At a recent press junket for Star Trek Into Darkness, JJ Abrams was asked about Giacchino's score to Star Trek Into Darkness, and if he would be scoring Star Wars 7. This is Abrams response:
“Michael Giacchino is an incredible composer, who I was lucky enough to begin working with on Alias,...He’s truly one of the most influential members of our crew, and I think this score, he really outdid himself... Again, for Star Wars, it’s very early days, but I believe that, going forward, John Williams will be doing that film, because he was there long before I was.”
You can watch him say these words yourself here, begin watching at 7:00
UPDATE: On Wednesday May 15th 2013 Kaya Savas interviewed John Williams, and this exchange happened:
Kaya Savas: "So I have to ask, are you coming back for number 7, Star Wars, has JJ talked to you?"
John Williams: "I certainly plan to, and fully expect I'll be there and to be able to do it."
@ 1:33
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UPDATE May 24th 2013: A Zap2it article published today has this to say:
As for another hugely popular franchise he's linked to, Williams -- whose legendary catalog of film scores also ranges from "Jaws" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark" to "Schindler's List" and "Saving Private Ryan" -- is game to give "Star Wars" its musical sound again when "Episode VII" goes into production for a planned 2015 release.
"We've certainly talked about that, and I'm happy and willing to do it," he confirms. "J.J. Abrams, who will be the director, seems excited about the idea. I have to say that J.J. is a much younger man than I, but I will try to keep up with him as much as I can!"
The imminent birth of a new "Star Wars" iteration intrigues Williams in general. "We now have the benefit of all this computer simulation and technical work that wasn't even possible 20 or 25 years ago," he reasons.
"I don't know how hands-on George Lucas will be -- I suspect he will be to some degree -- but I can only imagine how excited he must be, to have a director like J.J. have all these tools at his fingertips to produce something even more adventurous technologically. I can't wait to see what he will do with it."
UPDATE October 24th 2014: a JWFan user indicates that John Williams received a teaser trailer on October 20th and will write a score to be recorded November 15th in LA
I wouldn't say its JJ's decision. He's the man for hire, Disney owns the property, and the director is likely to be subject from studio notes during production. They (being Disney) probably don't want to rock the boat in terms of product identification. Williams is a huge part of it; really the most identifying factor after the last six films.
Great to see Williams on board, though I'd imagine Giacchino will have some part, whether it's a small part or orchestrating a piece or something. I highly doubt he'll have ZERO to do with the new score.
Great news, but I do wonder whether John Williams will still be wanting to work on Star Wars when he's 87 and the final film in this trilogy is coming out!
Anyway, those who were hoping for someone else will probably get their wish on the in-between, non-trilogy films in 2016 and 2018.
I think everyone's jumping the gun here somewhat. No, Abrams has not confirmed that Williams will be scoring episode 7.
They (being Disney) probably don't want to rock the boat in terms of product identification. Williams is a huge part of it; really the most identifying factor after the last six films.
Well, the Bond films were heavily identified with John Barry's scores, but that didn't stop the filmmakers going with composers other than Barry after The Living Daylights, did it?
In any case, these new Star Wars films are going to be rubbish (compared with the original trilogy, at any rate). For one thing, who wants to see a Star Wars film featuring a 70-year-old Han Solo? Not me, that's for sure.
I think everyone's jumping the gun here somewhat. No, Abrams has not confirmed that Williams will be scoring episode 7.
No official confirmation, sure. But Williams has said he'd like to do them and Abrams clearly wants him to do them. Sounds promising to me.
For one thing, who wants to see a Star Wars film featuring a 70-year-old Han Solo?
Well, Ford's not exactly a typical 70 year old. He's in great physical shape and has shown in recent years he's still got the goods. But it's not like these older actors are just going to roll out of bed on the first day and come straight to the set. Heck, Carrie Fisher just said yesterday that she's starting to hit the gym with a personal trainer to get ready for it. So I'm not worried about the actors.
I'm certainly up for more movies with the original gang. At this point, the only thing that concerns me is Abrams, whom I am no fan of whatsoever, but hopefully Disney will keep him on a tight leash.
It just makes sense to keep John Williams on the 7,8, and 9 Skywalker family storyline. Wasn't there a Q and A with him, or interview where he said he was gonna have to gear up to do them? am I imagining things here?
But by all means, use Giacchino, Shore, Goldenthal, Trevor Rabin or whomever else on the expanded universe stuff.
Great news, but I do wonder whether John Williams will still be wanting to work on Star Wars when he's 87 and the final film in this trilogy is coming out!
Hey, as long as he can still hum the notes from his bed while Salieri writes them down, it'll be good enuff!
Great news, but I do wonder whether John Williams will still be wanting to work on Star Wars when he's 87 and the final film in this trilogy is coming out!
Hey, as long as he can still hum the notes from his bed while Salieri writes them down, it'll be good enuff!
Great news, but I do wonder whether John Williams will still be wanting to work on Star Wars when he's 87 and the final film in this trilogy is coming out!
Hey, as long as he can still hum the notes from his bed while Salieri writes them down, it'll be good enuff!
This is LOL-worthy.
replace Salieri with Giacchino, though.
I do wonder though if maybe Giacchino will help him out and back him up, in the unfortunate case that Williams doesn't make it to score the last one. I mean... with complete respect to the maestro, continuing to compose and conduct at 87, that's extraordinary! When you're running a business always good to have a backup plan. The entire film could get derailed if he were to pass away during the middle of scoring one of these.
I do wonder though if maybe Giacchino will help him out and back him up, in the unfortunate case that Williams doesn't make it to score the last one. I mean... with complete respect to the maestro, continuing to compose and conduct at 87, that's extraordinary! When you're running a business always good to have a backup plan. The entire film could get derailed if he were to pass away during the middle of scoring one of these.
I don't see why you'd need a composer warming up in the bullpen in case your veteran starter falters. Williams knows he's 80, yes, but are you the one who's going to tell him "Hey, we have Michael here looking over your shoulder, in case you croak"?
People get sick and die during movies all the time, often far more important people than the composer. What?! Did I say "far more important than the composer"?!?! That's right, I did. And yet in almost all cases, somebody else takes over and the films get finished in time. No lack of music is going to derail a franchise film that was part of a multi-billion dollar purchase. Somebody else would take over the next day. But that composer would not need to be there to "help out" unless Williams wanted him there.
