The Oscar-winning composer, 61, died in a plane crash in California last month (Jun15), and one of his final pieces for the big screen included the music to Fuqua's upcoming boxing film Southpaw.

The director, who has dedicated Southpaw to Horner's memory, recently revealed that their collaboration on the film went so well that Horner took it upon himself to help Fuqua with his current project, a remake of classic western The Magnificent Seven.

In an interview with NPR programme All Things Considered, Fuqua says, "I just found out a couple days ago his (Horner's) team flew out here to Baton Rouge (Louisiana), and they brought me all the music from Magnificent Seven. He had already wrote (sic) it for me based on the script."

According to Fuqua, Horner was eager to surprise his filmmaker friend with the secret score for the movie, which stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt and Ethan Hawke, among others.

The Training Day director reveals Horner was such a big supporter of his films he offered to write the music for Southpaw for free.

Fuqua adds, "He called me on a Saturday, after he watched the movie, and I said, 'I don't have any money' because it wasn't a big budget movie. And he said to me, 'I love the movie. I love the father-daughter relationship. Don't worry about the money. I'm just going to do it.' And he did it for nothing. He paid his crew out of his own pocket.

"He was an incredible human being... He was one of the most gentle people I've ever met. Even the way he spoke was very soft and thoughtful. He was magical. And he had this childlike wonderment in his eyes, but he was an amazing artist, an amazing poet. And I loved him, and we became friends."