Superman: Legacy Bringing The Greatest Movie Composer Out Of Retirement?
Fans might have a new reason to be excited for Superman: Legacy. A recent interview with John Williams saw the legendary film composer walking back earlier comments about his retirement, giving more fuel to the rumor that the Hollywood icon is scoring the upcoming James Gunn film. If the rumors turn out to be true, having Williams aboard would go a long way toward building goodwill with any fans still skeptical of Gunn’s new DCU.
“Everything is possible. If a film came along that I was greatly interested in, with a schedule that I could cope with, then I wouldn’t want to rule anything out.”
John Williams
The 91-year-old had previously hinted at taking a hard-earned retirement after seven decades of composing the most beloved film scores in movie history. It was thought that last year’s underwhelming Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny would be John Williams’ swan song. Now it looks like the movie Mestro doesn’t want to go out on such a lackluster note, and honestly, who could blame him?
“Everything is possible,” Williams said of his future in the entertainment business. “If a film came along that I was greatly interested in, with a schedule that I could cope with, then I wouldn’t want to rule anything out.”
John Williams already wrote the definitive Superman score back in the ’70s with a main theme that ranks right up there as one of the best pieces of music ever written for the cinema.
Williams affirmed that he is not a fan of concrete declarations, pointing out that nothing is set in stone, and he has the right to retract any statements he may have made in the past. That includes statements regarding his impending retirement.
“All is before us,” the composer said, “Only our limitations are holding us back.” He later added, “I like to keep an open mind.” It definitely doesn’t sound like John Williams is in a hurry to leave the business any time soon.
For anyone somehow not familiar with John Williams’ work, allow us to go down the list: Jaws, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, Superman, E.T., Jurrasic Park, Harry Potter—and that’s just some of the iconic scores he’s written. Trust us when we say that the man’s work most likely shaped your childhood, whether you know it or not.
So, where does Superman enter into all of this? As most fans know, John Williams already wrote the definitive Superman score back in the ’70s with a main theme that ranks right up there as one of the best pieces of music ever written for the cinema. No offense to Hans Zimmer, but nothing in his Man of Steel score even comes close to the theme that played every time Christopher Reeve took to the sky.
When James Gunn announced last year that the one aspect of Superman: Legacy that was already done was the score, fans naturally got curious. How could the music for a movie that was still being written at the time, thanks to a strike-induced hiatus, already be done? It couldn’t unless Gunn planned to use a pre-existing score…
Gunn’s further comments about why he hadn’t announced the Superman: Legacy composer yet—he had to check if they were available— made it sound even more like he already had prewritten music in mind and just needed to officially lock down that music’s composer. It’s not hard to picture James Gunn writing the Legacy script while listening to John Williams’s original Superman score and deciding just to use that score for the new film.
If the rumors turn out to be true, having Williams aboard would go a long way toward building goodwill with any fans still skeptical of Gunn’s new DCU.
Of course, all of that is conjecture on our part. It’s possible that Gunn meant the score for Man of Steel, but that wouldn’t really make much sense if he was trying to make people forget about the DCEU. On the other hand, using John Williams’ Superman score could potentially bring back DC fans who were turned off by Zack Snyder’s dark take on Superman and Co.
Now that we know John Williams is open to writing music for new movies, it kind of seems like a no-brainer to try and get him for Superman: Legacy. Hopefully James Gunn agrees.
Source: The Times
