CHART star Badly Drawn Boy is looking forward to achieving reel success in the film industry after finishing the soundtrack to a new Hugh Grant movie.

The musician, also known as Damon Gough, has written the entire score to About a Boy, complete with songs and instrumentals.

It is the first project he has completed since the release of his debut album, The Hour of Bewilderbeast, in June 2000.

He hopes it will open the door for other pop writers to enter the industry, breaking the stranglehold held by composers such as John Williams, who penned the theme tune to many Speilberg classics including Jaws.

The Breightmet singer-songwriter said: "Hopefully my music has given the film a stronger sense of self." Damon made the recording, which includes new songs and incidental music, in Los Angeles, working with top US producer Tom Rothrock.

He said he was originally asked to write just one song but ended up providing music for the whole film.

About a Boy is a film adaptation of a book written by acclaimed author Nick Hornby.

It will star Hugh Grant, who became famous for his roles in Four Weddings and a Funeral and Notting Hill. Robert De Niro is one of the film's producers.

Damon said: "It's quite a big film and it's made me see the way I write songs in a whole different light. It's quite a different way of working for me." Since releasing his debut album, the former Thornleigh pupil has hardly looked back.

British sales have topped 100,000 and he has attracted awards like a magnet, winning the prestigious Mercury Music Prize, the NME Carling readers' award for Best Solo Act, as well as Q Magazine's Best Newcomer gong.

The album featured prominently in most critics' end of year lists and he even persuaded Joan Collins to appear in the video for his last single, Spitting In The Wind.

About a Boy, a production by Tribeca and Working Title, has finished filming in the UK and is set to be released in the spring.