Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
StarWars.com has announced that John William’s soundtrack for The Force Awakens will drop the same day the movie does – December 18.
This doesn’t mean they won’t pull a ‘Qui-Gon’s Noble End’ on us – it’s highly likely we’ll get packaging leaks well ahead of time. (If not an actual, official track release.) But it’s also worth noting that they managed to avoid spoilers with the Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith soundtracks, so save your concern trolling for other matters.
The big news today is StarWars.com confirming that John Williams will be recording The Force Awakens score in Los Angeles, the first time a Star Wars score has been recorded in the U.S.
But I’ve been sitting on a few other things, so:
→ There was some scuttlebutt about how Oscar Isaac said he would be excited to work with Episode VIII director Rian Johnson, and (of course) the internet jumped on that as proof his character survives Episode VII. Now, I’d be very surprised if Poe Dameron kicks it that early, seeing as we suspect – with very heavy assistance from the trailer – that he’s one of the new Big 3. But for what it’s worth, /Film sought a clarification from him, and there’s your lesson in making hay out of Star Wars news for the week.
→ And now the rumors/spoilers: Making Star Wars had pieces on Kylo Ren and his connection to some earlier concept art, some stuff on Poe Dameron and Finn from early in the film, plus a look how things fit together from there. Then there’s some concept art of Ren and how it may connect to ‘Captain Phasma.’
Composer Alexandre Desplat (who just won an Oscar for The Grand Budapest Hotel) revealed during an interview that he will be scoring Rogue One, according to Film Music Reporter. He’ll be only the second composer to work on Star Wars live-action, after John Williams.
Desplat also scored Rogue One director Gareth Edward’s Godzilla.
Scoring isn’t something I tend to have strong opinions on, but I do think it’s a smart move for them to go off the beaten path for the spin-off films.
John Williams will begin working on Episode VII in two weeks, he told an audience in Milwaukee. (Milwaukee!)
Teddie Films parodies Sia’s ‘Chandelier’ with this video and filk.
Empire talks to Simon Kinberg about Rebels – and, of course, the Episode VII connections (he’s still playing the ‘maybe’ game.) But on the tone of the series:
“We are not afraid to take those characters to some dark places. In the first season, there are some backstories that get revealed for main characters that are a lot darker and more dramatic than anything I’ve ever seen in animated TV, and which have the same depth and childhood trauma that the characters in the movies had.”
And The Inquisitor:
What we do know is that The Inquisitor is “less of a believer in the Empire and the cause of the Empire than perhaps Darth Vader, and more of a hunting dog.” So not a Sith, per se? “I don’t know how much I’m allowed to say about that, but no, per se.”
In other Rebels news, Lucasfilm and Disney have tapped DJ and dubstep producer Flux Pavilion to remix the show’s theme.
Why not?
The Clone Wars soundtrack album is coming, composer Kevin Kiner told Star Wars Underworld.
Weird Al is releasing songs and videos from his new album every day this week, and this one really speaks to me. (Us?) Particularly the bit about Prince. And it’s really nice to have a version of ‘Blurred Lines’ that isn’t Xizor levels of skeevy.
And let’s wrap it up with this fan-made video for the song by the Brobdingnagian Bards. (You can buy the song – and the prequel version as well – on iTunes.)