Where the Wild Things Are (lost Arcade Fire songs from film's soundtrack; existence unconfirmed; 2009)
The film's soundtrack cover.
Status: Existence Unconfirmed
Where the Wild Things Are is a 2009 fantasy adventure drama film directed by Spike Jonze. Jonze asked Win Butler of Arcade Fire to help compose some of the music for the film. Exactly how much music was composed has been refuted many times, much to the point where it remains unclear. All that is known to exist is an acoustic re-recording of the song "Wake Up" from Arcade Fire's 2004 debut, Funeral.[1] This version was featured in the trailers, leading many people to believe that Arcade Fire was going to write music for the entire film. As a matter of fact, test screenings did happen to use the band's music in places as the film's actual music compositions had not yet been completed. The final product, though, ended up using music composed by Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, backed up by other indie celebrities (such as Bradford Cox from Deerhunter).[2]
Status
It is unclear exactly how many if any, Arcade Fire songs for the film still exist. Aside from the re-recording of "Wake Up", nothing has surfaced, though it should be kept in mind that Butler has neither confirmed or denied the existence of more material. While the music that ended up in the film fits perfectly to fans and is still well-loved by them, many wonder how an Arcade Fire-composed score would have sounded.