Challengers (soundtrack)

Challengers (Original Score)
Soundtrack album by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
Released	April 26, 2024 (2024-04-26)
Genre	Electronic
Length	40:50
Label	Milan
Producer	Trent Reznor Atticus Ross
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross film score chronology
The Killer (Original Score) (2023) Challengers (Original Score) (2024) Queer (Original Score) (2024)
Luca Guadagnino film score chronology
Bones and All (Original Score) (2022) Challengers (Original Score) (2024) Queer (Original Score) (2024)

Challengers (Original Score) is the soundtrack album composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for the 2024 film Challengers by Luca Guadagnino. It was digitally released by Milan Records on April 26, 2024, the same day as the film's theatrical release in the United States.

Production

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross had previously worked with director Luca Guadagnino, scoring Guadagnino's 2022 film Bones and All. Guadagnino approached the pair to score Challengers by sending them an email that read, "Do you want to be on my next film? It's going to be super sexy." Guadagnino wanted "very loud techno music" for the film, taking inspiration from Berlin techno and '90s rave music. The end result was intended to amplify the pace and high-stakes nature of the film.

Critical reception

The score received widespread acclaim from critics. Ty Burr of The Washington Post called the soundtrack "one of [Reznor and Ross's] best to date." Mireia Mullor of Digital Spy called the score "phenomenal," while Robbie Collin of The Telegraph called it "counterintuitively perfect." Max Weiss of Baltimore called the score a "standout," writing, "It's mostly fast-paced electronica, which disrupts and propels the action at unexpected moments. It has a freneticism with fuels the film."

Coleman Spilde of The Daily Beast wrote, "Such euphoric filmmaking is enhanced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' intoxicating, synth-heavy score, which asserts itself as an indispensable part of the film. In Challengers, the music acts as punctuation, both periods and ellipses." Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote that the score "[captures] the electric heartbeat of the movie." Tim Grierson of Screen Daily wrote that "Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross [concocted] a techno-heavy score that lends the matches a dance-party urgency that is both witty and invigorating."

Maureen Lee Lenker of Entertainment Weekly wrote, "[Reznor and Ross] craft a pulsating, synth-filled composition that ratchets up the tension until it's taut as the strings of a racquet. It's as if the U.S. Open decided to use sonic riffs from Miami Vice as a theme song. The electronic, staccato rhythm mimics the rapid back-and-forth of tennis while also catapulting us into a sound that is inherently sexy in the ways it evokes the hypnotic trance of a dance club."

Liz Shannon Miller of Consequence wrote, "Propelling the on-court action is Reznor and Ross's score, bringing a level of bombast to the sports action that at times threatens to overwhelm the action, without ever actually proving distracting." Angelica Jade Bastién of Vulture wrote that the score "lends the film a tense propulsion that the storytelling itself desperately lacks." Caryn James of BBC wrote, "One of the best surprises turns out to be the soundtrack by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, a propulsive techno score that does a lot of the work to keep the tennis scenes moving."

Valerie Complex of Deadline wrote, "Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross' score, typically a highlight, feels oddly juxtaposed against the film's visual and emotional landscape with its '80s synth-pop elements. At times, it enhances the scenes' emotional depth, but more often it distracts, undermining the subtlety of the performances and the intimacy of certain moments."

Accolades

Challengers (Original Score) awards and nominations

Award	Year	Category	Recipients	Result	Ref.
Grammy Awards	2025	Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media	Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross	Pending

Track listing

All music is composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, except as noted.

Challengers (Original Score) track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Challengers"	1:25
2.	""I Know""	2:18
3.	"Yeah x10"	2:38
4.	"L'oeuf"	3:59
5.	"The Signal"	3:11
6.	"Brutalizer"	3:01
7.	"Stopper"	1:42
8.	"Brutalizer 2"	1:58
9.	"The Points That Matter"	1:49
10.	"Lullaby"	0:38
11.	"Final Set"	3:06
12.	"Pull Over"	2:48
13.	"Friday Afternoons, Op. 7: A New Year Carol" (composed by Benjamin Britten; performed by Choir of Downside School, Purley and Viola Tunnard)	2:06
14.	"Friday Afternoons, Op. 7: A New Year Carol (Part 2)" (composed by Britten)	1:14
15.	"Challengers: Match Point"	5:02
16.	"Compress / Repress"	3:49
Total length:		40:50

Personnel

• Trent Reznor – composer (tracks 1–12, 15–16), producer (tracks 1–12, 14–16), performer (tracks 1–12, 14–16)
• Atticus Ross – composer (tracks 1–12, 15–16), producer (tracks 1–12, 14–16), performer (tracks 1–12, 14–16)
• Benjamin Britten – composer (tracks 13–14), conductor (track 13)
• Jacob Moreno – engineer (tracks 1–12, 14–16)
• Randy Merrill – mastering (tracks 1–12, 14–16)
• Mariqueen Maandig-Reznor – performer (track 16)

Charts

Chart performance for Challengers (Original Score)

Chart (2024)	Peak position
Scottish Albums (OCC)	57
UK Dance Albums (OCC)	6
UK Soundtrack Albums (OCC)	1
US Soundtrack Albums (Billboard)	8
US Top Album Sales (Billboard)	17
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)	4

Release history

Release history and formats for Challengers (Original Score)

Region	Date	Format(s)	Label(s)	Ref.
Various	April 26, 2024	Digital download streaming	Milan
Various	November 1, 2024	LP

Challengers [Mixed]

Challengers [Mixed]
Remix album by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Boys Noize
Released	April 12, 2024 (2024-04-12)
Genre	Electronic
Length	28:13
Label	Milan
Producer	Boys Noize Trent Reznor Atticus Ross

Before the film and soundtrack's release, Reznor and Ross approached German producer Boys Noize about creating a remix album for the film's score. Initially, Boys Noize was hesitant about changing Reznor and Ross's original work too much, only making minor edits, but the pair encouraged him to be more experimental. He had not seen the film or a trailer until the remix album was completed.

The remix album was released on April 12, 2024, two weeks before the official soundtrack album was released.

Reception

Paolo Ragusa of Consequence called the remix album "astounding" and wrote, "Dance music at its core is built from what came before; it is meant to be extracted and expanded, remixed and recontexualized. A film score is not usually the subject of such chopping and screwing, but if anyone was going to do it and absolutely nail it, it's Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Boys Noize."

Track listing

All music is composed by Boys Noize, Trent Reznor, and Atticus Ross, except as noted.

Challengers [Mixed] track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"'I Know'"		3:05
2.	"Yeah x10"		3:36
3.	"L'oeuf"		2:15
4.	"Challengers"		3:00
5.	"Pre Signal"		0:55
6.	"The Signal"		4:38
7.	"Brutalizer"		5:11
8.	"Compress / Repress"		4:51
9.	"A New Year Carol"	Benjamin Britten	0:38
Total length:			28:13

Notes

• All tracks are subtitled as "Mixed" in square brackets.

External links

• Challengers (Original Score) on AllMusic
• Challengers (Original Score) on Discogs