John Williams will begin recording Star Wars VIII this month

[Lewya 360]

According to Jon Burlingame's article:

 

http://variety.com/2016/film/spotlight/fantastic-beasts-bfg-john-williams-1201930763/

 

"He begins recording “Star Wars Episode VIII” in December and expects to record off and on through March or April 2017. "

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yay!

[Jay 37,346]

Excellent!

 

 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

So the tradition of a number of scoring sessions over a long period continues.

Just now, Jay said:

Excellent!

 

I said Yay, not Jay!

[Disco Stu 15,495]

So interesting that they moved the release date back from May to December and yet this recording schedule could still work for a May release.  What are they doing from May to November!

 

(I'm sure the answer is polishing visual effects or some such)

[Jay 37,346]

Williams will probably record revisions and inserts in October/November of 2017, after he's done with Spielberg's Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara and Ready Player One

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Just now, Jay said:

Williams will probably record revisions and inserts in October/November of 2017, after he's done with Spielberg's Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara and Ready Player One

 

Or Giacchino will be using that window to record his replacement score.

[Cerebral Cortex 3,357]

I knew it was only a matter of time before a Giacchino joke crept into this thread. However, even I didn't anticipate it being this soon. 

[Taikomochi 1,136]

So does this suggest the score is largely written save for inevitable revisions? 

[Jay 37,346]

No, it means he's written some of it (which will be recorded this month), and will keep writing more (which will be recorded off and on through March or April 2017)

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Somewhere, maybe at this very minute, John Williams is sitting somewhere writing or orchestrating new Star Wars music.  Squeeee!

[Jay 37,346]

It's pretty great!

5 years ago, I wouldn't have thought we'd ever get new John Williams Star Wars music.

And then TFA came out, and it was great, and he's so enamored by Rey he already wrote a great theme for her, and seems really intent on developing that theme more.  We're so lucky!

[Naïve Old Fart 9,515]

21 minutes ago, Stefancos said:

So the tradition of a number of scoring sessions over a long period continues.

 

Well, he is 85 next February.

[Marian Schedenig 8,191]

At his age, I'm trying to not get too excited about future Williams assignments until they're actually done. I'm getting excited now.

 

17 minutes ago, Cerebral Cortex said:

I knew it was only a matter of time before a Giacchino joke crept into this thread. However, even I didn't anticipate it being this soon. 

 

Giacchino is the new Hitler.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

2 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

At his age, I'm trying to not get too excited about future Williams assignments until they're actually done. I'm getting excited now.

 

 

Yeah I was sort of unconsciously keeping myself from getting excited about it, but now that recording is upon us and it's starting to actually feel real.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

2 minutes ago, Marian Schedenig said:

Trump is the new Hitler.

 

Fixed

[Incanus 5,714]

Excellent dare I say phenomenal news!

[mrbellamy 6,278]

 

Also re-confirmation in there about the Spielberg/Williams album and claims for a release next year 

[Jay 37,346]

I think 2017 is going to have a lot of Williams releases, for sure!

[Damien F 1,742]

32 minutes ago, Jay said:

It's pretty great!

5 years ago, I wouldn't have thought we'd ever get new John Williams Star Wars music.

And then TFA came out, and it was great, and he's so enamored by Rey he already wrote a great theme for her, and seems really intent on developing that theme more.  We're so lucky!

 

He's like the Clint Eastwood of composers - a legend of the industry in his mid 80s still working today.

[Jay 37,346]

I can't wait to find out if he revisits the Jedi Steps theme or not!

[Damien F 1,742]

I'm would be surprised if he doesn't, especially during the early scenes between Rey and Luke set at that location.

[Jay 37,346]

Well yea, I hope he does - and Rian Johnson will probably ask him to, I would think - but it deem like last year when talking about score, Williams considered it to be a one-off melody.

 

But, I think he'll revisit it regardless.  

 

It would be interesting if it becomes a theme reserved for the final scene of each entry instead of being a theme associated with Jedi / training

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

It sounds like a one off to me. For Star Wars he's really only ever continued character themes.

With the rebel fanfare being the only exception i can think off, and that was probably at the request of the director/producer 

[Jay 37,346]

Sure, we'll have to see what happens.

 

It's exciting not knowing what to expect!

[Damien F 1,742]

It is such a powerhouse of a theme, easily capable of being any other score's primary theme. It would be a shame not to hear more of it.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

I mean since we know the movie will pick up exactly where it left off for Rey's part of the story, I wouldn't be surprised to hear it used as a theme for that location

[Jay 37,346]

Sure, that's certainly the most plausible scenario for the theme's use in the next score, but that doesn't mean Williams thinks of it the same way we might.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Of course. Like I would have loved to have heard more of The Asteroid Field, or the final duel theme

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

I wonder if he's recording music for the trailer 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Just now, Jay said:

Sure, that's certainly the most plausible scenario for the theme's use in the next score, but that doesn't mean Williams thinks of it the same way we might.

 

It's very possible Williams will use it for a starting off point. Like re-establishing the setting and location. I kinda doubt we will get much more beyond that.

 

 

[Cerebral Cortex 3,357]

Going into Episode VII, I was equally both incredibly stoked and incredibly cautious about how Williams' score was going to be. I had really enjoyed the hell out of some of his most recent entries like Lincoln and War Horse, and I knew without question his musical craft was still strongly intact, but I feared he had possibly lost the ability to generate that huge blockbuster, larger than life feel, a feel I had hoped to find in Indy IV but couldn't. Episode VII's score blew my mind in how it not only reaffirmed Williams still had what it took to score a massive film franchise like Star Wars, but in how it reaffirmed that Williams is truly the only who can do Star Wars. There truly is no equal. The magic is still there. 

And so it is because of that that I feel like I possibly am going into Episode VIII even more excited for the score than I was for Episode VII, because I know that, no matter how the actual film turns out, the score is going to be great. 

[Jay 37,346]

I think the film will be significantly better than the Episode 7 film.  The score, for some reason I think I'll like more too.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

1 hour ago, Disco Stu said:

So interesting that they moved the release date back from May to December and yet this recording schedule could still work for a May release.  What are they doing from May to November!

 

Write and record the music for the EE scenes.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

1 minute ago, Jay said:

I think the film will be significantly better than the Episode 7 film.  

 

Only if they don't try and do a thinly disguised remake.

 

I like right now that we know virtually nothing about this films plot

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Damien F 1,742]

1 minute ago, Stefancos said:

 

Only if they don't try and do a thinly disguised remake.

 

 

Well let's hope the film doesn't end with Poe being encased in carbonite.

[Cerebral Cortex 3,357]

4 minutes ago, Jay said:

I think the film will be significantly better than the Episode 7 film.  The score, for some reason I think I'll like more too.

I would definitely agree. I feel like Johnson is going to be challenging Williams a lot more as a composer and will not be as willing to just let Williams do whatever as Abrams seemingly did. Additionally, I feel like the film itself is going to be much more inspiring to Williams than the vast familiarity and sameness he was shown with Episode VII. 

[Damien F 1,742]

In about 54 weeks, we'll have another new John Williams Star Wars score. That seems a little surreal.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

11 minutes ago, Jay said:

I think the film will be significantly better than the Episode 7 film.  The score, for some reason I think I'll like more too.

VIII's score might end up being better in some aspects, but I can't see it topping VII as a whole. The period of "discovering" the score on album was probably the single coolest film music experience I've had. 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,515]

18 minutes ago, BloodBoal said:

Of course we do! Luke will train Rey, Big Giant Dude will train Ren, and they'll fight at the end. Roll credits.

 

...and then they'll find out that they are twins.

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

maybe the opening crawl will segue into jedi steps.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Maybe.

 

Or maybe not...

[Alex 2,835]

I'm looking forward to his end credits suite. He's done some great ones over the past few years  (Jedi Steps and Finale is amazing) having all but abandoned them (albeit for some cut and paste jobs) in the early 2000s.

[Pieter Boelen 740]

So the recording sessions will start early enough for some of it to be tracked into the PREVIOUS film?

Wow....

[Jay 37,346]

Huh?

 

Are you saying you're surprised it will begin recording before Rogue One's in theaters?

[Pieter Boelen 740]

I mean: Rogue One is coming out this month and the recording sessions for the Episode VIII start this month as well.

Almost overlaps! Has something like that ever happened before?

[Jay 37,346]

Probably not

[Romão 2,274]

Episode VIII has an unusually long and relaxed post production schedule. The movie is more than a year away and it's already been in post production for nearly 5 months. I think they'll stick roughly to the production schedule as if the movie would be released in May as initially planned.

 

After 5 months of post production and editing, they should already have a nearly definitive edit of the final movie (albeit sans all the complete SFX), so there's more than enough for Williams to start working with. Didn't he see a rough cut in September?

 

Exciting times indeed

[Jay 37,346]

4 minutes ago, Romão said:

Didn't he see a rough cut in September?

 

As far as we know, yes!  At a Tanglewood concert on August 13th, he told the audience he'd be seeing a rough cut "in a few weeks".  So, he probably saw it after his Hollywood Bowl concerts that took place over Labor Day Weekend in LA.