MrBeast Got Hans Zimmer To Score One Of His Videos
Jimmy Donaldson — also known as MrBeast, to his 203 million combined YouTube subscribers — is an online content creator whose work is arguably defined by one thing: money. His video titles almost always feature some baffling figure, either as a prize or a metric of excess. The title of his second-most-popular video reads "Last To Leave Circle Wins $500,000," while another boasts "I Bought The World's Largest Mystery Box ($500,000)."
Though some may relegate this sort of output to the price-over-personality fair that dominates certain portions of the YouTube platform, a more charitable point of view would be that Donaldson attempts to use his outrageous wealth to create and share incredibly unique experiences. His most popular project was a stunningly accurate, massive recreation of the "Squid Game" competition, wherein he assembled 456 real people and gave them a chance to compete for a life-changing cash prize — and yes, the $456,000 prize-pot is included in the title (per YouTube). While the video didn't net the creator much money (and brought up a host of bizarre ethical conundrums), it's refreshingly more creative than merely buying a "lambo" or financing a glitzy, low-effort music video (tragically, some financially strapped creators are forced to consolidate these into one project).
Many of Donaldson's videos will also feature some combination of this extravagance with an extreme challenge. One month, he may claim to have "survived a plane crash" — the next, he has "hunted 100 people." His most recent project, titled "I Survived 50 Hours in Antartica," is no less dramatic than his previous stunts — so, of course, he needed the help of an equally dramatic composer. And in this case, he turned to the man who scored "Dune," "Gladiator," and "The Dark Knight."
A YouTube video with an Oscar-worthy soundtrack
As chronicled by The Hollywood Reporter, MrBeast (again, that's Jimmy Donaldson) hired legendary award-winning composer Hans Zimmer to score his most recent video, "I Survived 50 Hours In Antartica," and the results speak for themselves.
In a statement, Zimmer himself described the unlikely collaboration with what seems to be warm enthusiasm. "When MrBeast sets you a challenge, you can bet things are going to get crazy....'Score my Antartica video in just a few days, please, Hans?'" he quoted Donaldson, replying immediately "Challenge accepted!"
The German composer is best known for his work on Christopher Nolan films like "Interstellar," "Inception," and the upcoming historical noir "Oppenheimer." He has also scored recent blockbusters like "No Time to Die." Donaldson reportedly reached out to Zimmer at the last minute after learning they would both be in Antartica at the same time, which is admittedly quite a huge coincidence. Allegedly, the dealmaking process took only four hours.
Notably, Zimmer's participation is boasted neither in the video's title nor the video itself. The move to hire Zimmer is an example of how uniquely Donaldson wields his wealth for content, and how the platform's largest players are blurring the lines between YouTube videos and traditional entertainment projects. To Donaldson, they're seemingly one and the same. In his own statement, the YouTuber recalls, "The moment I heard Hans was [in Antartica] too, I knew I had to work with him on this no matter what it took. No one else would understand what surviving in such a crazy place is like!"