Musique Fantastique

May 3, 2023 (updated news)

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY 3 Soundtracks Announced – Score today, Mix Tape on May 5th

Hollywood Records & Marvel Music have announced the details of the soundtrack albums for Marvel Studios’ GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Vol. 3. The score soundtrack featuring John Murphy’s (THE GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY HOLIDAY SPECIAL, THE SUICIDE SQUAD, KICK-ASS, 28 WEEKS LATER) original music from the movie was released digitally on May 3 to most streaming services. Director James Gunn tapped British composer John Murphy to score the film. Murphy most recently worked with Gunn on “The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special” and “The Suicide Squad.”

The Awesome Mix Vol. 3, a soundtrack album featuring seventeen songs by various artists featured on Chris Pratt’s Peter Quill character and his enthusiasm for classic rock from a mixtape put together by his mother. This album was released digitally on May 3rd and on CD on May 5th^. Both albums were released digitally and physically on May 3, 2023. A 12-inch vinyl release is out tomorrow along with cassette version on July 7th. 

Gunn’s love for music-even planting music into his screenplays from the very first draft. Gunn has mastered the art of creating “needle drop moments” where a song pulls audiences right into the moment. Using playback with the selected songs allowed the actors to step into the world, on the other side of the edit, which also helps with their performances. For Chris Pratt, Gunn’s choices just led to another awesome mixtape. “Music has been a huge part of the ‘Guardians of the Galaxy,'” Pratt explains. “The first Awesome Mix was the one Peter Quill’s mother gave him and he took to space. This was the music that defined who he was. In the second movie, it was a tape that she had left him that he never opened for fear that it was the last thing he’d ever see of her. But finally he opens it and that gives us the soundtrack for the second film. Then the third film is all music that comes off of the Zune that was given to Peter Quill by Yondu. That music moves out of the seventies and into bands like Beastie Boys and Radiohead and Faith No More. The music has continued to help the franchise evolve, and there’s some great music to accompany you on this ride.”

Gunn’s style of writing the song titles in the script and then playing the songs over scenes on set resonates with the actors. As Karen Gillan tells us: “Everything has been decided already, and all of the songs are written into the script. We also received a playlist before starting to get us in the zone. Every time there’s a song in the movie, they play it on set whenever the music cue is set to kick in, so it feels like we’re in the movie already. We definitely get a feel for it. The music just really unites everybody in a scene, and it just sets the tone. It’s a kind of fun, cool thing, and everybody always gets excited when the music plays. It kind of injects us with a little extra energy.”

Directed again by James Gunn, GUARDIANS 3 opens in theaters nationwide on May 5.

-via filmmusic reporter, Marvel Studios, and other sources.

Listen to John Murphy’s track “Guardians vs Hell Spawn” from GUARDIANS 3: