John Williams is one of, if not the most famous composers in the world thanks to his creating such iconic movie scores as
Jurassic Park,
Indiana Jones,
Jaws,
ET: The Extra Terrestrial,
Superman: The Movie. The list could go on and on, but perhaps his most well-known compositions were that of the
Star Wars saga.
In a recent interview with Los Angeles radio station
KUSC, Williams revealed that he may be finally retiring from the
Star Wars saga, after
Episode IX:
J.J. Abrams is preparing one now that I will hopefully do next year for him. It will round up the series of nine that will be quite enough for me. Disney will take it further and they will probably continue on to do Star Wars for decades. So I think it’s all good.
Williams has been attached to this franchise for 41 years, starting all the way back in 1977 with
Star Wars: A New Hope, and has composed for every single movie in the saga, with the exception of
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which was composed by Michael Giacchino. The upcoming
Solo: A Star Wars Story will also be scored by John Powell and not Williams, though he will be writing its theme,
as he revealed in late 2017:
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. 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.
At 86 years old, having won multiple Academy Awards as well as currently being nominated for his work on Star Wars: The Last Jedi; Williams departure from the franchise will be the end of an era.