Searchlight Pictures has released the official trailer for Behemoth, the new film written and directed by Tony Gilroy. It went up on the studio's YouTube channel on the morning of Wednesday, October 28, runs just over two minutes, and calls the film "a groundbreaking symphonic journey." Pedro Pascal stars as a gifted cellist coming home to Los Angeles, and the film opens only in theaters on December 4.
What it is about
The official synopsis is short: Alex Serian (Pascal) returns home to Los Angeles after 20 years on the road, and music, "the constant, all-consuming river of his life," begins to carry him on an adventure that will change him forever. The studio's production notes fill in the rest. Alex comes from a third generation Hollywood session family. His mother was a first call harpist, his father became a bitter composer, and his older brother left the viola for a band that peaked years ago. Back in town, Alex takes studio work, and each music cue he plays pulls him into a flashback that explains why he stayed away and why he really came back.
The title has a double meaning. Inside the story, Behemoth is the decoy name of a franchise movie Alex is hired to score. By the end, Gilroy suggests, the word also fits the "beast" that family can become.
Nine composers, one score
Searchlight calls this a cinema history first. The score comes from nine composers billed as The Behemoth Collective: Michael Abels, Emily Bear, Lukas Frank, Michael Giacchino, James Newton Howard, Henry Jackman, Nami Melumad, Brandon Roberts and Alan Silvestri. Each one wrote for a different piece of music inside the film, including four invented movies being scored, so every cue has its own voice.
The music was written before shooting, partly so Pascal could learn to play it. According to the notes, he practiced the cello three to four hours a day for about six weeks. The scores were recorded on stages including the former Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer stage, now the Sony Pictures Scoring Stage, and the Newman Scoring Stage at Fox, and 303 members of the American Federation of Musicians worked on the film. Gilroy calls it "a love letter to the movie music of Southern California."
Cast and crew
Pascal leads a cast that includes Olivia Wilde, Eva Victor, Alexa Swinton, Kaya Ralls, Erik Griffin, JoBeth Williams and Margarita Levieva, with Hank Azaria and Will Arnett. Gilroy produces with Sanne Wohlenberg and his brother John Gilroy, who also edits. Damián García is the director of photography, Jade Healy is the production designer, Mary Zophres designed the costumes and Carmen Cuba cast it. The run time is 127 minutes.
Dates
- July 14, 2026: official teaser released.
- October 3, 2026: Searchlight shares footage from the world premiere at the 64th New York Film Festival.
- October 28, 2026: official trailer released.
- December 4, 2026: in theaters.
Our call
A film set inside the Hollywood scoring world is rare, and getting nine working film composers to write its music is an unusual way to make one. If you care about how film music gets made, put December 4 on the calendar, and see it somewhere with a good sound system.
Into music on screen? Liz Harris made music for the screen on Music for Two Films About Water, and the other big December release is the Dune: Part Three final trailer.
Official Behemoth page · Official trailer on YouTube · Official teaser · Searchlight press site · Behemoth on Instagram
