Episode Details

Half the Picture’s guest this episode is John Ottman, the Oscar-winning film editor and composer who has cut and scored some of the most popular and biggest blockbusters of the last 25 years such as Bohemian Rhapsody (edited), X-Men: Days of Future Past (edited/composed), The Nice Guys (composed), Superman Returns (edited/composed) and The Usual Suspects (edited/composed) amongst many others.

John joined Billy on the pod’ to chat about his process cutting ‘Michael’, the new biopic centred around the life and music of Michael Jackson and the behind the scenes process of editing the film with producer Graham King. He also delved into how he’s managed to straddle both the editing and composing disciplines across his career, his memories of working on the X-Men franchise, how he edited The Usual Suspects in his living room and his retrospective thoughts on Superman Returns. For all this and more, listen on!

Note: This interview was recorded on 27th April, 2026.

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‘Film Editor/Composer JOHN OTTMAN talks Bohemian Rhapsody, Michael, X-Men & Superman Returns' is a non-profit project intended for educational purposes only. No copyright laws were intended to be broken. All rights to any material used remain courtesy of their respective owners.