Troll ever born” sets off to rescue her friends. Bleurgh. But a cast including Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, Gwen Stefani, Ariana Grande and Earth, Wind & Fire had enough vocal power to fire it to success, and JT’s Can’t Stop the Feeling hit No 1 in the US charts.

Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad was messy — a “comic-book conundrum that 123 minutes of screen time gets us nowhere near solving”, according to the Evening Standard’s Ellen E Jones — dying a death at the hands of critics. But a pumping soundtrack featuring Skrillex, Mark Ronson and Eminem’s Without Me breathed some life into the limping blockbuster, not to mention scooping five Grammy nominations. “Sitting in the car with my son listening to the Suicide Squad soundtrack, I think I might be cool,” tweeted Sherlock star Amanda Abbington. Likewise, Amanda.

Tron: Legacy

Tron: Legacy, the 2010 reboot of Steven Lisberger’s sci-fi cult classic, was virtually awful, were it not for a soundtrack scored by mercurial DJ duo Daft Punk. “We are lucky to have had the opportunity to experience some powerful moments artistically over the years, but recording this orchestra was a very intense experience,” said Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter. “This project is by far the most challenging and complex thing we have ever been involved with.” It worked. “I listen to that Daft Punk soundtrack so often, it rocks my socks,” said one Reddit user, speaking for the fandom. CGI Jeff Bridges, you are redeemed.

Twilight

Twihards aside, most who have sat through Bella and Edward’s anaemic romance will have needed their own blood transfusion. But Twilight: New Moon boasted Thom Yorke, Lykke Li, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and St Vincent leaving us howling for more. It also provided an introduction to classical scores for many millennials. “Many of your friends think that Clair de Lune is originally from the Twilight soundtrack,” complained one Classic FM blogger. Suck on that.

Transformers

Although Michael Bay’s Transformers blasted its way to box-office success, its soundtrack had more subtlety. Linkin Park went double platinum with What I’ve Done, from their album Minutes to Midnight, driven by the film’s success. What a transformation.

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