Varèse Sarabande Records will release The Equalizer – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack digitally and on CD September 23, 2014. The soundtrack features the original score composed by Harry Gregson-Williams. The Equalizer opens in theaters on September 26, 2014.
"Because the director Antoine Fuqua, wanted the action to be believable, the score had to be rooted in reality," explained Gregson-Williams. "We couldn't have French horns announcing this character as if he were some super hero. Consequently, there's quite a dark tinge to his theme, and I learned quite early on that to bring real darkness to any given scene, it's necessary to have a little ray of light somewhere in order to contrast the colors. I took a two-pronged attack with the protagonist's music—one avenue followed his action, which was bold, strong, and noisy, while the other was quite sensitive and introspective."
As one of Hollywood's most sought after composers, Harry Gregson-Williams' scores span the spectrum of high-profile projects from action and drama to animation and documentary—each infused with the emotional punch and atmospheric intensity that mark his distinctive style. He garnered a BAFTA nomination for the score for the first Shrek; worked on all four installments of the blockbuster Shrek franchise; and received Golden Globe and Grammy Award nominations for his score for Andrew Adamson's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.
For the theme of Teddy, the film's central protagonist, Gregson-Williams took an unusual approach. "He may be the bad guy, but I looked at his character and he's wearing these beautiful, expensive suits—he's the best-dressed guy in the movie and he arrives on a private jet—so clearly his thematic material could afford to reflect these rather refined characteristics. It's only as you discover more about him that you realize he is a really nasty piece of work."