Will we still be waiting for Star Wars score expansions at the 50th anniversary?

[crumbs 15,802]

I doubt anyone was expecting much traction for the 45th anniversary but once again May 4th has come and gone and there's no indication Star Wars expansions are in the works.

 

This despite being Disney's 7th year with the music licence, 4 years since their "remastered" OSTs were released (and presumably the completion of Lucasfilm's project to transfer all known music elements), not to mention an entire trilogy of new films passing without a single JW expanded score. 

 

Considering it's been a quarter of a century since the original trilogy was last expanded, and 5 of the 9 scores have never been expanded, is it possible Disney/JW simply don't care about releasing more music and we'll still be waiting come the 50th anniversary in 2027?

[The Score Cleaner 8,878]

[Disco Stu 15,516]

[Thor 9,327]

Nah.

 

I already got my lifetime worth's of STAR WARS music when I bought the Arista box through a mail order service in 1995-ish. I later acquired the RCA 2CD book cover thingies, but eventually sold them. It's the Arista box from here to eternity as far as I'm concerned (just hoping the CDs last longer than the actual booklet, whose glue fell apart already the first time I opened it).

 

For the other 6, I'm perfectly content with the individual discs untill the day I die. Again, providing the CDs themselves last that long.

[bollemanneke 4,183]

Yes. They'll never do them. Never.

[Disco Stu 15,516]

12 minutes ago, Thor said:

Nah.

 

I already got my lifetime worth's of STAR WARS music when I bought the Arista box through a mail order service in 1995-ish. I later acquired the RCA 2CD book cover thingies, but eventually sold them. It's the Arista box from here to eternity as far as I'm concerned (just hoping the CDs last longer than the actual booklet, whose glue fell apart already the first time I opened it).

 

For the other 6, I'm perfectly content with the individual discs untill the day I die. Again, providing the CDs themselves last that long.

 

The question of the poll wasn't "do you want star wars expansions"

[Richard P 5,007]

Exactly what I was about to say. With friendly respect Thor, we'd like your view on whether they'll come out soon, not the 1000th reminder that you're not interested  

 

My current view: Williams either doesn't want expansions or isn't fussed about the idea, and asks the focus to be put on other projects.

[Martinland 397]

34 minutes ago, Thor said:

hoping the CDs last longer than the actual booklet, whose glue fell apart already the first time I opened it

That's weird - mine is still in pretty good condition.

[GerateWohl 6,254]

But why on earth did they publish the digital expasions of Solo and Rogue One recently?

[Tom 6,141]

I am still waiting for them to release the rest of Schubert's 8th Symphony.  

[Marian Schedenig 10,962]

[bored 585]

[Chewy 2,771]

1 hour ago, Richard Penna said:

My current view: Williams either doesn't want expansions or isn't fussed about the idea, and asks the focus to be put on other projects.

 

I find it hard to understand why Williams wouldn't want Star Wars expansions considering how he approved so many releases recently (and only vetoed very special things like The Sugarland Express).

 

To me it's just a very long project that requires a lot of work to be done perfectly, I'm sure it's currently in the works.

[Thor 9,327]

1 hour ago, Stu said:

 

The question of the poll wasn't "do you want star wars expansions"

 

It kinda was, though. "Will we be waiting", it said. I surely won't. Others might. The 'waiting' part is key here; had it said 'will we see....", it would have been a different matter. It would also be a question that was unanswerable. Who knows what happens in the future?

 

1 hour ago, Martinland said:

That's weird - mine is still in pretty good condition.

 

Yes, that's weird. But I heard of others who experienced the same thing. The booklet glue had some issues.

[MrJosh 1,021]

I'd think he'd like to 'put a bow on it' and have it all expanded, remastered, archived, etc. I would imagine that it would feel good to him in that sense. 

 

If he were resistant for some odd reason, then Mike surely would just need to send him some home made cookies...

 

"Mike Matesino is many things...a great producer, wonderful editor...writes marvelous notes on the booklets...but one thing he is not...oh you know the rest"

 

 

 

But in reality, the holdup seems more likely to be on Disney's end.

 

 

I voted for yes in the next 5 years simply because at least we know that Disney is aware of what expanded scores are, since Solo and Rogue One have been expanded, the obvious importance of what Williams' music means to Star Wars as a whole has to be hovering in the minds of those who make things happen, and so I can't fathom it not being on a 'To Do Soon' list. 

[Richard P 5,007]

1 hour ago, Thor said:

 

It kinda was, though. "Will we be waiting", it said. I surely won't. Others might. The 'waiting' part is key here; had it said 'will we see....", it would have been a different matter. It would also be a question that was unanswerable. Who knows what happens in the future?

 

You knew what the question was

 

 

[Datameister 2,505]

If we're lucky, maybe expansions will come in time for the 75th. Hope is a dangerous thing where these scores are concerned.

[Richard P 5,007]

1 hour ago, Chewy said:

To me it's just a very long project that requires a lot of work to be done perfectly, I'm sure it's currently in the works.

 

All expansions require a lot of work to be done properly. Why would SW be any different, unless the source elements or documentation were in unusually bad shape?

 

I can't wait to buy a nicely produced RotS expansion but I fail to see what would make an expansion of that any more difficult than any other big score from a technical perspective.

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,595]

I think Williams want to be there when his scores will be expanded. I believe the delay might even be because he wants his Benny theme to be incorporate to the boxset, maybe we'll get it by the end of the show (one can dream)

[Thor 9,327]

6 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

You knew what the question was

 

Yes, exactly as it was phrased. Will you be waiting for this to and in 2027?

[Richard P 5,007]

4 minutes ago, May the Force be with You said:

I think Williams want to be there when his scores will be expanded. I believe the delay might even be because he wants his Benny theme to be incorporate to the boxset, maybe we'll get it by the end of the show (one can dream)

 

I see a lot of (understandable) mentions of a box set. Am I alone in hoping for separate releases?  

[Raiders of the SoundtrArk 2,595]

Just now, Richard Penna said:

I see a lot of (understandable) mentions of a box set. Am I alone in hoping for separate releases?  

I would actually love a monthly release of all nine-films, mostly because I guess they might want to put more music this way. Plus I would be able to keep my two kidney

[Datameister 2,505]

Just now, Richard Penna said:

 

I see a lot of (understandable) mentions of a box set. Am I alone in hoping for separate releases?  

 

I would hope for both. Or maybe a separate box for each trilogy, with the pieces from Galaxy's Edge, Solo, and Obi-wan squeezed in wherever there's room.

 

The prequel trilogy would surely be the easiest. They've got all the elements and there aren't too many alternate cues. The original trilogy would be trickier because the elements would probably need some restoration—increasingly so each year, if those haven't already been transferred. And then the sequel trilogy should be easy in terms of the material's availability...but Christ, it'd be tricky to present everything on a commercial album. The overlapping layers of revisions are reportedly insane.

[Richard P 5,007]

Yeah I'm not for a minute underconsidering the challenges of the OT, considering the state of some elements from that period, although you'd think that at some point over the years they would've digitized them.

 

But the PT are just digital sessions, aren't they? Just give them a bit of an equalise and arrange it nicely. Really doesn't sound like a difficult job. That's why I personally feel there's some bizarre non-technical reason why we don't have those yet.

[Edmilson 11,188]

For SW's 50th anniversary in 2027, Disney will release the OSTs once again, but remastered and with a new cover similar to the ones from the Sequel Trilogy: just the words "Star Wars" in different colors with a spacey background and below, "Music By John Williams" (no more "composed and conducted" nor "performed by the LSO").

 

Maybe for the 100th anniversary in 2077, if we still haven't nuked ourselves to death or destroyed the planet until then.

[The Score Cleaner 8,878]

11 minutes ago, Richard Penna said:

But the PT are just digital sessions, aren't they?

Pretty sure the Prequels (atleast the first two) were recorded analog, if that is what you are asking...

[Jay 44,356]

All of Williams' scores through at least Harry Potter 2 captured every take of every cue onto analog tape (with minor exceptions like the album recording day for ET).  

 

Every Williams score from The Force Awakens to present no longer has analog tape running at all.

 

The 13 scores in between?  An unsolved mystery for now.  The only 2 of those that have been expanded are Harry Potter 3 and War of The Worlds, and a 1st generation digital element was used for each.

 

This Reddit AMA confirms AOTC had analog, and ROTS was digital only

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/3w97d3/were_pat_sullivan_dann_michael_thompson_and_shawn/

[Chewy 2,771]

10 minutes ago, Counterparts said:

Pretty sure the Prequels (atleast the first two) were recorded analog, if that is what you are asking...

TPM and AOTC were recorded in both digital and analog. ROTS only on digital (that's what we guess because they used a digital source for the 2018 releases).

[Jurassic Shark 15,671]

We got the SW expansions 25 years ago. 

[Chewy 2,771]

5 minutes ago, Jay said:

This Reddit AMA confirms AOTC had analog, and ROTS was digital only

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/3w97d3/were_pat_sullivan_dann_michael_thompson_and_shawn/

 

Wow thanks for that link, that'll be a great read!

[Jay 44,356]

Here's the original forum thread on it

 

https://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/25852-reddit-ama-with-shawn-murphy-and-williams-mastering-engineers/

[The Score Cleaner 8,878]

Explains why ROTS sounds sort of different to the first two IMHO

[Bounty95 579]

The fact that Mike has been silent about SW for a while now gives me hope that there is something in the works. Otherwise he could just say "don't hold your breath" since he knows what we desire. 

 

The Solo and R1 expansions are an indicator that Disney shouldn't be the problem. There is also no logical reason for JW to veto SW. 

 

Yeah, I'll stop dreaming of unicorns. 

[Marian Schedenig 10,962]

I could imagine that studio relations/key people are not necessarily a major issue anymore as far as doing something at all with the music goes, but doing it *right* and getting all the necessary material, time, freedom, and clearances probably isn't straightforward either.

[Tallguy 6,357]

2 hours ago, Bounty95 said:

The fact that Mike has been silent about SW for a while now gives me hope that there is something in the works. Otherwise he could just say "don't hold your breath" since he knows what we desire. 

 

The Solo and R1 expansions are an indicator that Disney shouldn't be the problem. There is also no logical reason for JW to veto SW. 

 

Yeah, I'll stop dreaming of unicorns. 

 

Don't give me hope! 

[Edmilson 11,188]

[Deacon Blues 67]

Not in our lifetime anyway

[King Mark 3,896]

How could any of you have a shred of hope left?

[Edmilson 11,188]

The bigger question is: if Matessino is going to do it, when is he going to begin working on it? Because I imagine it'll take a lot of time, and I mean A LOT - like, at the very least a decade - to have the expansions ready to go. 

 

Who knows if Disney will still want to invest time and money building Star Wars boxes that will only be released years from now and will be bought only by a small group of John Williams diehards?

 

Unless they do like with Rogue One and just dump the recording sessions on Spotify without caring that much - which I don't think JW will approve while he's still alive.

[Manakin Skywalker 5,787]

It certainly won't take quite a decade. Especially since they don't need to go looking for elements for the PT and ST scores, really only the OT (which apparently Shawn Murphy and co. already have archived as of 2018). I'd estimate a good ~3 years.

 

EDIT: I forgot to take "internal politics" into account. Up that to at least 5.

[Brando 2,663]

35 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

The bigger question is: if Matessino is going to do it, when is he going to begin working on it? Because I imagine it'll take a lot of time, and I mean A LOT - like, at the very least a decade - to have the expansions ready to go. 

 

Who knows if Disney will still want to invest time and money building Star Wars boxes that will only be released years from now and will be bought only by a small group of John Williams diehards?

 

Unless they do like with Rogue One and just dump the recording sessions on Spotify without caring that much - which I don't think JW will approve while he's still alive.

JW: what's a spotify?

[Docteur Qui 1,581]

1 hour ago, Manakin Skywalker said:

It certainly won't take quite a decade. Especially since they don't need to go looking for elements for the PT and ST scores, really only the OT (which apparently Shawn Murphy and co. already have archived as of 2018). I'd estimate a good ~3 years.

There’s no real way of for us to know how much work would be involved, especially for what us fans expect to be a complete archival release (and most of us wouldn’t want anything less than that).

With that in mind, studios are not exactly known for their fastidious archival skills, and Matessino can only use what they give him. I’m still a little bit sour at the fact that Warner Bros didn’t have every session of PoA to give him (or were otherwise unwilling to hand them over); from what I understand there’s a multitude of original versions of cues that were most likely recorded but that weren’t given to Matessino for the Potter release. I hope that wouldn’t be the case for the prequels, but as the first two were analogue recordings who knows where those sessions ended up.

 

On top of all that is the comparatively haphazard sequel scores which have countless alternates from vastly different edits of the film. A complete release of those three alone is probably a mammoth task.

[King Mark 3,896]

well were already lucky we got the Potter scores as such. It's still one of the most comprehensive and well made Williams box set we ever got

 

I wouldn't be upset if they just dumped the SW sessions on digital release and wait for an archival set later. At this point it's taken so long I'm not sure it's worth hoping for a super comprehensive set.

 

Just the TLJ isolated score is one of the biggest blessings we ever got in JWfan history

[crumbs 15,802]

Gosh, time flies.

 

Made this thread 3 years ago, now we're only 2 years from 2027...

[The Score Cleaner 8,878]

Some of us youngins will probably be celebrating OUR 50th's and we will still be waiting.

[Edmilson 11,188]

50th anniversary? 

 

I think we'll still be waiting for those expansions for the 100th anniversary. Maybe not us but our descendants. Or whatever form of Super AI that succeeded the human race in the domination of Planet Earth.

[Andy 6,590]

[Ollie 1,356]

I’ve given up hope of ever seeing them in my lifetime. 

[Andy 6,590]

Me too actually.  If they happen, it’ll be a nice surprise and I’ll order like lightning . But I can listen to what I’ve got and be mostly satisfied. 

[Jurassic Shark 15,671]

I only waited 20 years.