The STAR WARS franchise has seen a lot of changes over the years, with new actors bringing now iconic characters to life, and varying directors coming in and leaving their stamp on the series. But despite all the changes, there is one absolute in the universe, and that’s the music by John Williams. Even as director Rian Johnson pushed the series in a bold new direction with THE LAST JEDI, Williams' familiar sounds made it feel like a classic STAR WARS film. We won’t have to wait that long to hear his sweet music again, as his influence is returning to a galaxy far, far away sooner than we thought.
According to a report from Variety, Williams has been tapped to compose the theme for SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY. He will not be taking over the entire score, as the duty still belongs to John Powell (HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON, the BOURNE movies), whose work Williams is anxious to hear:
The present plan is that I’m writing a theme for Han Solo, and John Powell is going to write the score, which he’ll do brilliantly…His assignment is something I’m very happy about. What I will do is offer this to John, and to [director] Ron Howard, and if all parties are happy with it, then I will be happy. … John [Powell] will complete the score. He will write all the rest of the themes and all of the other material, which I’m going to be very anxious to hear.
Williams has scored every “Episode” of STAR WARS since the very first film but has been sitting out the spinoff movies, like 2016’s ROGUE ONE (done by Michael Giacchino). Much like ROGUE ONE, the score for SOLO is expected to be done in the style of past STAR WARS films, but with Powell still infusing the music with his own, personal style.
William’s work on the STAR WARS movies is pure film score gold, so there’s no reason to question why Disney would try to get him back for at least a little something. As much as I think that the STAR WARS movies could actually benefit from bringing some new blood in (especially with these spinoff movies), I can’t deny myself some good ol’ John Williams. Turning down new Williams music is like turning down free candy, in that it's 100% impossible.
SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY hits theaters May 25, 2018.