Saudi Arabia would like Hans Zimmer to compose its new national anthem

According to Saudi newspaper Al Arabiya (via The Hollywood Reporter), Alalshikh met with Zimmer to discuss “various projects” the famed film composer could work on, including re-creating the anthem—currently “The Chant of the Saudi Nation,” written by Egyptian composer Abd al-Rahman al-Khatib in 1947—with “different instruments.” A request like that is a slippery slope for someone like Zimmer. At his live concert, which this writer attended in September, the composer played on PVC piping and an ostrich egg. High school bands who want to learn to play their national song might have a tall order on their hands.

Zimmer and Alalshikh reportedly discussed some other possible collaborations as well, including an original composition called “Arabia” and a concert. Per THR, the composer is also in talks to score an upcoming Saudi film about the Battle of Yarmuk, which took place in 636 A.D. between Arab forces and the Byzantine Empire.

This isn’t the only out-of-left-field (and likely very lucrative) project Zimmer has taken on in recent years. In 2022, the Academy Award winner wrote the revving sounds for BMW’s all-electric i4 car—yes, really. “We’re gonna go and change the world, because it’s time that the world changed,” he said in a promotional video for the project. In all honesty, if this writer could make that much money going zoom in a studio, she might start talking like that as well.