RUMOR: John Williams plans to retire in 2019

[Bryant Burnette 654]

3 hours ago, Horner's Dynamic Range said:

He has very few remaining years. Let him spend it with his loved ones or whatever.

 

How about let HIM decide what he wants to do?  The nerve of some of you fuckfaces.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

I just can't take all this mamby pamby boohooing from this new generation of JWTwats.

[crumbs 14,305]

2 hours ago, Marian Schedenig said:

 

Wasn't that in fact his desire though? If I remember correctly, word was that there were negotiations, but they wanted to record in London and Williams wanted to stay in the US. Entirely unofficial info, of course, so it may be wrong, and I don't even remember who I heard it from.

 

Yates sabotaged it. He didn't like Williams or his 'childish' celeste music, hence the gradual phasing out of Hedwig's Theme throughout his films. 

 

He asked Desplat to score DH Part 2 during the DH1 sessions when he knew producers were busy negotiating with Williams' management trying to reach terms. 

 

Then, when Williams requested a rough cut by a certain date to accommodate his writing schedule, Yates refused to comply. He undermined Williams at every turn and clearly didn't want him involved. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Source?

[Josh500 1,615]

Never heard about Yates actively undermining Williams, but it seems, Williams returning for DH was a serious possibility, and Williams actually wanted to do it and considered it.... At least, according to this interview I found.

 

https://harrypotterfanzone.com/2010/11/david-heyman-david-yates-on-alexandre-desplats-deathly-hallows-music-john-williams-returning/

[publicist 4,643]

23 hours ago, Stefancos said:

 

Surely its what he still finds fullfilling, to write in that expansive, evokative mode?

 

 

 

 

Cynic!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

11 minutes ago, publicist said:

Cynic!

 

Merry Christmas everybody!

[aescalle 122]

"Merry Christmas" Stefancos & everybody!

😀

[crumbs 14,305]

If Star Wars IX and Indy 5 are John's final two film scores, few fans could ask for much more after such a celebrated career.

 

The reality is Spielberg spent way too long sitting on his hands after Munich (1 film in 6 years, a mediocre one at that) and robbed us of at least 3-4 scores while Williams was at his modern peak. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yeah, because Williams is entirely dependant on Spielberg to write anything!

[crumbs 14,305]

Well obviously Williams composes for directors other than Spielberg (including Episode IX, in 8 years he's done more non-Spielberg scores than scores for Spielberg!) but clearly Spielberg taking an extended hiatus during that time meant there was no incentive for Williams to score anything.

 

Yates robbed us of a fourth Williams Potter score, another wasted opportunity. But that was a torturous period for Williams fans with only one score in 6 years.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

12 minutes ago, crumbs said:

Yates robbed us of a fourth Williams Potter score, another wasted opportunity. 

 

Proof?

[crumbs 14,305]

Can't name my sources, sorry!

[publicist 4,643]

Several bassoon and trumpet concertos probably robbed us of precious blockbuster scores, too.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Why does everyone keep mentioning 'Indiana Jones V'? After the last disgrace? I don't follow this stuff, but you guys are making it seem like the movie is being made next year or something.

 

11 hours ago, crumbs said:

He didn't like Williams or his 'childish' celeste music, hence the gradual phasing out of Hedwig's Theme throughout his films.

 

In HP, as in the Macaulay Culkin scores, JW's Tchaikovsky (or whoever) thing is amped up to nearly intolerable levels. It's so sugary, it's musical diabetes! That being said, the later scores are mostly a bore.

[publicist 4,643]

It's the whole Nutcracker ballet, in tone and style. 

[Koray Savas 2,251]

13 hours ago, Bryant Burnette said:

 

How about let HIM decide what he wants to do?  The nerve of some of you fuckfaces.

No one is suggesting otherwise. 

[WilliamsStarShip2282 308]

Sounds like a bunch of hype to me. I don't see why he would stop, unless like someone else said, he has more serious health issues (I really hope not). However, he did have to cancel London and Vienna, and he is scheduled on the Tanglewood on Parade concert as a conductor, HOWEVER he is only listed as "host"for film night, with David Newman conducting the entire concert. I guess the regular spring Pops season will tell us more, but I'm hoping it's just a schedule conflict as has happened in the past with his recording dates (or when he has the pace maker recovery). Hope it's only a scheduling thing,....

[crumbs 14,305]

That could simply be a scheduling conflict with his Episode IX conducting. He might be under doctor's orders not to conduct at concerts around any film scoring sessions. For all we know, those Star Wars sessions are taking their toll on him physically (we already know Ross has been stepping in for the more intense cues).

 

I imagine Episode IX sessions are already booked from mid-2019 through November, so maybe his recording schedule is clear in late July but August is scheduled for several recording sessions?

[King Mark 3,626]

the biggest robbery is Spielberg doing 2 films at the same time last year. I would have MUCH preferred Williams to score Ready Player One

 

Bottom line, I believe this rumor unless Ricard dismisses it . Now I just hope makes it to the EP. IX recording sessions

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Star Wars 9 should be fine either way. There's plenty of material William Ross can work from if JW bows out 

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

Yeah, he could just adapt his CoS material.

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

1 hour ago, King Mark said:

the biggest robbery is Spielberg doing 2 films at the same time last year. I would have MUCH preferred Williams to score Ready Player One

 

Bottom line, I believe this rumor unless Ricard dismisses it . Now I just hope makes it to the EP. IX recording sessions

 

Why are you being so selfish?!

[WilliamsStarShip2282 308]

You guys are all pretty negative

[Chen G. 3,944]

4 minutes ago, WilliamsStarShip2282 said:

You guys are all pretty negative

 

That's the JWFan way.

[Thor 7,478]

Yeah, if it hadn't been for the fact that I've met several of these guys in real life, I would label JWFAN the most miserable crowd I've ever encountered.

[Kasey Kockroach 2,343]

Well, if he would rather retire, he’d better do it quick and decrease the surplus population!

[Fabulin 3,510]

19 hours ago, Warrior of Wet Dreams said:

Well, if he would rather retire, he’d better do it quick and decrease the surplus population!

That would foil Daisy Ridley's plans

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

20 hours ago, Thor said:

Yeah, if it hadn't been for the fact that I've met several of these guys in real life, I would label JWFAN the most miserable crowd I've ever encountered.

 

All the good members were at my dinner, ignore the rest!

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

Just now, Stefancos said:

All the good members were at my dinner, ignore the rest!

I wasn't at your dinner... 

[gkgyver 1,645]

On 25. Dezember 2018 at 6:06 AM, Bryant Burnette said:

 

How about let HIM decide what he wants to do?  The nerve of some of you fuckfaces.

 

He literally supported JW's free will to retire. Uncalled for.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

1 hour ago, The Illustrious Jerry said:

I wasn't at your dinner... 

 

*Ignored*

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

10 minutes ago, The Illustrious Jerry said:

 

*Ignored*

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,356]

Just now, Stefancos said:

*Ignored*

Now I just don't care.

[bollemanneke 3,338]

On ‎12‎/‎26‎/‎2018 at 8:22 AM, crumbs said:

That could simply be a scheduling conflict with his Episode IX conducting. He might be under doctor's orders not to conduct at concerts around any film scoring sessions. For all we know, those Star Wars sessions are taking their toll on him physically (we already know Ross has been stepping in for the more intense cues).

 

I imagine Episode IX sessions are already booked from mid-2019 through November, so maybe his recording schedule is clear in late July but August is scheduled for several recording sessions?

Yeah, about that. When can we expect him to start/finish writing this score? I couldn't care less who conducts, Ross made HP2 much more exuberant anyway.

[Wizarding News 7]

On 12/24/2018 at 9:48 PM, Marian Schedenig said:

If I remember correctly, word was that there were negotiations, but they wanted to record in London and Williams wanted to stay in the US. Entirely unofficial info, of course, so it may be wrong, and I don't even remember who I heard it from.

 

 

I found this wonderfully detailed (and sourced) answer about the potential reasons why Williams did not end up scoring Deathly Hallows. It even references JWFan as a source:

 

https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/28761

 

Then there's a quote from Williams himself (in 2007):

 

https://www.chronicle.com/article/Conversations-With-John/4906

 

he explained: “It was a schedule problem; … of course I would have done it if I could, but it overlapped pretty exactly with Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith and War of the Worlds. The Lucas-Spielberg relationship took precedence on my schedule, and I had commitments to both those films earlier on. I must say I miss doing [Potter].”

 

So, straight from the horse's mouth, it was nothing but scheduling conflict for Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix. As for Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows, director David Yates might also have had a slight bias for Alexandre Desplat, who by 2010 had already scored Half-Blood Prince with Yates, meaning they had a good working relationship going into the final film(s).

[Manakin Skywalker 4,891]

13 minutes ago, Wizarding News said:

So, straight from the horse's mouth, it was nothing but scheduling conflict for Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix. As for Half-Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows, director David Yates might also have had a slight bias for Alexandre Desplat, who by 2010 had already scored Half-Blood Prince with Yates, meaning they had a good working relationship going into the final film(s).

Nicholas Hooper scored Half-Blood Prince.

[Wizarding News 7]

On 12/25/2018 at 6:10 AM, crumbs said:

Yates robbed us of a fourth Williams Potter score, another wasted opportunity. But that was a torturous period for Williams fans with only one score in 6 years.

 

 

David Yates directed HP from Order of the Phoenix (#5) onward, so he would have had nothing to do with Goblet of Fire.

 

Mike Newell directed Goblet of Fire. Did you mean to blame Mike Newell? (Don't worry, you can... many Potter fans consider #4 to be the worst movie of the series.)

[Edit: I think I took your phrase "fourth Williams Potter score" too literally and incorrectly associated your statement with Goblet of Fire specifically.]

 

11 minutes ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

Nicholas Hooper scored Half-Blood Prince.

 

My mistake. Here's what I meant to say:

 

Deathly Hallows was a single film split into two. (Meaning they filmed it all at once.)

 

When Alexandre Desplat was announced to score Part 1, it was only Part 1 we knew about. There was still some hope that Williams could somehow return to score Part 2, which makes little sense when you really think about it.

 

The gist of what I was saying, though... I think everyone would've liked Williams to have scored Deathly Hallows, but they weren't going to bend over backward to bring him back.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

4 minutes ago, Wizarding News said:

Mike Newell directed Goblet of Fire. Did you mean to blame Mike Newell? (Don't worry, you can... many Potter fans consider #4 to be the worst movie of the series.)

 

He meant the fourth score Williams would deliver for the series. Although as we know, Mike Newell did not like Williams' style, not that Williams' schedule would have allowed for it anyways. 

 

6 minutes ago, Wizarding News said:

My mistake. The gist of what I was saying, though... I think everyone would've liked Williams to have scored Deathly Hallows, but they weren't going to bend over backwards to bring him back. Yates already worked with Desplat so it was easier to just keep plugging along as they had.

 

The point you're making is invalidated, because Yates _didn't_ work with Desplat beforehand. At this point, we're just idly chatting about the did not's, though.

[Wizarding News 7]

4 minutes ago, Nick Parker said:

The point you're making is invalidated, because Yates _didn't_ work with Desplat beforehand. At this point, we're just idly chatting about the did not's, though.

1

 

I realized that and was editing my post before you submitted this post.

[Nick Parker 3,040]

Just now, Wizarding News said:

 

I realized that and was editing my post before you submitted this post.

 

Gotchu, amigo. 

[Ollie 1,059]

On 12/26/2018 at 4:23 PM, Thor said:

Yeah, if it hadn't been for the fact that I've met several of these guys in real life, I would label JWFAN the most miserable crowd I've ever encountered.

 

 

I’d say FSM still holds that crown.

[Damien F 1,742]

Williams will never retire from writing. He simply loves it. But he may retire from writing for film given the extra stress that entails of keeping to schedule, dealing with studios, long days at scoring sessions, etc.

 

I think retiring from scoring after episode IX would be a great achievement having completed a trilogy of trilogies that has started all the way back in 1977. However, he may be sentimental about Spielberg and want his last score to be for him, although neither WSS or Indy 5 excites me as film prospects but Indy 5 would also be a great final send off for him, whenever that actually happens.

 

My main concern though is episode IX. Ever since I heard TFA, I've wanted JW to finish the trilogy. I wouldn't be too disheartened if Indy 5 gets scored by someone else like John Powell (maybe with JW writing a new theme). Given their collaboration on Solo, I'd imagine he'd be high on JW's list of recommendations to Spielberg for Indy 5 if he's not doing it himself.

[Kasey Kockroach 2,343]

Or maybe let John Powell write his own goddang themes? Indiana Jones desperately needed a new fanfare anyway.

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

No soup for you!

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

Well, it's time to retire! Feel free to drop in!

[publicist 4,643]

2 hours ago, Damien F said:

Given their collaboration on Solo, I'd imagine he'd be high on JW's list of recommendations to Spielberg for Indy 5 

 

Williams could give one recommendation to Spielberg: Stop this Madness!

[Nick Parker 3,040]

1 hour ago, Horner's Dynamic Range said:

Well, it's time to retire! Feel free to drop in!

 

You wouldn't drop a composer with glasses, huh, would ya?

[Bayesian 1,359]

If JW is ever "retiring," it's either from scoring films or conducting concerts (not that the latter has been much of a thing for him for many years anyway). Nothing would stop him from working from home, at his own pace, on new concert pieces, adapting existing works, fulfilling commissions, and supporting Mike Matessino in producing proper expansions of all the scores that haven't received the golden treatment. I indeed imagine he looks forward to doing exactly that after Ep. IX. 

 

And, considering how long-lived many of history's great artists are and have been, what would JW do with all his remaining time if he actually were to full-out retire from music? There's only so much golf a man can play.