Will John Williams score Steven Spielberg's new UFO movie?

[Stark 699]

As a Horner fan, I guffaw at anyone who calls JW repetitive!

[mrbellamy 7,284]

Didn't ET&Elliott4Ever also used to post drunken rants about how Horner had lost it pre-June 2015?

[Director of Poltergeist 8,097]

That name no longer has any meaning for me.

[mrbellamy 7,284]

Ok, ET&Elliott4Ever

[Tom 5,607]

I fell for JW's during the magical time of the 70s and 80s, and his level of originality and freshness were out of this world, but the ensuing decades have been damn good.  Leaving his concert music to the side, which I think has gotten increasingly better, with the violin concerto being an absolute powerhouse of a piece, Tintin, his pastoral music in War Horse, the flute work in BFG, Rey's theme and variations in the films, the ESPN Championship piece, The Airport/Battle of Syracuse/Centuries Join Hands (particularly film versions) are genius pieces from an actively genius mind.  

[Jay 42,389]

There's absolutely nothing wrong with not liking Williams' recent output as much as his older works.

 

JoeinAR didn't like Last Crusade when it came out and continued to remind us of that fact for 35 years following, until his death.  And that's great!

 

There's no need to apologize for your opinions on what music you don't and don't like.

 

 

 

The only weird part is preferring that someone retire instead of choosing to continue working in their field.  No one is forcing you to listen to his newer works or replacing his older works in your collection with hew newer works.  You should be happy that friends you've made here find enjoyment in his newer works, and not be shocked if someone posts about how much they like something that you don't happen to care for. 

 

We're all here to celebrate all film music, not narrowly focus on certain film music and ignore everything else.

[Bellosh 4,249]

1 hour ago, Brock Lovett said:

That name no longer has any meaning for me.

 

the arc to Gruesome Son of a Bitch was 🤌

 

[Director of Poltergeist 8,097]

Well, it's time to retire!

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,856]

Feel free to drop in!

[Director of Poltergeist 8,097]

I'm probably alone not liking his Disney output from the last 10 years. It's like a watered down approximation of JW a lot of the time. They'd be better off with Gordy Haab.

 

And Spielberg stringing him along for his latest narcissistic autobiographical movie with the names changed about his Mommy issues.

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,856]

That mother of his was a real piece of work.

[Andy 5,976]

2 hours ago, Brock Lovett said:

That name no longer has any meaning for me.

ET&Elliot4(1975-84)

[mrbellamy 7,284]

On 30/05/2024 at 10:26 AM, Jay said:

The only weird part is preferring that someone retire instead of choosing to continue working in their field.  

 

I think every single person on here including myself has gotten a little weird at one time or another when it comes to protecting John Williams or his legacy from embarrassment, failure, criticism. I see it come out both as "Every note he writes is a masterpiece" and "He should just enjoy his life instead of doing this crap."

[Stark 699]

Writing this music clearly IS “enjoying his life”, aside from when it involves JJ Abrams. 

[Jay 42,389]

19 minutes ago, Stark said:

Writing this music clearly IS “enjoying his life”

 

YES!

 

19 minutes ago, Stark said:

, aside from when it involves JJ Abrams. 

 

LOL

[Gurkensalat 364]

On 30/5/2024 at 3:40 AM, Brock Lovett said:

 

I'm going to piggyback off this, one of the best comments I've seen on this forum in years. I know you're referring strictly to "Big" JW scores in this case, so in a very modern way, I would in no way want to take your post out of context. But you're absolutely right. Now we'll go strictly into my unrelated opinion. 

 

DOD was a total disaster. For a decade now these pitiful JW scores have been one-and-dones, and a chore to get through at that. Even the Galaxy Edge track at 5 minutes was a pathetic slog.

 

 

Thank you for the accolades, but I must respectfully disagree with your opinion. In no way I wanted to say that Indy 5 is a bad score, just that its few imperfections show the massive strain of such a work load on a 90+ year old composer. On the contrary I find many of Williams scores of the last 20 years to be among my favorites. I just wanted to impart my opinion that it would be too much to expect another 2h plus big score from Williams at his age. 

[Jurassic Shark 14,975]

On 24/05/2024 at 6:11 PM, Holko said:

Ah yes, the perfect sequel for the movie ending with the revelation that not only are we not alone in the universe but they're just like us, we play music together and make peace... is that they were evil all along? What?

 

The important thing is to subvert expectations.

 

On 30/05/2024 at 3:40 AM, Brock Lovett said:

JW should have retired 20 years ago.

 

And he did.

[Tom 5,607]

2 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

The important thing is to subvert expectations.

Turns out, the aliens only want to listen to Garth Brooks.   

[DangerMotif 1,277]

I don’t know if it’s appropriate to start a thread yet but I was able to confirm that John Williams is scoring this movie. Have no clue whether he started to work on it yet but really praying his health allows him to complete the project. (Not an April fools joke)

[crocodile 9,181]

6 minutes ago, DangerMotif said:

I don’t know if it’s appropriate to start a thread yet but I was able to confirm that John Williams is scoring this movie. Have no clue whether he started to work on it yet but really praying his health allows him to complete the project. (Not an April fools joke)

If true, it's fantastic.

 

Karol

[DangerMotif 1,277]

1 minute ago, crocodile said:

If true, it's fantastic.

 

Karol

Yep, would be incredible to get another score from him

[Mr. Hooper 5,066]

Oh wow. (Fingers crossed) we'll get another chance to sit in a darkened theatre and experience a brand new score from the Maestro. And I hope the substance of the movie allows him to flex different musical muscles and achieve something grand like CE3K.

[crumbs 15,507]

This might explain why he's cancelled so many appearances for Q3 2025, because (in theory) that would be in the middle of scoring sessions.

[Mr. Hooper 5,066]

5 minutes ago, crumbs said:

This might explain why he's cancelled so many appearances for Q3 2025, because (in theory) that's right in the middle of scoring sessions.

I like this version of events much better than our guessing that he's just unwell. Let's hope you're right!

[Paul M. Grenon 52]

7 hours ago, DangerMotif said:

I don’t know if it’s appropriate to start a thread yet but I was able to confirm that John Williams is scoring this movie. Have no clue whether he started to work on it yet but really praying his health allows him to complete the project. (Not an April fools joke)

Is there any source?

[Paul M. Grenon 52]

Or was this just a delayed April Fools joke?

[DangerMotif 1,277]

4 hours ago, Paul M. Grenon said:

Is there any source?

Yes, not an April fools joke

[filmmusic 2,620]

6 minutes ago, DangerMotif said:

Yes, not an April fools joke

So, I guess since you don't mention it, after you were asked, it is a secret source?

[Tom 5,607]

I think that it is implied that the source wishes to remain anonymous.  

[Jay 42,389]

21 hours ago, crumbs said:

This might explain why he's cancelled so many appearances for Q3 2025, because (in theory) that would be in the middle of scoring sessions.

 

He didn't cancel anything in Q3 2025, because he was never scheduled to be at anything in Q3 2025

 

The only things he was once announced as attending, but then didn't, are entirely in Q3 2024 -> Q2 2025.

• 2025-04-04 Los Angeles, CA - curator only
• 2025-04-03 Los Angeles, CA - conductor
• 2025-02-25 Miami, FL - special guest only
• 2024-12-07, 08 Vienna, Austria - conductor
• 2024-10-25 Los Angeles, CA - curator only
• 2024-10-22 Chicago, IL - conductor
• 2024-08-06 Lenox, MA - conductor
• 2024-08-02, 03 Lenox, MA - conductor
• 2024-07-12, 13, 14 Los Angeles, CA - conductor

There are Tanglewood concerts coming up in Q3 2025, including the premiere of his new Piano Concerto, but he was never announced as conducting or even appearing at those.  (I hope he does attend!)

• 2025-08-09 Lenox, MA - Tanglewood | Performance Details
• 2025-07-26 Lenox, MA - Tanglewood | Performance Details

 

It's still officially unknown if he'll still conduct the June Berlin concert as announced or not, but that's still in Q2 2025 anyway.

 

This resource has the dates and info for all his appearances from 2021-present: https://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/33860-find-a-thread-information-catalog-all-upcoming-recent-john-williams-works-concerts/

 

 

Also.... this film is releasing in June 2026.  It is not likely that its score would be recorded in Q3 2025, considering it is Q2 2025 right now, and the movie is still being filmed!

 

Spielberg will probably have a rough cut sometime this fall, the score will be composed in the fall/winter, and the score will probably be recorded in early 2026.

[Thor 9,308]

2 hours ago, DangerMotif said:

Yes, not an April fools joke

 

OK, but it's a little bit bad form to just throw that out there without either mentioning the source, or saying why you cannot divulge the source at this point.

[Mr. Hooper 5,066]

3 hours ago, Jay said:

It's still officially unknown if he'll still conduct the June Berlin concert as annunced or not, but that's still in Q2 2025 anyway.

I guess the only way it'll be "officially" known in a way that'll satisfy the doubters is when his plane touches down in Berlin.

 

3 hours ago, Jay said:

Also.... this film is releasing in June 2026.  It is not likely that its score would be recorded in Q3 2025, considering it is Q2 2025 right now, and the movie is still being filmed!

 

Spielberg will probably have a rough cut sometime this fall, the score will be composed in the fall/winter, and the score will probably be recorded in the first few months of 2026.

Given Williams' age and recent health, Spielberg has maybe done things differently this time and shown him concept art and storyboards, in addition to a script, well in advance so he could sketch some early ideas. He could be writing at this very moment.

[Edmilson 10,474]

1 hour ago, Thor said:

 

OK, but it's a little bit bad form to just throw that out there without either mentioning the source, or saying why you cannot divulge the source at this point.

Especially when he posted that on April 1st lol.

 

I'm not accusing him of being a liar or a troll or whatever, but... I'll only trust when it's officially confirmed by the studio or the makers or whatever. And I'll only really belieave once we have the confirmation that the score is already fully recorded.

[Not Mr. Big 4,815]

36 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Especially when he posted that on April 1st lol.

 

I'm not accusing him of being a liar or a troll or whatever, but... I'll only trust when it's officially confirmed by the studio or the makers or whatever. And I'll only really belieave once we have the confirmation that the score is already fully recorded.

In my timezone it was April 2 

[crumbs 15,507]

6 hours ago, Jay said:

There are Tanglewood concerts coming up in Q3 2025, including the premiere of his new Piano Concerto, but he was never announced as conducting or even appearing at those.  (I hope he does attend!)

 

Ah, this must be what I was thinking of. Surprising that he wouldn't conduct the premiere of his piano concerto, at Tanglewood especially.

 

As for the film scoring sessions, Spielberg shoots and edits incredibly fast when he wants to. But with a big budget and plenty of time, it should allow a leisurely writing schedule for JW. I'd be surprised if he's not writing the score come August though.

[DangerMotif 1,277]

3 hours ago, Edmilson said:

Especially when he posted that on April 1st lol.

 

I'm not accusing him of being a liar or a troll or whatever, but... I'll only trust when it's officially confirmed by the studio or the makers or whatever. And I'll only really belieave once we have the confirmation that the score is already fully recorded.

I waited till after midnight but should have probably waited till the morning, this is a very real thing. Would not joke about it

[Not Mr. Big 4,815]

14 minutes ago, DangerMotif said:

I waited till after midnight but should have probably waited till the morning, this is a very real thing. Would not joke about it

Your motif tells me otherwise 

[Mr. Hooper 5,066]

I have no reason to doubt what @DangerMotif says. If he had a history here of pulling shenanigans I'd say otherwise.

[NewBlueEyes 41]

Since John might get to score Disclosure, he would have to learn one instrument that he never wrote for.

[JohnnyD 1,531]

20 hours ago, DangerMotif said:

I don’t know if it’s appropriate to start a thread yet but I was able to confirm that John Williams is scoring this movie. Have no clue whether he started to work on it yet but really praying his health allows him to complete the project. (Not an April fools joke)

 

58 minutes ago, DangerMotif said:

I waited till after midnight but should have probably waited till the morning, this is a very real thing. Would not joke about it

 

I knew it!

[Tom 5,607]

52 minutes ago, Mr. Hooper said:

I have no reason to doubt what @DangerMotif says. If he had a history here of pulling shenanigans I'd say otherwise.

Would this be a good time for me to confirm the new Olympic theme?  

[Mr. Hooper 5,066]

Oh, you I don't trust, Tom. 

[Tom 5,607]

Good call.  Qui-Gon once told me that the ability to speak does not make me intelligent.  

[mrbellamy 7,284]

I will at least go ahead and believe that DangerMotif believes he has real confirmation 

 

As per above, Williams has backed out of a lot of things recently that he fully anticipated doing. I will keep assuming and hoping that if he can do it, he will. It's a big if but crazier things etc. 

[Naïve Old Fart 11,625]

3 hours ago, mrbellamy said:

... Williams has backed out of a lot of things recently that he fully anticipated doing. 

On that score (no pun intended), is there a list, somewhere, of films that JW was attached to, at some point, but ended up not scoring?

[Thor 9,308]

7 hours ago, Mr. Hooper said:

I have no reason to doubt what @DangerMotif says. If he had a history here of pulling shenanigans I'd say otherwise.

 

Well, I do. If you have a scoop, it's customary to either give the source or at least use a couple of words to explain why you can't divulge the source at this point. Otherwise, it just comes off as attention-seeking, to be honest.

[Darth Mulder 157]

John Williams is composing music for a new Spielberg film after suffering several strokes? That's not very likely.

[Jurassic Shark 14,975]

He probably still writes better than Zimmer. 

[BB-8 4,984]

12 hours ago, Mr. Hooper said:

I guess the only way it'll be "officially" known in a way that'll satisfy the doubters is when his plane touches down in Berlin.

I guess the only way it'll be "officially" known in a way that'll satisfy the doubters is when his foot steps onto the stage of the Berlin Philharmonic.

[Thor 9,308]

8 minutes ago, BB-8 said:

I guess the only way it'll be "officially" known in a way that'll satisfy the doubters is when his foot steps onto the stage of the Berlin Philharmonic.

 

Yes, as all those of us who travelled to London to see him, can attest to.