John Williams will follow up his work with frequent collaborator Steven Spielberg on The BFG by scoring the director’s current project Ready Player One.
Based on the divisive, nostalgia-soaked book by Ernest Cline, Ready Player One is awash in 80s and 90s geek culture, which lends itself very well to the Williams/Spielberg oeuvre.
While it is reasonable to suspect that much of the soundtrack to the film will use pre-existing 80s songs, it’s also fair to say that nothing quite evokes the age as a thrilling Williams score.
Talking with Variety on the eve of receiving the extremely well-deserved American Film Institute’s Life Achievement Award, as well as confirming he was working on Ready Player One, Williams spoke on the possibility of returning to the Star Wars saga for Rian Johnson’s Episode VIII,
“If I can do it, I certainly will. I told Kathy Kennedy I’m happy to do it, but the real reason is, I didn’t want anybody else writing music for Daisy Ridley,”
As Rey’s theme was the standout theme from The Force Awakens there may be more truth to Williams’ quip. However with Alexandre Desplat working on Rogue One right now there is already another composer in the galaxy, so while Williams’ mark on the Star Wars films is second only to George Lucas the baton may be being passed.
