John Murphy (born 4 March 1965) is an English film composer. He is a self-taught multi-instrumental musician who began his career in the 1980s, working with fellow Liverpool-natives The Lotus Eaters and Thomas Lang, as well as Claudia Brücken. His early film score career saw him work with David Hughes from the electronic group OMD, and he has collaborated with directors Danny Boyle, Guy Ritchie, Michael Mann, Matthew Vaughn, Michael Caton-Jones, Stephen Frears, and James Gunn.
Murphy gained recognition in the film industry while working with Guy Ritchie on his film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Michael Mann's Miami Vice, Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass and scoring various films by Danny Boyle. His instrumental tracks "In the House - In a Heartbeat" from 28 Days Later and "Adagio in D Minor" from Sunshine, both films by Boyle, have been featured in a variety of TV shows, commercials and film trailers. In 2018, he scored Les Misérables for the BBC, and in 2020, he composed the score for James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, beginning a collaboration that continued in 2023 with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and in 2025 with Superman, which he composed with David Fleming.
Biography Born on 4 March 1965 in Liverpool, England, Murphy's interest in music was sparked when he heard The Beatles rendition of "Twist and Shout", which was the first song he learnt on the guitar. Coming across a book in London, titled, How to be a Film Score Composer, he began composing music for films in the early 1990s and scored his first hit with Leon the Pig Farmer. Together with David Hughes, formerly of the Merseyside-based electronic group OMD, he worked on several successful films, enjoying particular success with the soundtrack to Guy Ritchie's 1998's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
Since Guy Ritchie's Snatch (2000), Murphy has worked independently and has been based in Los Angeles. His successes include Danny Boyle's post-apocalyptic horror 28 Days Later and its sequel 28 Weeks Later. He also collaborated with Underworld to score Boyle's science fiction film Sunshine. In 2006, Murphy composed the score for Michael Mann's Miami Vice. He composed the music for the 2009 remake of the 1972 film The Last House on the Left, followed by 2010's Kick-Ass, based on the comic book of the same name. Other excerpts from his scores have been used for advertising, film trailers, television shows and video games, in particular "In the House - In a Heartbeat" from 28 Days Later, and "Adagio in D Minor" from Sunshine; the former has featured in a number of tense situations on TV shows, such as the BBC's Top Gear, Dragon's Den, The Apprentice and MasterChef.
In 2014, he released an album titled Anonymous Rejected Filmscore that had been, as the title suggests, composed for a film whose studio head had rejected for being too 'weird'. Alt URL Murphy promised the director that he wouldn't name the film. The score was allowed to develop in directions unconstrained by the original film's narrative and the cover art is a photograph of Murphy's son, taken by his wife through her sunglasses.
In 2018, he scored Les Misérables for the BBC, and in 2020, he composed the score for James Gunn's The Suicide Squad, beginning a collaboration that continued in 2023 with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. In 2024, he and David Fleming scored Gunn's Superman (2025), the first film of the DC Universe, for which they also incorporated nods to John Williams' "Superman March" from Richard Donner's 1978 film into the score.https://www.slashfilm.com/1742027/why-james-gunn-used-john-williams-superman-theme/
Discography
Film Year Title Director Notes 1992 Leon the Pig Farmer Vadim JeanGary Sinyor Composed with David Hughes 1994 Beyond Bedlam Vadim Jean A Feast at Midnight Justin Hardy Composed with David Hughes Dinner in Purgatory Kerry Kieman 1995 Clockwork Mice Vadim Jean Composed with David Hughes Proteus Bob Keen 1996 Darklands Julian Richards 1997 Behind the Mask Ngozi Onwurah Short film The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous Robert Knights Television film Stiff Upper Lips Gary Sinyor 1998 What Rats Won't Do Alastair Reid The Real Howard Spitz Vadim Jean Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels Guy Ritchie Composed with David Hughes 1999 One More Kiss Vadim Jean The Bachelor Gary Sinyor 2000 Snatch Guy Ritchie Liam Stephen Frears Chain of Fools Pontus LöwenhielmPatrick von Krusenstjerna 2001 Hang Time Ngozi Onwurah Short film Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise Danny Boyle Television film Strumpet Shooters Dan Reed Mean Machine Barry Skolnick 2002 All About the Benjamins Kevin Bray New Best Friend Zoe Clarke-Williams Composed with David Hughes City by the Sea Michael Caton-Jones 28 Days Later Danny Boyle Friday After Next Marcus Raboy 2003 Intermission John Crowley 2004 The Perfect Score Brian Robbins Millions Danny Boyle 2005 Guess Who Kevin Rodney Sullivan Keeping Up with the Jonesers Craig Borders Short film The Man Les Mayfield 2006 Basic Instinct 2 Michael Caton-Jones Themes by Jerry Goldsmith Miami Vice Michael Mann Additional music by Klaus Badelt, Mark Batson and Tim Motzer 2007 Sunshine Danny Boyle Composed with Underworld 28 Weeks Later Juan Carlos Fresnadillo 2009 The Last House on the Left Dennis Iliadis Janky Promoters Marcus Raboy Armored Nimród Antal 2010 Kick-Ass Matthew Vaughn Composed with Henry Jackman, Marius de Vries and Ilan Eshkeri 2021 The Suicide Squad James Gunn Replaced Tyler Bates 2023 Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 2025Superman Composed with David FlemingIncludes "Superman March" composed by John Williams
Documentaries Year Title Director Notes 1996 Where the Bad Girls Go Chris Bernard Documentary short Eunice the Gladiator 2000 The Valley Dan Reed 2013 Love Never Fails/Forever Found Kelsey Shaw McNeal
Television Year Title Notes 1997 Modern Times Episode: "The Bubble" 2011 Dispatches Episode: "The Battle for Haiti" Frontline Episode: "Battle for Haiti" 2018 Les Misérables Miniseries 2022 Peacemaker TV series The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special Special
Charting discography Title Year Peak chart positions Album CZRock FRALesCharts.com: John Murphy page "In the House - In a Heartbeat" 2012 — 89 28 Days Later: The Soundtrack Album "Pumped Up Kicks"(featuring Ralph Saenz) 2022 1 — Peacemaker (Soundtrack from the HBO Max Original Series) "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
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