Cutting Edge Group Buys Catalog of Composer John Paesano

John Paesano, who’s sold his catalog to Cutting Edge Group. Photo Credit: Todd Williamson

Cutting Edge Group has acquired the over 80-score catalog of composer John Paesano, whose credits extend to multiple Maze Runner films, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and more.

Cutting Edge reached out with word of its latest IP play this morning, pointing specifically to the purchase of “the royalty streams” behind Paesano’s career, including from compositions and recordings alike.

Dating back about three decades, said career has seen the Detroit-born professional score films (besides those mentioned above) such as 2021’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid, a pair of Wimpy Kid sequels, and 2022’s Cheaper by the Dozen, to name a few.

On the television side, Paesano’s credits include the Charmed reboot and Amazon’s Invincible, the fourth season of which will release in March. And in the gaming world, the composer has worked on the music in Mass Effect: Andromeda, three Spider-Man entries, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, and other titles.

Though today’s deal doesn’t appear to encompass futures, Paesano is once again collaborating with Maze Runner director Wes Ball on the forthcoming Legend of Zelda live-action film. The latter isn’t expected to premiere until May 2027, but Paesano is also scoring the Duffer brothers’ The Boroughs, which will hit Netflix later in 2026.

(Separately, Cutting Edge’s Lakeshore Records released the official soundtrack for the newest season of the Duffer brothers’ Stranger Things.)

And for Warner Bros. Discovery-partnered Cutting Edge, this all represents a nice addition to a portfolio that it says houses north of “400,000 owned and/or managed media music rights, valued at more than $1 billion.”

Addressing the investment, longtime Cutting Edge COO Tara Finegan touted Paesano’s music as defining “some of the most moving and visceral works of entertainment of the last decade.”

“It is hard to imagine global hits like the Maze Runner trilogy or Daredevil series without the brilliant music that accompanied them, elevating their storytelling in ways that stick with viewers long after the credits roll,” Finegan proceeded in part.

In remarks of his own, Paesano described the IP sale as enabling him to “focus on like-minded creators and projects that feel creatively aligned with who I am.”

“When I sat down with Cutting Edge Group,” the 48-year-old communicated in part, “they really understood what I was seeking and showed great respect for the value of my work. This now allows me to move beyond momentum and focus on like-minded creators and projects that feel creatively aligned with who I am.

“I’ve learned that this is where I do my strongest and most satisfying creative work, and I’m deeply grateful to my team for making that possible,” Paesano concluded.