A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

On Quora, member Alex Meed asks: Why didn't John Williams compose the scores for the Star Wars spin-off films? My answer:  There are several reasons why Maestro John Williams didn’t compose the scores for  Rogue One: A Star Wars Story  and  Solo: A Star Wars Story. First, Williams is, even at age 87, the five-time Academy Award-winning composer is still a sought-after guest conductor for at least two orchestras (he is the Boston Pops Orchestra’s Laureate Conductor, 25 years after stepping down as its principal conductor and music director). Health issues have forced Maestro Williams to reduce his travel schedule; this is why he has recorded the Sequel Trilogy scores with a Los Angeles-based studio orchestra instead of crossing the Atlantic and performing the music for the  Star Wars  films with the London Symphony at the Abbey Road recording studio. Second, Williams is still an active composer with a busy schedule that limits his availability for a franchise whic

Gareth Edwards' blockbuster Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is a film that boasts many "firsts" in the history of the 40-year-old franchise created by George Lucas. It is the first stand-alone Star Wars film that's not centered on the Skywalker family It is the first Star Wars film that focuses on ordinary beings from various parts of the galaxy that aren't Jedi or Force users It is the first Star Wars film to identify most of the planets with onscreen tags It is the first Star Wars film with no title crawl, no transitional "wipes," and only the second to use a pan-up establishing shot (the other being Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones It is the first live-action Star Wars film without a musical score composed and conducted by John Williams Lucasfilm President (and Rogue One producer) Kathleen Kennedy and her creative team pulled all the stops to make Rogue One: A Star Wars Story a separate part of the Star Wars universe yet faithful