Christian Amonson created the 25th anniversary recording of “The Mummy” soundtrack with help of USC alumni

USC Thornton faculty member Christian Amonson produced and recorded a new version of “The Mummy’s” score across LA and Cairo, released on its 25th anniversary, May 7. To do so, Amonson did some digging to recover the original handwritten score to be digitized, edited and arranged. Angel Velez (MA ‘14) conducted the Hollywood Studio Symphony in-studio after Eric Huang (MM Scoring ‘24) digitized the score into Sibelius.

Recovering those documents was no easy feat.

“I wasn’t sure if I was going to find anything, but I had to try. Emails, phone calls, and registration searches led me to treasure at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures: original Mummy sketches by Jerry Goldsmith,” said Amonson. “Later, the team at NBC-Universal found the key artifact in their own archives: original handwritten conductor scores. They scanned the cue (originally called “The Mummy Attacks”, a title given later to another track), which became the foundation for our new digital engraving, score, and parts.”

Amonson also included Egyptian musicians in The Mummy for the first time. Mohamed “Moe” El-Arkan of Sharmoofers notoriety came in to co-produce the Cairo sessions, while percussion leader Abdelazeem Barhoma translated Amonson’s loose notes into more idiomatic Egyptian grooves, not to mention several other Egyptian soloists that took part. 

Amonson was faced with cryptic warnings, cancelled sessions and scheduling conflicts before the original release date of May 7, 2024, culminating in a threatening call from a “Hollywood exec” that outlined an alleged end to his career if he continued. But this supposed setback was a blessing in disguise, as Amonson had more time to better the score, find great contributors to get onboard, and even source a better lunch place for the orchestra.

See more about what went into the process here.