Brian Theodore Tyler (born May 8, 1972) is an American composer, conductor, arranger and multi-instrumentalist best known for his film, television, and video game scores. In his 26-year career, Tyler has scored seven installments of the Fast & Furious franchise, Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, the fourth and fifth films of the Rambo franchise, Eagle Eye, the fourth and fifth films of the Final Destination franchise, the first three films of The Expendables franchise, the Marvel Cinematic Universe films Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, and Avengers: Age of Ultron alongside Danny Elfman, the Now You See Me franchise, Crazy Rich Asians, the fifth and sixth films of the Scream franchise, The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and its sequel, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, among others.
Tyler also created the current arrangement of the Universal Pictures logo fanfare (originally composed by Jerry Goldsmith) which debuted with The Lorax (2012) in celebration of Universal Pictures' 100th anniversary. He also composed the 2013–2016 Marvel Studios logo, which debuted with Thor: The Dark World (2013), which he also composed the film's score. He composed the NFL Sunday Countdown Theme for ESPN, the Formula One theme (also used in Formula 2 and Formula 3), and the anthem for the Esports World Cup. He is also behind the soundtrack of many television series including Yellowstone, 1883 and 1923, all with Breton Vivian. For his work as a film composer, he won the IFMCA Awards 2014 Composer of the Year.
His composition for the film Last Call earned him the first of three Emmy nominations, a gold record, and induction into the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. As of April 2026, his films are approaching $20 billion at the global box office, putting him in the top 10 highest-grossing film composers of all time.
He also has an electronic music alias, "Are We Dreaming".
Early life and education Tyler was born and raised in Orange County, California. His grandfather was art director Walter H. Tyler. One of his first major influences was his pianist grandmother. He holds a bachelor's degree from the University of California, Los Angeles and a master's from Harvard University. Growing up, he taught himself to play dozens of musical instruments, including drums, piano, guitar, bass, cello, world percussion, synthesizer, charango and bouzouki.
Career Film Tyler began scoring features shortly after graduating from Harvard. Robert Kraft, who was impressed with Tyler's music, encouraged him to pursue a career in film scoring. Tyler's first film score was for the independent film Bartender (1997), directed by Gabe Torres. The following year, he and Red Elvises composed the score for Six-String Samurai (1998).
Tyler's breakthrough came in the early 2000s, after composing for the Frailty (2001). His work on Last Call (2002) earned him an induction into the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Director William Friedkin, impressed with Tyler's work on Frailty, engaged him to compose for The Hunted (2003), which earned Tyler a World Soundtrack Award in 2002 for Best New Film Composer of the Year. Starting in 2003, Tyler began working on big-budget films, including Timeline (2003), Godsend (2004), The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005), and Constantine (2005). His cues for Children of Dune were used in multiple other theatrical film trailers, including Master and Commander (2003), Sahara (2005), Cinderella Man (2005), The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), and Star Trek (2009). The track "Summon the Worms" was used as a leader for the Dutch show Peking Express, and in the first leaked promotional reel for The Golden Compass (2007).
In 2007, he was hired to compose for Partition (2007), where he integrated Indian and Middle Eastern music with orchestral writing. He conducted the orchestral portion of the score with the Hollywood Studio Symphony in Los Angeles.
On September 5, 2011, Tyler announced that he was in talks to score the 2011 remake of Highlander, and pilot episodes for the animated series Transformers: Prime. He scored four episodes of the latter.
In 2012, Tyler scored and arranged a new version of the fanfare of the Universal Pictures logo, originally composed by Jerry Goldsmith, in observance of the studio's 100th anniversary. The new score added a choir, a more majestic arranging style, and a closing drum cadence. It made its debut alongside the logo with The Lorax on March 2, 2012.
In 2013, Tyler composed the fanfare of Marvel Studios, which made its debut alongside the logo with Thor: The Dark World, which he also composed the score of the film, on October 23, 2013, at the Odeon Leicester Square.
In addition to composing the score for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014), an original song was released for the film entitled "Shell Shocked", credited to Tyler as his stage name Madsonik, alongside Kill the Noise, Wiz Khalifa, Ty Dolla $ign, Juicy J, Moxie Raia, and Seann Bowe. It reached No. 2 on the iTunes hip-hop singles charts and has sold over 500,000 copies.
On October 12, 2016, Tyler was hired to score the 2017 action-adventure film XXX: Return of Xander Cage. He also contributed to the soundtrack by his stage name Madsonik, in a collaboration with Tom Morello and Kill The Noise entitled "Divebomb".
On March 2, 2018, he announced on Twitter that he had been hired to write a new theme for Formula One; it was released on March 23. The theme was also used in both Formula 2 and Formula 3 since 2019, as well as the F1 Academy since 2023. In August 2018, a 27-track soundtrack composed by Tyler for the cable TV series Yellowstone was issued in CD format and as an MP3 download on Amazon.Amazon CD download services. Yellowstone soundtrack. Retrieved August 29, 2018.
On July 16, 2024, it was announced that Tyler composed the official anthem of the Esports World Cup (an esports tournament series held in Saudi Arabia), entitled "Dare to Triumph".
Music Tyler is the musician behind the audio-visual project "Are We Dreaming". In an interview with BMI, he described his project as an exploration of space and the connection to human emotion driven through his usual film soundtrack style.
Personal life Tyler got divorced from his first wife on December 23, 2009. He remarried on June 29, 2013. He has no children.
Discography
Theatrical films Year Title Director Notes 1997 Bartender Gabe Torres 1998 Six-String Samurai Lance Mungia Composed with Red Elvises1999 The Settlement Mark Steilen The 4th Floor Josh Klausner Simon SezKevin Alyn Elders 2000 Panic Henry Bromell Shadow Hours Isaac H. Eaton Four Dogs Playing Poker Paul Rachman Terror Tract Lance W. DreesenClint Hutchison 2001 Plan B Greg Yaitanes The Fast and the Furious Rob Cohen "Fourth Floor" track, main score composed by BT (Brian Transeau)Frailty Bill Paxton Nominated – Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best ScoreNominated – IFMCA Award for Best Original Score for a Horror/Thriller Film 2002Bubba Ho-tep Don Coscarelli Vampires: Los Muertos Tommy Lee Wallace 2003Darkness Falls Jonathan Liebesman The Hunted William Friedkin The Big Empty Steve Anderson Timeline Richard Donner Replaced Jerry Goldsmith2004The Final Cut Omar NaimNominated – IFMCA Award for Best Original Score for a Horror/Thriller Film Godsend Nick Hamm Perfect Opposites Matt Cooper Paparazzi Paul Abascal 2005Constantine Francis Lawrence Composed with Klaus BadeltNominated – IFMCA Award for Best Original Score for a Horror/Thriller Film The Greatest Game Ever Played Bill Paxton 2006 AnnapolisJustin Lin Bug William Friedkin The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift Justin Lin 2007 Finishing the Game Partition Vic Sarin War Philip Atwell Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem The Brothers Strause Original Alien themes by James Horner, Elliot Goldenthal & John Frizzell and original Predator themes by Alan Silvestri 2008Rambo Sylvester Stallone Original Rambo themes by Jerry Goldsmith Bangkok Dangerous Pang Brothers Eagle Eye D. J. Caruso The Lazarus Project John Patrick Glenn 2009The Killing Room Jonathan Liebesman Nominated – IFMCA Award for Best Original Score for a Horror/Thriller Film Dragonball EvolutionJames Wong Fast & Furious Justin Lin The Final Destination David R. Ellis Original Final Destination themes by Shirley Walker Middle Men George Gallo Law Abiding Citizen F. Gary Gray 2010The Expendables Sylvester Stallone BMI Film Music Award2011Battle: Los Angeles Jonathan Liebesman BMI Film Music AwardFast Five Justin Lin BMI Film Music Award Final Destination 5Steven Quale 2012 John Dies at the End Don Coscarelli Columbus Circle George Gallo Brake Gabe Torres The Expendables 2 Simon West BMI Film Music Award 2013 Iron Man 3 Shane BlackBMI Film Music AwardNominated – Saturn Award for Best MusicNominated – IFMCA Award for Best Original Score for an Action/Adventure Film Now You See MeLouis Leterrier Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Music Standing Up D. J. Caruso Thor: The Dark World Alan Taylor Themes by Patrick Doyle Replaced Carter Burwell 2014 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Jonathan Liebesman The Expendables 3 Patrick Hughes Into the Storm Steven Quale 2015Furious 7 James Wan Avengers: Age of Ultron Joss Whedon Composed with Danny ElfmanThemes by Alan SilvestriBMI Film Music AwardNominated – Hollywood Music in Media Award for Best Original Score in a Sci-Fi FilmThe Disappointments Room D. J. Caruso Truth James Vanderbilt 2016Criminal Ariel Vromen Composed with Keith Power Now You See Me 2 Jon M. Chu 2017 XXX: Return of Xander Cage D. J. Caruso Composed with Robert Lydecker Power Rangers Dean Israelite The Fate of the Furious F. Gary Gray The Mummy Alex Kurtzman 2018Crazy Rich Asians Jon M. Chu Nominated – IFMCA Award for Best Original Score for a Comedy Film2019 Escape Room Adam Robitel Composed with John Carey What Men Want Adam Shankman Five Feet Apart Justin Baldoni Composed with Breton Vivian Liberation Danial Hajibarat Ready or Not Matt Bettinelli-OlpinTyler Gillett Rambo: Last Blood Adrian Grunberg Original Rambo themes by Jerry Goldsmith Charlie's Angels Elizabeth Banks 2020 Clouds Justin Baldoni 2021 Those Who Wish Me Dead Taylor Sheridan F9 Justin Lin Escape Room: Tournament of Champions Adam Robitel Composed with John Carey2022 Scream Matt Bettinelli-OlpinTyler Gillett Original Scream themes by Marco Beltrami Redeeming Love D. J. Caruso Composed with Breton Vivian Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers Akiva Schaffer 2023 Scream VI Matt Bettinelli-OlpinTyler Gillett Composed with Sven Faulconer The Super Mario Bros. Movie Aaron HorvathMichael Jelenic First score for an animated theatrical filmOriginal Nintendo themes by Koji Kondo Fast X Louis Leterrier 2024 Abigail Matt Bettinelli-OlpinTyler Gillett Transformers One Josh Cooley 2025 Nuremberg James Vanderbilt Now You See Me: Now You Don't Ruben Fleischer 2026 The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Aaron HorvathMichael Jelenic
Short films Year Title Director Notes 2001Offside Leanna Creel 2003Last Stand Gabe Torres 2005Clair obscur Benjamin Lemaire 2011Tattoo Bill Paxton 2014All Hail the King Drew Pearce Composed with Mike Post
Television film Year Title Director Notes 1998 Final Justice Tommy Lee Wallace 1999 Sirens John Sacret Young 2000Trapped in a Purple HazeEric Laneuville 2001Jane DoeKevin Alyn Elders 2002Last CallHenry BromellNominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series2003ThoughtcrimesBreck Eisner 2005 Painkiller Jane Sanford Bookstaver 2013 Transformers Prime Beast Hunters: Predacons Rising Vinton HeuckScooter TidwellTodd Waterman First score for an animated film2014 Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe Television special2015 Edge Shane Black Television pilot
Television series