Milan Records releases ELEANOR 
THE GREAT (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK) featuring music written by award-winning composer DUSTIN O’HALLORAN for Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut. Starring June Squibb as Eleanor, a 94-year-old woman who, in the wake of a devastating loss, shares a story that takes on a dangerous life of its own, the film required a soundscape as introspective and emotionally nuanced as its narrative. A longtime admirer of O’Halloran’s solo piano work, Johansson immediately approached the composer for the film, the duo working in close collaboration during the filming process to craft a sonic throughline to the deeply human story. The resulting score features delicately lyrical solo piano movements punctuated by stirring orchestral suites that perfectly capture the film’s exploration of grief, identity and the need for human connection. Following its worldwide premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, Eleanor the Great is now available in theaters from Sony Pictures Classics.
Of the score, composer DUSTIN O’HALLORAN says, “It was such a pleasure working on Scarlett’s first directorial film. From our first meetings we knew we both wanted this to capture the heart of the story without an overpowering score. There are so many layers of emotion in the film, including June Squibb’s inspiring performance, that I was able to draw on, and I tried to create something that would move the characters in the most empathic way. Many of the piano performances were simply me recording while watching the picture, playing and improvising with it to create a feeling that the viewer was inside the performance. It’s rare to have the opportunity to create a score like this, and I’m grateful for the trust Scarlett gave me.”
“The first time I ever heard Dustin’s piano solos, I said to myself that if I ever had the opportunity to direct a film, I would want him to do the composition for it,” adds director SCARLETT JOHANSSON. “It was literally a dream come true for me to hear that Dustin wanted to compose our score and I told him that verbatim. As I was putting the director’s cut together, I laid in some temporary tracks. Most of them were piano pieces by classical composers such as Chopin, Debussy, Satie. I didn’t realize that Dustin had composed some of his own albums as love letters to these very composers, so the references were all second nature to him, they lived inside him already. The entire way through from start to finish, it felt like Dustin and I were thinking and creating with the same creative brain and same creative heart.”
ABOUT ELEANOR THE GREAT
In Eleanor The Great, June Squibb brings to vivid life the witty and proudly troublesome 94-year-old Eleanor Morgenstein, who after a devastating loss, tells a tale that takes on a dangerous life of its own. Scarlett Johansson’s directorial debut is a comically poignant exploration of how the stories we hear become the stories we tell.
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ELEANOR THE GREAT (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK)
TRACKLISTING –
- Good Morning
- Losing Bessie
- I Lived in the Bronx
- Kind People
- You Found Us
- Picture Frames
- Memories
- Let’s Make This Quick
- What Was Her Name
- Birthday
- I Don’t Think This Was a Good Idea
- Oh Help Me God
- Coney Island
- This Dress
- A Hesitant Cheers
- Good Night
- Truth and Consequence
- What We Carry
- Don’t Do This
- Bessie’s Story
- Gone
- We Meet in the Light
- Eleanor and Bessie
ABOUT DUSTIN O’HALLORAN
Dustin O’Halloran is an award-winning American pianist who has enjoyed a prolific career composing for film and TV scores. Now based between Reykjavík and LA, he started out in the late 90s in indie duo Devics, before his debut solo collection, Piano Solos, appeared in 2004. He’s since released a number of albums, most recently 2021’s Silfur and 2024’s 1 0 0 1 for renowned classical label Deutsche Grammophon. He’s one half of A Winged Victory for the Sullen with Adam Wiltzie, who have four studio albums as well as two soundtracks to their name.
Piano Solos led to work for Sofia Coppola on 2006’s Marie Antoinette, with subsequent commissions including Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner Like Crazy (2011), before he was awarded an Emmy in 2015 for the main theme to Joey Soloway’s Transparent. Afterwards, he teamed up with Volker Bertelmann (aka Hauschka) for Garth Davis’ Lion (2016), whose six Oscar nominations included one for Best Original Score, and they’ve continued to work together alongside their solo work, with 2020’s Ammonite and 2022’s ITVX mini-series, A Spy Among Friends, among multiple other credits.
O’Halloran’s further collaborations include producing the final track on Katy Perry’s Witness (2017), appearing on Leonard Cohen’s posthumous Thanks for the Dance (2019), as well as writing with veteran Scandinavian chart-topper Ane Brun and for American artist Slater Bradley. In addition, A Winged Victory for the Sullen’s Atomos (2010) stemmed from work for the resident choreographer of London’s Royal Ballet, Wayne McGregor’s dance company. O’Halloran’s latest album, 1 0 0 1, an electronic, four movement composition, was first written for choreographer Fukiko Takase as a three-piece dance production.
In late 2024, O’Halloran scored two films back-to-back – Bridget Jones Diary: Mad About the Boy (2025), and Scarlet Johansson’s directorial debut Eleanor the Great.
