Originally published August 15, 2016. Updated April 15, 2018.
At 84 years of age, John Williams is one of the oldest living movie music composers, but that isn’t going to stop him from returning to the Star Wars franchise for the eighth time in about four decades to score 2017’s Star Wars: Episode VIII. In fact, during a show at the Tanglewood in Massachusetts on Saturday night, Williams shared a few details regarding his involvement in the film with the crowd after playing “Rey’s Theme” and “The Jedi Steps and Finale” from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
According to a MassLive review of the show, Williams revealed that he will begin working on the still-untitled Star Wars: Episode VIII in just a few weeks “after seeing an early cut.” The outlet also mentioned that the Oscar-winning composer, who has been around Star Wars directors, producers and actors quite a bit over the past few years, still has no idea who Rey’s parents are, a question Star Wars fans have been asking non-stop since The Force Awakens was released last year.
While on the topic of Rey, apparently Williams decided to accept producer Kathleen Kennedy’s invitation to score Episode VIII “because he was enchanted by actress Daisy Ridley’s portrayal of Rey and does not want another composer scoring her scenes.”
Back in 2013, Kennedy made it clear that Williams would be involved with each film in the sequel trilogy, but many fans were skeptical about this claim given the composer’s age. Williams has proven that he’s more than up to the task so far, so hopefully he continues the trend with 2019’s Star Wars: Episode IX.
From Jaws to Raiders of the Lost Ark, Williams has provided music for so many all-time great films, which over the course of his career has earned him five Oscars, four Golden Globes and 22 Grammys.
Star Wars: Episode VIII is set for release on December 15th 2017 and sees returning cast members Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma), Billie Lourd (Lieutenant Connix) and Andy Serkis (Supreme Leader Snoke) joined by new additions Benicio Del Toro (Guardians of the Galaxy), Laura Dern (Jurassic Park) and Kelly Marie Tran (Ladies Like Us).
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