Williams to Return to Star Wars for Episode VII

Written by Jon Williams

It’s been nearly six months since we’ve checked in with news on the upcoming Star Wars films. In that post, one of the items we speculated on was who would write the score for the new trilogy. This past weekend, at the Star Wars Celebration event held in Essen, Germany, that question was put to rest. Fans will be able to breathe easy with the news that John Williams, who has scored all six Star Wars films to this point, will return, at least for the first installment (Episode VII).

Williams, 81, is perhaps the best-known composer of classical music today, due primarily to his work in film. He began his career as a Hollywood orchestrator and musician under other composers. His first credit for a score he composed himself was on 1960’s Because They’re Young. He composed music for a number of television shows throughout the ‘60s, including Lost in Space and Land of the Giants. He also continued to work on feature films, such as Valley of the Dolls (1967) and Goodbye Mr. Chips (1969), which earned him his first two Academy Award nominations. He won his first Academy Award in 1971 with his score for Fiddler on the Roof.

In 1974, Williams scored The Sugarland Express, the debut film of a young director named Steven Spielberg. This would turn out to be a profitable partnership. The next year he scored his second Academy Award for Spielberg’s second film, Jaws, with its unmistakably ominous theme. Spielberg, of course, has gone on to a career as one of the most successful directors in Hollywood history, and Williams has scored all but two of his films. This includes such memorable movies (and scores) as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the Indiana Jones series, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, and Schindler’s List.

This collaboration paid off in other ways as well. It was Spielberg that recommended Williams to George Lucas, who put him to work on the score for his space opera Star Wars. Williams delivered with one of the most recognizable movie themes of all time, and followed it up with the equally recognizable “Imperial March” (Darth Vader’s theme) on the score for The Empire Strikes Back. His work on the saga has been the high point of an epic career. Indeed, it’s difficult to imagine a Star Wars film without his iconic sound; other Star Wars-related spinoffs (the Clone Wars animated TV show and the Shadows of the Empire project) have leaned heavily on Williams’s themes for their music.

Williams has won a total of five Academy Awards for his film scores, to go along with four Golden Globes and 21 Grammy Awards. He is certainly best known for his work in movies, but that is by no means the whole of his career. For a full selection of titles composed or conducted by John Williams, SmartBrowse his name on our website.

Star Wars News and Speculation

Written by Jon Williams

You’ve probably heard by now that J.J. Abrams has signed on to direct the seventh installment of the Star Wars franchise, due to hit theaters in 2015. Abrams is known for creating or co-creating the TV series Felicity, Alias, Fringe, and Lost. His big-screen work has included directing Mission: Impossible III, Super 8, and, interestingly enough, the 2009 reboot of Star Trek (as well as its upcoming sequel, Star Trek Into Darkness, which releases in May).

Obviously, Abrams’s sci-fi and action chops are well developed. With Michael Arndt (who wrote, among other things, Little Miss Sunshine and Toy Story 3) drafting the script, the beginning of the next trilogy appears to be in good hands.

What you may not have heard is that Disney’s plans for standalone, non-trilogy Star Wars films are beginning to take shape. It was reported earlier this week that individual films would focus on single characters from the movies in their adventures outside the scope of those stories. An early rumor speculated that Jedi Master Yoda would get his own film; more plausible buzz centers on Han Solo (in his younger days) and the bounty hunter Boba Fett, respectively. Perhaps we could see Ewan McGregor reprise his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi?

And there’s more good news on the writing front for these as-yet nebulous standalone films. One scribe attached is Simon Kinberg, who’s known for (again, among other things) Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Sherlock Holmes. Another is Lawrence Kasdan, a man already known to Star Wars fans as the writer of The Empire Strikes Back (widely considered the best movie in the series) and Return of the Jedi. The pair will also do some writing for the new trilogy films.

Aside from casting, one major question remains when it comes to names attached to new Star Wars films: who will write the score? John Williams, composer for all six films to date, turns 81 years old today. You have to think it’s his job if he’s interested; but if he’s not…? Joel McNeely has experience composing for Star Wars, whereas Michael Giacchino frequently works with J.J. Abrams. Would one of them get the job?

Needless to say, there are still plenty of questions to be answered. One thing that goes without saying, though, is that interest in Star Wars remains strong. Make sure you have a broad selection of DVDs and Blu-rays, music CDs, and audiobooks for your patrons to check out and enjoy.