ACADEMY AWARD-WINNER HANS ZIMMER AND BLEEDING FINGERS MUSIC TO CREATE SCORE FOR BBC AMERICA'S "BLUE PLANET II"

New York - March 27, 2017 - BBC AMERICA announced today that the highly anticipated natural history landmark Blue Planet II will be scored by Academy Award-winner Hans Zimmer's 'Bleeding Fingers Music'. The brand new seven-part series comes from the world's leading BBC Studios Natural History Unit. Today's news follows last Saturday's finale of Planet Earth II on BBCA.

Zimmer lent his musical brilliance to the natural history genre for the first time with his acclaimed main title theme and score for Planet Earth II, the most successful nature documentary in the UK for fifteen years, and met in the US with a remarkable reception from both audiences and critics. Blue Planet II will bring together the talents of the BBC Studio's Natural History Unit production with legendary Sir David Attenborough presenting, and Zimmer's distinct musical genius. Once again Hans Zimmer will compose the theme and score for the series with Bleeding Fingers' co-composers Jacob Shea and Jasha Klebe.

Hans Zimmer said: "It's an incredible opportunity and privilege to be working again with the BBC's Natural History Unit on such a globally important project. It's a joy to compose to such beautiful, powerful and inspiring picture. Once more the BBC has raised the bar and we intend to rise to the challenge."

Sarah Barnett, President, BBC AMERICA, commented: "The incredible visual stories captured in Planet Earth II were rendered all the more powerful and vivid thanks to Hans' genius musical scoring of the series. He will bring that same deep brilliance to bear as we plunge into the mystery and enchantment of the world's oceans. Blue Planet II is shaping up to be as unmissable as Planet Earth II, we are honored at BBCA to present this remarkable storytelling to our audience."

James Honeyborne, Executive Producer, Blue Planet II, said: "Blue Planet II will immerse us in the wonders of the oceans. We will visit never-seen-before locations and experience astonishing new wildlife behaviors. Hans' rich and diverse score has a key role to play in bringing these magical worlds to life, helping us all to connect with the extraordinary undersea characters we will meet."

Two decades ago Blue Planet sought to bring us a series on the earth's oceans, the breadth and scale of which had never been seen before. The team have now raised their ambition and returned to work off every continent and across every ocean, in collaboration with scientific communities and pioneering the development of new filming technologies. Now Blue Planet II will immerse audiences in these underwater worlds, which are still the most expansive but least known parts of our planet

Blue Planet II will be narrated by Sir David Attenborough and is made by BBC Studios Natural History Unit, co-produced with BBC AMERICA, WDR and France Télévisions in partnership with The Open University. It is Executive Produced by James Honeyborne and Series Produced by Mark Brownlow, and was commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Director of BBC Content and Tom McDonald, Head of Commissioning, Natural History and Specialist Factual.

Note to Editors: Planet Earth II had its finale Saturday, March 25th on BBCA.

Created in 1998, BBC AMERICA is a hub of innovative, culturally contagious programming like the ground-breaking un-scripted series Top Gear, the top-rated science-fiction phenomenon Doctor Who, and the fan-favorite Orphan Black. The influential network has been the launch pad for talent including Ricky Gervais, Gordon Ramsay, and Graham Norton - all adopted as American pop culture icons. A joint venture between BBC Worldwide (the commercial arm of the BBC) and AMC Networks, BBCA has attracted both critical acclaim and major awards including five Emmy(R) Awards, five Golden Globes(R) and 12 Peabody Awards. The irrepressible network has garnered one of cable's most curious, educated and affluent audiences, with many properties boasting super-fan levels of engagement. Available on cable and satellite TV, BBC America broadcasts in both standard and high-definition, is available On Demand across all major digital platforms and offers full episodes online at bbcamerica.com.