With a gruelling release schedule for Disney’s new era of Star Wars films it comes as no surprise to learn that several appointments need to be made for the slew of new adventures.
Few are as synonymous with a beast as grand and popular as Star Wars but John Williams is one such artist. His Star Wars themes are iconic, loved by millions, imitated endlessly and are cultural shorthand from the ultimate evil (Imperial March) to the stirring desire to leave one’s home (Force theme).
Today’s news that Oscar winner Alexandre Desplat is set to score the recently announced Star Wars: Rogue One, makes the film the first live action Star Wars to not feature music from Williams. Moreover in hiring a composer of the calibre of Desplat it allows for the sonic universe to grow and change.
Desplat and Rogue One director Gareth Edwards recently collaborated on the sometime misfiring Godzilla and this gives us our greatest clue to how Desplat will build on the world already created.
Classic FM have dug up this clip of Desplat talking about the power of Williams’ scores, and their importance.
With a composer as innovative and eclectic as Desplat we’re beginning to see how the world of Star Wars will go in the near future. With Gareth Edwards and Rian Johnson set to take us beyond the Original Trilogy venturing out of the known with composers such as Desplat make for a very interesting and fertile ground.
We spoke to Desplat at the premieres for Godzilla and The Imitation Game, interviews are below,
