SEATTLE — With Hollywood producer Jerry Bruckheimer as part of the ownership group, the Seattle Kraken always were going to have a cinematic element to their video productions.
When the Kraken decided to revamp their pregame introductions during the offseason, Bruckheimer was involved to go over ideas. On one such Zoom meeting, Bruckheimer said he had a friend who might be willing to do a favor and provide some grandiose music that would build to a crescendo as players hit the ice.
His pal: Oscar- and Grammy-winning composer Hans Zimmer.
“When I watched their game presentation, which I thought was very good, the one thing that they missed was the kind of explosion when the players come on the ice. Musically that could be very interesting because they’re basically gladiators going to battle,” Bruckheimer said. “I felt that I’ve been working with Hans Zimmer on ‘Top Gun,’ and he’s a composer that certainly can write that kind of theme for the players and for the team.”
If you want music for gladiators, well, get the guy who wrote the score for “Gladiator.”
Bruckheimer called in that favor to Zimmer, who created an eight-minute original composition for the Kraken. Part of it is used during the three-minute introduction video that plays just before Seattle takes the ice.
The Kraken also are playing Zimmer’s music during breaks in the game, in promotional TV spots and on the Seattle Monorail for fans en route to Climate Pledge Arena.
“He’s got an amazing ability to write phenomenal themes. Very simple, phenomenal themes,” Bruckheimer said. “And you listen to the things ... whether it’s four notes, six notes, whatever it is, it’s so memorable. That when you leave a movie theater that is embedded in your brain you can play it over and over again. That’s what’s so exciting about him.”
Zimmer won his second Academy Award for Best Original Score earlier this year, for “Dune.” He won previously in 1995 for “The Lion King” and has been nominated nine other times. Zimmer also has three Golden Globes and four Grammys. While he has worked primarily in movies — several of them produced by Bruckheimer — Zimmer also has a few video game scores on his resume.
But this was his first venture into hockey.
Bruckheimer first heard the composition when he connected with Zimmer while finishing a movie in London earlier this year. They later set up a listening session for the staff in Seattle to hear the finished product, and the full production — music and video — made its debut last weekend at the home opener for the second-year franchise.
“It should be about the players entering the ice, introducing them and getting the crowd excited about that first blade hitting the ice and the crescendo of all those players jumping out there and skating around. That’s the moment,” Bruckheimer said.
