Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and his longtime collaborator Atticus Ross have announced Future Ruins – a groundbreaking event dedicated entirely to film and television composers, set to take over Los Angeles’ Equestrian Center on November 8. This duo are the same minds that redefined film scoring with The Social Network‘s techno-heavy synths and Challengers‘ pulsating rhythms are now reshaping the festival landscape.
This isn’t just another music festival. Future Ruins has the potential to excise the influencer culture plaguing events like Coachella surgically. Instead of the usual horde-attracting pop stars in the lineup, the festival has assembled a murderers’ row of composers who’ve defined cinematic sound for decades. The inaugural lineup reads like a syllabus for modern film scoring: Danny Elfman’s gothic whimsy, Hildur Guðnadóttir’s haunting minimalism, Howard Shore’s Crash score performed live, and even Questlove reimagining Curtis Mayfield’s soulful soundtracks. John Carpenter and Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh represent the old guard, while Stranger Things composers Kyle Dixon and Michael Stein and The White Lotus composer Cristobal Tapia De Veer bridge the gap to contemporary audiences.
“It’s about giving people who are, literally, the best in the world at taking audiences on an emotional ride via music the opportunity to tell new stories in an interesting live setting,” Reznor explains in a festival statement, whereas the festival explicitly rejects traditional headliner hierarchies which is a radical stance in an industry obsessed with marquee names. Here, Suspiria’s Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin shares equal footing with Moonlight composer Nicholas Britell.
Future Ruins arrives at a time when most festivals recycle the same tired formulas. Where others book acts for Instagram potential, Reznor and Ross have curated an event where Joker’s Hildur Guðnadóttir ’s intricate motifs command the same reverence as a pop star’s pyro-filled finale. The composers are encouraged to radically reinterpret their work, where attendees might witness The Last Thing He Wanted’s melancholic themes reworked for modular synths, or Dune’s sandworm terror translated into avant-garde percussion.
This is no niche experiment. By spotlighting composers who’ve collectively soundtracked everything from superhero blockbusters to psychological thrillers, Future Ruins taps into a cultural moment where scores dominate streaming playlists and concert halls alike. When Oppenheimer’s sonic boom wins Grammys and Succession’s theme becomes a meme, it’s clear: the people behind the curtain are finally stepping into the spotlight they’ve always deserved.
