Spielberg bowing out of Indy 5, James Mangold possibly taking over - Will John Williams score the movie?

[lairdo 694]

Variety and other sources are reporting the Steven Spielberg will not direct Indy 5. James Mangold (Logan, 3:10 to Yuma and other films) is in final talks to take over the franchise.  

 

https://variety.com/2020/film/news/steven-spielberg-indiana-jones-5-james-mangold-harrison-ford-1203515698/

 

So, if this happens, what do we think that John Williams would stay with the project? Or do we think Marco Beltrami or someone else will take over?

 

[Arpy 4,099]

A dark, twisted Indy score from Beltrami sounds appealing.

[Brundlefly 2,346]

The guy who recently made Logan seems to be a better fit for an Indiana Jones movie than the guy who recently made Ready Player One.

[Ricard 2,088]

No JW no interest

[Lewya 360]

James Mangold recently followed Michael Giacchino on Twitter if I am not mistaken. 

 

It wouldn't surprise me if it will be Giacchino. Either Giacchino or Beltrami will get the gig. I don't think JW will do it, although if he would do it, it wouldn't surprise me either.

 

I hope JW focuses on better projects than to go out on SW 9 or Indy 5.

[Quintus 5,396]

Gia's pastiche would be excruciating. But it's totally gonna happen. In which case I'll absolutely avoid this movie. Shame though, as Marigold is a good director who could do a lot better than Gia (and Indy 5).

[Richard Penna 2,969]

If JW doesn't score it, I pity the composer who does. They will receive perpetual bashing from JWFan.

[Josh500 1,612]

I doubt JW will be involved. 

 

But I hear William Ross is interested...

[Quintus 5,396]

19 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

If JW doesn't score it, I pity the composer who does. They will receive perpetual bashing from JWFan.

 

I'd rather Powell took over instead of Gia. I wouldn't give Powell grief for his effort, as he isn't a hack. But if I could take my pick of anyone? David Arnold.

[Dr. Rick 988]

21 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

If JW doesn't score it, I pity the composer who does. They will receive perpetual bashing from JWFan.

 

This

[Evanus 201]

Oh lord, please no Giacchino. I'm fine with the guy, I'm just tired of him trying to replace Williams

[Quintus 5,396]

Bargain bucket Towner.

[Not Mr. Big 4,486]

Silvestri would be a great choice if Williams isn't interested.

[Yavar Moradi 1,995]

1 hour ago, Brundlefly said:

The guy who recently made Logan seems to be a better fit for an Indiana Jones movie than the guy who recently made Ready Player One.

THIS. Or the guy who made Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.  

That said, much as I admire Beltrami and his work for Mangold.... if John Williams isn't still scoring this (hey, he scored all the Star Wars sequel trilogy despite never previously working with the directors) my interest falls precipitously.

Yavar

[Not Mr. Big 4,486]

Beltrami's music is too passionless for Indiana Jones.  

[Richard Penna 2,969]

This must surely be the biggest indicator so far that making this movie is a really bad idea.

[Fabulin 3,465]

Amanda! Doctor Spielberg says it's a bad idea!

[Evanus 201]

What's a bad idea? 

[Ricard 2,088]

2 hours ago, Quintus said:

Gia's pastiche would be excruciating. But it's totally gonna happen. In which case I'll absolutely avoid this movie. 

 

And this.

[Romão 2,240]

 

2 hours ago, Richard Penna said:

If JW doesn't score it, I pity the composer who does. They will receive perpetual bashing from JWFan.

 

John Powell didn't. But if it's crap like Rogue One, it will be rightfully bashed

[Jay 33,746]

Joe Kraemer for Indiana Jones 5!

[Edmilson 5,715]

Get ready for a Indy score credited to Marco Beltrami, but actually written by Buck Sanders, Brandon Roberts, Marcus Trump, and lots and lots and lots of arrangers and ghost writers.

 

It will be as wonderful as his Ben-Hur score.

[Balahkay 626]

I still think there’s a good chance the whole film will be scrapped. It’s been in talks and in the works for years. It’s as if Disney isn’t very confident about the success and\or interest of this franchise, even with Ford involved.

[crumbs 13,547]

I think John would intervene if Gia went anywhere near this, if the rumours about Rogue One are true. He doesn't care about the silly dinosaur franchise but Indiana Jones is his other baby (next to SW). 

[Edmilson 5,715]

I don't think Williams has any power of influencing who may or may not be hired as a composer. Imagine if Disney actually WANTS Mangold involved, but he'll only do the movie if he can work with his regular team, which includes Beltrami.

 

Now, let's suppose Williams asks his assistant to put some Beltrami on YouTube, and dislikes the guy after hearing one of his horror scores, or some of his generic action music for the Die Hard sequels, Max Payne, etc. So, what would happen? Would Disney listen to Williams or to Mangold? Specially considering that, unless Spielberg does his other movies at Fox, he may never collaborate with Disney again, so they don't care about him.

[The Illustrious Jerry 3,355]

Obviously Powell is the best choice as heir apparent to Williams. He's done it with one franchise, bearing fantastic results, and he seems to have a continuing friendship with the Maestro too. Plus, just thinking about what he could do with the Raiders March, for example, gives me chills. 

[Tydirium 1,016]

The only person I'd accept (and actually kind of be interested in) as a replacement at this point would be Powell.

[A. A. Ron 1,258]

4 hours ago, Not Mr. Big said:

Silvestri would be a great choice if Williams isn't interested.

 

Boooooo!

 

38 minutes ago, Tydirium said:

The only person I'd ... kind of be interested in as a replacement at this point would be Powell.

 

^This. God, I hope it's not Giacchino.

[crumbs 13,547]

2 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Would Disney listen to Williams or to Mangold? Specially considering that, unless Spielberg does his other movies at Fox, he may never collaborate with Disney again, so they don't care about him.

 

I guarantee Williams will have first right of refusal. Disney, Kennedy, Spielberg will all want him to do it given the publicity/continuity it provides, so it just depends on whether he wants to do it without Spielberg (just as he did Star Wars without Lucas, because of Kennedy). 

 

The Force Awakens situation all over again. Mangold will have no more sway than Abrams having Gia or Johnson getting Nathan, doubly so with Spielberg staying on as producer. 

 

I think almost every director in Hollywood would want him scoring it, if they took on the gig. The amount of pressure stepping into those shoes is immense. 

[lairdo 694]

2 hours ago, The Illustrious Jerry said:

Obviously Powell is the best choice as heir apparent to Williams. He's done it with one franchise, bearing fantastic results, and he seems to have a continuing friendship with the Maestro too. Plus, just thinking about what he could do with the Raiders March, for example, gives me chills. 

 

Yes, I would agree with this, and I have enjoyed his work over the past years. Always fresh and fun. He might be a bit too fun for Indy’s tone and for Mangold’s for that matter. 

 

And this could all end up in reboot land, at which point Ford is out, and we could end up with a very different type of movie than the previous ones. 

[Matt C 448]

1 hour ago, crumbs said:

I think almost every director in Hollywood would want him scoring it, if they took on the gig. The amount of pressure stepping into those shoes is immense. 

 

That's what I think too. 

 

I do think Williams will bow out since Spielberg is no longer directing. 

[artguy360 1,776]

I think it would be quite interesting for JW to score this film now. It might be the Azkaban of the Indy series thanks to a new director.

[Naïve Old Fart 8,713]

No Spielberg? No Lucas? No Williams!

 

Zimmer will score; Billie Eilish will write the song.

[mrbellamy 5,898]

58 minutes ago, artguy360 said:

I think it would be quite interesting for JW to score this film now. It might be the Azkaban of the Indy series thanks to a new director.

 

Eh I had a lot of hope for Last Jedi to be that but it really wasn’t. And Mangold is generally less idiosyncratic than Johnson. 

 

This is just very whatever. I don’t really care if Williams does this anymore. I guess if they’re gonna kill Indy off or something then I’d wish JW had done it but otherwise IJ isn’t the same as Star Wars as far as emotional musical continuity. Even with Spielberg this was always just another standalone adventure flick but the appeal was in seeing as many of the old fogies together in the aesthetic. It would probably suck but it still would have been the guys who did Raiders and I’m a sucker for that, despite KOTCS.

 

I would have been annoyed if it was Spielberg doing Indy with another composer but I’m indifferent to the reverse. Old Man Williams scoring Old Man Ford with some other random people. Idk. There’s no need for him (or anybody, obviously) to do this but I still would love a new John Williams score in any capacity.

 

[JTWfan77 1,567]

Hope they scrap the movie completely. As bad as KOTCS was, at least Indy and Marion got their happily ever after moment. Ford is way too old at this point for another sequel.

[pete 795]

I'm guessing Willians will score it, and Spielberg will start working on a new project soon, one that Williams will also score. Yay. 

[crumbs 13,547]

I think Williams will be itching to work with that orchestra again on another big score like Indy.

[Brundlefly 2,346]

11 hours ago, Not Mr. Big said:

Silvestri would be a great choice if Williams isn't interested.

Silvestri's recent output is awful, such as Allied. He's stuck in the 80s and his sugary string writing gives diabetes to every scene that could have been emotional.

[Jurassic Shark 10,706]

12 hours ago, Lewya said:

Either Giacchino or Beltrami will get the gig.

 

JW would veto Gia, and you'd think Kathleen would listen to him after Rogue One.

[Naïve Old Fart 8,713]

What's Williams' beef, with the ROGUE ONE score?

[Quintus 5,396]

23 minutes ago, Brundlefly said:

Silvestri's recent output is awful, such as Allied. He's stuck in the 80s and his sugary string writing gives diabetes to every scene that could have been emotional.

 

Whilst I wouldn't go as far as to call his work awful, I still don't think Silvestri has been top tier(ish) for 20+ years. He's a boring composer of vanilla scores these days, which just happen to be smash hit superhero movies (because everything is).

[DrTenma 116]

Without Spielberg I don't see the point in this movie. Even more, I think Mangold is an ok-ish director but nothing more. I hope for a better news: the cancel the whole project. 

[crumbs 13,547]

I wasn't particularly impressed with Ready Player One. I kind of hate the recording and the performance, honestly.

 

Not sure why more LA scores can't sound as good as TROS does.

[TownerFan 4,978]

7 hours ago, lairdo said:

 

Yes, I would agree with this, and I have enjoyed his work over the past years. Always fresh and fun. He might be a bit too fun for Indy’s tone and for Mangold’s for that matter. 

 

And this could all end up in reboot land, at which point Ford is out, and we could end up with a very different type of movie than the previous ones. 

 

Disney needs the franchise to be relaunched of course, there's no way they'll let the property fade away. So I think it might very well end up being a reboot masked as a sequel, introducing a new actor/actress to play Indy's heir alongside Ford. They will probably try to give the series a more modern edge, avoiding playing too much with nostalgia.

 

As far as Williams is concerned, again if he wants to do it, he will do it. Simple as that. If someone should step in as successor, my vote goes to John Powell, as he has the most ideal edge to work on Williams' material and providing a new fresh take on it (plus, he already worked with Mangold on Knight and Day).

[Jurassic Shark 10,706]

Ford should direct the film.

[Brundlefly 2,346]

Director: James Mangold

Composer: John Powell

Starring: Shia LaBeouf

 

Why not? Probably better than a fuck-up by the old guys.

[Richard Penna 2,969]

I reckon JW will easily have first refusal, and it depends on whether he views the Indy franchise as sacred to him as SW.

 

Failing that, Powell would be perfect.

[crumbs 13,547]

It's not like he has anything better to do.

 

Would be ironic if Spielberg ends up directing a competing film after Williams agrees to score Indy without him, meaning yet another schedule clash.

[Quintus 5,396]

As far as Indiana Jones goes, it all boils down to this: which working composer is most capable of writing really strong macguffin melodies? Because that is what is truly key to the magic of this franchise (along with the macguffin itself). 

 

It doesn't bode well, when the last great one I heard was instead in Star Wars, the Jedi Steps theme. Written by John Williams. But he won't be available.

 

Disney should just crack on instead with the inevitable reboot, and we all need to just accept that great Indiana Jones music is likely a thing of the past.

[Edmilson 5,715]

9 hours ago, crumbs said:

 

I guarantee Williams will have first right of refusal. Disney, Kennedy, Spielberg will all want him to do it given the publicity/continuity it provides, so it just depends on whether he wants to do it without Spielberg (just as he did Star Wars without Lucas, because of Kennedy). 

 

The Force Awakens situation all over again. Mangold will have no more sway than Abrams having Gia or Johnson getting Nathan, doubly so with Spielberg staying on as producer. 

 

I think almost every director in Hollywood would want him scoring it, if they took on the gig. The amount of pressure stepping into those shoes is immense. 

 

I guess this is an interesting situation. On the dispute between directors and producers of big franchises of who will score the movies, the latter seems to be winning. Case in point, the sequel trilogy: Abrams and Johnson had their composers before the saga, but probably by imposition of Lucasfilm, they accepted working with Williams - actually, they were apparently delighted with it.

 

Other example was the recent Avengers movies. Clearly Henry Jackman is the composer of choice of the Russo Brothers (he scored not only the Captain America movies, but also 21 Bridges and Extraction, which they produced, and their next feature post-MCU Cherry), but for Infinity War and Endgame, Marvel and Disney probably wanted someone more experienced, so they brought Silvestri back. And by all accounts their collaboration went smoothly on the two movies.

 

So yeah, recent history suggest that, if LFL and Spielberg as producer want Williams to do the score, they will impose this over whoever is the director.

 

That said... I dunno, Mangold doesn't seem to be the kind of person who would favor a Williams score. He may prefer working with someone more modern and "edgy", like Beltrami and his humongous army of ghost writers that rivals to Zimmer's. So, the way I see it, I don't think is too unlikely that LFL may be put in this dilemma. Who will they favor: a director unwilling to work with Williams, or to stay true to the musical heritage of the franchise?