Star Wars music. Important it is.

Star Wars is the most influential, important and successful movie franchise in the history of cinema. The original instalment A New Hope changed the face of cinema forever, smashing all box office records and changing the way film (in particular science fiction) was made. And its sequels (and prequels, despite their reputation by some people) further cemented its success. Many of the films (particularly the prequels) are regarded as the greatest films of all time. A huge part of this success was from their scores, with all 6 films scored by John Williams. To say they were influential would be a massive understatement. They brought back the orchestral film score to the forefront and introduced the idea of the leitmotif (themes for characters etc) to popular cinema. The music itself told the story and its themes were instantly recognisable. I’m not just talking about the main theme either; The Force theme, the Imperial march, the Leia/Han theme just to name a few! And from the sheer fact that the writing was that good they are arguably the greatest film scores in the history of cinema and are themselves an identity of Star Wars.

So with the recent purchase of LucasArts by Disney and the announcement of a brand new trilogy, a huge question of interest is the music. Will John Williams return? If possible, it is borderline essential that he does. There is no composer who can write music on that level as well as John Williams. So if he doesn’t return, it’s almost guaranteed the music won’t be as good. Furthermore, the music is such a big part of the identity that if it has a stylised change it will have a massive impact on the film in a negative way.

Having said this, the likelihood that Williams does return is not great. He is 80 years old and almost works exclusively for Spielberg. By the time the third instalment is released, if he is still with us (one hopes he will be!) he’ll be approaching 90. Therefore as much as I wish and hope that he does take on the assignment, if he unfortunately does not here are some composers who I would like to see compose the new films. I said that no-one will be able to compare with what Williams wrote for Star Wars, but I think these composers will be able to write suitable and great scores for the franchise.

Michael Giacchino 

Regarded by many as John Williams heir, Giacchino is certainly one composer who most resembles Williams in both terms of style and career path. His already established career with Disney also makes him a likely candidate, and after his scores for Star Trek, Super 8 and John Carter etc he would be a very suitable composer for the job.

Alexandre Desplat

The last couple of years have really seen Alexandre Desplat shine. His work for Harry Potter showed he can write fantasy, adventure and action with the best of them and there were real hints of Williams’ style in that writing. His recent work for Rise of the Guardians is also fantastic. It’s easy to see him doing a fantastic job for Star Wars.

James Horner

His self repetition makes James Horner a questionable choice (that 4 note danger motif needs to never, ever be heard in a Star Wars score!) but if he refrained from those tendencies as we all know he can do (The Amazing Spiderman this year showed that) he would be an ideal choice. Experienced, versatile and when he’s at the top of his game the only composer to rival him is John Williams himself.

David Arnold

It’s hard to see David Arnold the call. The only high profile work he’s composed in the past 10 years has been for the James Bond franchise with the only exception being the latest Narnia instalment. But his score for Stargate and Independence Day indicate he might even be the most ideal candidate for the job! When he writes fantasy and science fiction, he writes it just about better than almost anyone.

Howard Shore

Composer of the only franchise to to rival Star Wars in terms of musical scope and achievement. Again, very unlikely but one can’t help but wonder what Shore would do for Star Wars…