First Look at Tony Gilroy’s Behemoth!: Pedro Pascal–Starring Film Is His “First Lead Role” and Features Nine Composers

Here’s our first look at Tony Gilroy’s “Behemoth!” via Vanity Fair, with Pedro Pascal front and center in the lead role, his “first film lead role,” according to the outlet. A trailer will be released online later this week.

Pascal plays Alex, a gifted cellist who returns to Hollywood after years of performing with symphony orchestras. Gilroy, who says he enjoys writing highly skilled protagonists, originally cast Oscar Isaac in the lead role. After Isaac exited the project, Pascal stepped in.

To prepare for the role, Pascal underwent intensive cello training, calling it the most difficult skill he has ever had to learn—even harder than the physical demands of “Gladiator II.”

Pascal “appears in every scene” of the film, portraying Alex across a 25-year span. The film uses music as its storytelling device, with Alex’s performances triggering flashbacks that reveal why he left Hollywood and what brought him back. To give each fictional film score its own distinct identity, Gilroy recruited an unprecedented nine composers rather than relying on a single musician.

Gilroy personally persuaded each composer to join the project, assembling a lineup that includes Michael Giacchino, James Newton Howard, Alan Silvestri, Michael Abels, Emily Bear, Lukas Frank, Henry Jackman, Nami Melumad, and Brandon Roberts. However, because Academy rules generally recognize no more than three credited composers, the film’s score will likely be ineligible for an Oscar.

The supporting cast includes Hank Azaria as Alex’s father, Will Arnett as his brother, Eva Victor as a fellow cellist and love interest, and Olivia Wilde as Alex’s former partner.

Searchlight Pictures has yet to set a release date for “Behemoth!”—perhaps we’ll learn more when the trailer is unveiled later this week. It will certainly play some kind of part at the fall festivals.