Rommel Demano/Getty ImagesTrent Reznor and Atticus Ross have found their next project. The Nine Inch Nails band mates are scoring The Vietnam War, a new documentary from acclaimed filmmaker Ken Burns.
In an interview with The New York Times, Reznor says that he and Ross knew immediately they wanted to take on the project.
"I don't think [Burns] finished the sentence before I said, 'Yeah, we're in,'" Reznor remembers. "That's a no-brainer."
Reznor and Ross, of course, have plenty of film scoring experience. They earned a Grammy for their work on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and an Oscar for The Social Network. Most recently, the pair worked on the Boston Marathon bombing drama Patriots Day and the climate change documentary Before the Flood. But the scale of Burns' The Vietnam War -- which will be an 18-hour, 10-part documentary -- was something entirely new.
"Not every opportunity to score a film feels like it's an artistic endeavor," Reznor says. "Rather than just accumulating projects, we've tried to select things that challenge us and feel exciting."
The Vietnam War will premiere in September on PBS. It will feature over two hours of original music from Reznor and Ross, plus reworked clips of Nine Inch Nails songs and previous scores. Additionally, the film includes music from Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble.
Meanwhile, Reznor says he will focus on recording new Nine Inch Nails music in 2017, following up the band's EP Not the Actual Events, which was released late last year. He doesn't have any more film work on the books currently, but he's ready for any opportunities that should come up for him and Ross.
"As long as we don't put off writing the paper until the night before," says Reznor. "We're getting better at that."
Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.