Max Aruj (born August 7, 1989) is an American composer known for his work in film, television, and video games.
Early life Aruj was born and raised in Los Angeles. He began playing classical and jazz piano at age six and started composing music in high school, including scoring a student film titled Black Martini. He earned a Bachelor of Music in composition from the USC Thornton School of Music between 2007 and 2012, along with a minor in business administration from USC Marshall School of Business.
Career Aruj began his professional career with an internship at Hans Zimmer's Remote Control Productions during his studies at USC, where he later worked extensively with composers Lorne Balfe and Rupert Gregson-Williams. His early contributions included additional music and arrangements for projects such as Top Gun: Maverick (2022), Mission: Impossible – Fallout (2018), Black Widow (2021), The Crown, and His Dark Materials.
As a lead composer, Aruj scored the horror film Crawl (2019), the crime drama Lansky (2021), and action thriller The Ice Road (2021) starring Liam Neeson. He composed for the video game expansion Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Wrath of the Druids (2021) and the Netflix animated series Mech Cadets (2023).
Other notable scores include The Tank (2023), the documentary MoviePass, MovieCrash (2024), and Betrayal (2024). In 2025, he composed the score for Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning in collaboration with Alfie Godfrey.
Beyond screen media, Aruj co-produced the orchestral album Gravity Deluxe by electronic music artist Gryffin.
Selected filmography Year Title Director Notes 2019CrawlAlexandre AjaCo-composed with Steffen Thum 2021Me You Madness Louise LintonLanskyEytan RockawayThe Ice RoadJonathan HensleighAssassin's Creed Valhalla: Wrath of the DruidsAshraf IsmailEric BaptizatVideo game DLC 2023The TankScott WalkerBetrayalRodger GriffithsCo-composed with Steffen ThumMech CadetsKazuma ShimzuHiroyuki HayashiTelevision series; 8 episodes2024MoviePass, MovieCrashMuta’AliDocumentary film2025Mission: Impossible – The Final ReckoningChristopher McQuarrieReplaced Lorne Balfe; co-composed with Alfie Godfrey 2026ScreamerFederico CardiniVideo gameMan on FireSteven Caple Jr.Vicente AmorimClare KilnerMichael CuestaTelevision series; 7 episodesThe Girl in the RiverBrando Benetton
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