Legendary composer John Williams has seemingly walked back his plans to retire, revealing to frequent collaborator and fellow legend Steven Spielberg that he plans to “stick around” for another decade. And he hopes to work with Spielberg again and again during that time. Appearing together at an American Cinematheque celebration event at the Writers Guild of America Theater (via THR), Williams heaped praise on the Jurassic Park and The Fabelmans director saying…
Williams’ revelation caused an eruption of applause from the audience, with the composer then making mention of Spielberg’s late father, Arnold Spielberg, who worked with the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education until he was 100 years old.
“Steven is a lot of things. He’s a director, he’s a producer, he’s a studio head, he’s a writer, he’s a philanthropist, he’s an educator. One thing he isn’t is a man you can say ‘no’ to.”
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Williams, who has of course crafted several of the most recognizable themes in cinematic history, including the likes of Star Wars, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, and Jurassic Park, stated in June last year that he was thinking of walking away from the film industry following the release of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. “At the moment I’m working on ‘Indiana Jones 5,’ which Harrison Ford — who’s quite a bit younger than I am — I think has announced will be his last film,” Williams said. “So, I thought: If Harrison can do it, then perhaps I can, also.”
“So I’ve got 10 more years to go. I’ll stick around for a while! Also, you can’t ‘retire’ from music. It’s like breathing. It’s your life. It’s my life. A day without music is a mistake.”
This change of plans came as a surprise to everyone in attendance, including Spielberg, who quickly quipped that he’d “better get to work to find out what the hell I’m doing next!” so that the pair could reunite.
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John Williams Will Next Provide the Score for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
John Williams will next provide the score for the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which will find Harrison Ford playing the beloved adventurer for the final time. Unless he changes his mind as well, of course…
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny drops audiences in 1969, where American archeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones lives against the backdrop of the Space Race. Jones has grown uneasy over the U.S. Government’s use of former Nazis to help beat the Soviet Union in the competition to make it to space, heading off on a final adventure to stop Jürgen Voller, a NASA member and ex-Nazi involved with the moon-landing program, who wishes to remake the world as he sees fit.
Directed by James Mangold (Ford v Ferrari, Logan), Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny stars Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, Shaunette Renee Wilson, Thomas Kretschmann, Toby Jones, Boyd Holbrook, Oliver Richters, Ethann Isidore, and Mads Mikkelsen.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is scheduled for release theatrically on June 30, 2023, by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.
