The currently untitled Han Solo origin film has gone through much-publicized production troubles, and while this announcement may not guarantee that the movie will be good, it does pretty much ensure that it will have a strong soundtrack to accompany it.
One of the most iconic aspects of the Star Wars franchise is its music. John Williams has scored all eight of the main saga films, and his scores are beloved by many (even those featured in the much-derided prequels). The intent with the current Anthology films seems to be to bring on new composers to add their stamp to the saga while still staying true to the spirit of the iconic music. With Rogue One, Oscar-winner Michael Giacchino was the first person outside of Williams to score a live-action Star Wars film. Unfortunately, due to being brought on at the last minute following the exit of fellow Oscar-winner Alexandre Desplat, Giacchino had a limited amount of time to put the score together, resulting in a soundtrack that many agreed that, while still decent, was not one of his best.
Nonetheless, the bar has been set high when it comes to this aspect of the Star Wars movies, and this news has gotten people very excited. It has been officially announced that John Powell will score the Han Solo film, thus making him only the third person to compose a live-action Star Wars project, following in the footsteps of the aforementioned Williams and Giacchino. Per the official press release, "the untitled Han Solo movie will be scored in the style of the original Star Wars movies but retain Powell's distinctive voice."
While Powell has composed many live-action films ranging from Face/Off to X-Men: The Last Stand to the Matt Damon starring Jason Bourne films, he is arguably best-known for his work on animated films such as Shrek, Chicken Run, Happy Feet (1&2), Ice Age (2-4), Kung Fu Panda (1&2), and perhaps most famously, the How to Train Your Dragon (soon-to-be) trilogy, having received his first Oscar nomination for the first installment.
What do you think of this choice? Are you excited to see Powell leave his stamp on the film? Are you excited for the film at all? Do you wish they had brought back Giacchino or perhaps new director Ron Howard's frequent collaborator, Hans Zimmer? Sound off down below!