Steve Jablonsky

Known for his tense, rousing orchestral scores, sometimes mixed with electronic elements, Steve Jablonsky is an American composer of film, television, and video game music. His first credit on a film as sole composer was the 2003 remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. While also working in television (Desperate Housewives) and on games (The Sims 3), he went on to specialize in action, horror, and sci-fi films, including writing the scores for all five of the Michael Bay-directed entries in the Transformers film franchise, beginning with 2007's Transformers. Some of his other franchise contributions include Friday the 13th (2009) and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016). His work in the 2020s has included the animated diversion DC League of Super-Pets (2022) and the crime film Motor City (2025). A Los Angeles native, Jablonsky studied computer science before switching to music composition at the University of California, Berkeley. Obtaining an internship at Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions after graduating, he met established film composer Harry Gregson-Williams, a colleague of Zimmer's, and worked as his assistant. After contributing to several projects including the BBC's 2003 series Seven Wonders of the Industrial World, his first solo scoring credit for a feature film was Marcus Nispel's remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, released in 2003. That was followed by 2004's Steamboy and, the same year, the beginning of a long-term stint with the full run of television's Desperate Housewives (2004-2012). He scored theatrical films released during that time including but not limited to 2005's The Island, 2006's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning, 2007's Transformers, 2009's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Friday the 13th, 2010's A Nightmare on Elm Street, 2011's Transformers: Dark of the Moon, and 2012's Battleship. He also collaborated on several video games including 2007's Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, co-composed with Trevor Morris, and 2009's The Sims 3. With Desperate Housewives off the air in 2012, subsequent films featuring Jablonsky's scores included 2013's Gangster Squad and Ender's Game, and 2014's Transformers: Age of Extinction. That year's Penguins of Madagascar: Dibble Dash was a mobile game. More assorted scores followed, including 2015's The Last Witch Hunter and 2016's Deepwater Horizon before he returned with Transformers: The Last Knight in 2017; it was the film series', director Michael Bay's, and Jablonsky's fifth entry in the franchise. Jablonsky finished out the decade with work on movies including the 2018 Dwayne Johnson vehicle Skyscraper. His 2020 releases included Bloodshot, starring Vin Diesel, and the Netflix crime film Spenser Confidential. The following year, Jablonsky's music could be heard in the anthology series Why Women Kill and the Dwayne Johnson film Red Notice. He next worked on an animated project, 2022's DC League of Super-Pets, following it with the animated fantasy The Tiger's Apprentice in 2024. He returned to the action genre with 2024's Borderlands (based on the video game series) and 2025's Motor City. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi