Jay-Z does Jazz Age for 'Great Gatsby' film

Rapper Jay-Z will produce and perform on the soundtrack for the film adaptation "The Great Gatsby," according to a Warner Bros. press release. Jay-Z said he would work with score composer Craig Armstrong to modernize the energy of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel of 1920s America.

"As soon as I spoke with Baz and Leonardo, I knew this was the right project," Jay-Z said. "'The Great Gatsby' is that classic American story of one's introduction to extravagance, decadence and illusion."

American rapper and record producer Jay-Z will modernize the Jazz Age in the film "The Great Gatsby," to elicit the "same level of excitement and pop cultural immediacy" the classic novel did in the 1920s. (File/UPI/Paul Treadway)

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DiCaprio, who plays Jay Gatsby, introduced the director to Jay-Z over two years ago. "Leonardo and I were lucky enough to be present in a recording session over two years ago as Jay-Z was recording 'No Church in the Wild,' and the collaboration grew from there," Luhrmann explained.

Jay-Z will executive produce the soundtrack and contribute some new material to the score by Armstrong, who previously worked with Luhrmann in "Moulin Rouge!" and "Romeo + Juliet."

The film, which also stars Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire, is scheduled for a May 10 release, and will open the Cannes Film Festival in France May 15. The soundtrack will be released by Interscope Records with the date yet to be announced.

Jay-Z's "No Church for the Wild" is used in this trailer for the film: