# Who should compose Star Wars music after John Williams retires or dies? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 9, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-compose-star-wars-music-after-john-williams-retires-or-dies/640517 "2012-11-09T19:58:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-compose-star-wars-music-after-john-williams-retires-or-dies/640517/21 "2012-12-05T18:40:46Z")
Hans Zimmer is quite good, and I think his work would lend itself well to the sweeping space opera of _Star Wars_. His themes for _Gladiator_ and _Pirates of the Caribbean_ are favorites of mine: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/x1f-5AxaNaQ/hqdefault.jpg "Gladiator Theme By Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1f-5AxaNaQ) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/s17XDrKuqc4/hqdefault.jpg "He's a Pirate") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s17XDrKuqc4) If he’s not available, Klaus Badelt has worked closely with him and has a very similar style. Oscar-winning Italian composer Dario Marianelli is also very talented; here’s an excerpt from _Pride & Prejudice_: [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/9qpw2Y8uDPM/hqdefault.jpg "Pride and Prejudice - Main Theme") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qpw2Y8uDPM) Jean-Claude Petit took a great neoclassical turn in his score for _Cyrano de Bergerac_ a few years back: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/NgFcEWBUK_U/maxresdefault.jpg "Jean-Claude Petit - Cyrano") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgFcEWBUK_U) [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/7eHMlwEolic/hqdefault.jpg "BSO Cyrano de bergerac - Jean Claude Petit - Finale") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eHMlwEolic) ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Doom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Dr\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-compose-star-wars-music-after-john-williams-retires-or-dies/640517/22 "2012-12-05T18:52:06Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > Danny Elfman I loved Elfman’s work on the Spiderman movies, and of course the Simpsons theme. Alan Silvestri is also pretty impressive, to me, and has done a nice range of film genres, including Forrest Gump, Predator, and Marvel’s The Avengers. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2012, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-compose-star-wars-music-after-john-williams-retires-or-dies/640517/23 "2012-12-06T01:18:47Z")
> [@Dr\_Doom](#): > > …Alan Silvestri is also pretty impressive, to me, and has done a nice range of film genres, including Forrest Gump, Predator, and Marvel’s The Avengers. Yes. His theme for _Cast Away_ is one of the most beautiful bits of film music I’ve ever heard: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmgSoa9\_y7E](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmgSoa9_y7E) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-compose-star-wars-music-after-john-williams-retires-or-dies/640517/24 "2013-03-06T14:36:43Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > …I also like Howard Shore, though his last minute replacement on _King Kong_, James Newton Howard, is pretty [good](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PwxHvLEa_OM). Also a good suggestion. He wrote a soaring, sad-but-majestic score for _I Am Legend_: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J92jnPWzuyg ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-compose-star-wars-music-after-john-williams-retires-or-dies/640517/25 "2013-03-06T18:01:49Z")
> [@JoseB](#): > > Oh, I am sure that any reasonably decent composer who can take Holst’s “Mars” and “borrow” it time and again in slightly different ways will do as good a job as Williams 😉 Amen. Any competent hack can plagiarize the greats. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-compose-star-wars-music-after-john-williams-retires-or-dies/640517/26 "2013-03-06T18:18:17Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > James Horner was first to come to mind for his scoring of Star Trek II and III. I’ll fourth or fifth Horner. His scpore for **The Rocketeer** , especially the opening, is one of my favorites, and his classic style in that score matches up pretty nicely with that of Williams in the Star Wars films. And that one, at least, has plenty of strings (like Williams’ Star Wars themes), not overdone horns. If he were still alive, I’d like to see Bernard Hermann do it. He not only has plenty of good rep for Hitchcock and other classic cinema, but he was particularly notable for fantasy and Sf film – _The Day the Earth Stood Still_, a lot of Harryhausen stuff (including _Seventh Voyage of Sinbad_ and _Jason and the Argonauts_ – talk about a lot of horns, he deliberately stayed away from strings there). His last film score was for _It’s Alive!_ His style was completely unlike Williams’, but it would certainly have fit with the subject matter. ---
**Author:** ![ministryman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@ministryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ministryman)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-compose-star-wars-music-after-john-williams-retires-or-dies/640517/27 "2013-03-06T18:38:21Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > Danny Elfman +1. Especially now that Disney owns the franchise… Nightmare Before the Empire Strikes Back BeetleDeathStar ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-compose-star-wars-music-after-john-williams-retires-or-dies/640517/28 "2013-03-06T18:44:18Z")
> [@ministryman](#): > > +1. Especially now that Disney owns the franchise… > > Nightmare Before the Empire Strikes Back > BeetleDeathStar Really? I thought he was mentioned as a joke response. His frantic creepy-gothy-oddball schtick wouldn’t be a good fit with Star Wars, I think. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-compose-star-wars-music-after-john-williams-retires-or-dies/640517/29 "2013-03-06T18:48:44Z")
> [@Dr\_Doom](#): > > Alan Silvestri is also pretty impressive, to me, and has done a nice range of film genres, including Forrest Gump, Predator, and Marvel’s The Avengers. Not to omit the Back to the Future trilogy. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-compose-star-wars-music-after-john-williams-retires-or-dies/640517/30 "2013-03-07T07:20:50Z")
**Hans Zimme** r is slated to do the score for the Superman reboot. This will essentially be the first new Superman theme in 35 years since John Williams set the standard with the first Christopher Reeve film. If he can pull this off, create a worthy replacement for Williams’ Superman motif, then I’d give him the Star Wars job! ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-compose-star-wars-music-after-john-williams-retires-or-dies/640517/31 "2013-03-07T08:39:24Z")
Don’t want to rain on anybody’s parade here, but all of you suggesting Howard Shore- you do realize he no longer works with his All Nurse Band, right? Sure, he’s pretty good on his own but without the All Nurse Band it ain’t the same. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-compose-star-wars-music-after-john-williams-retires-or-dies/640517/32 "2013-03-07T09:26:24Z")
[Michael](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe7QD0FrsXw) [Giacchino](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu0QO1za64E), when he’s not phoning it in. Maybe Joel Goldsmith, as a safety. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-compose-star-wars-music-after-john-williams-retires-or-dies/640517/33 "2013-03-07T10:57:27Z")
> [@drastic\_quench](#): > > Really? I thought he was mentioned as a joke response. His frantic creepy-gothy-oddball schtick wouldn’t be a good fit with Star Wars, I think. Me too - in fact, I thought it was a deliberate [Blue Harvest reference](http://shineon.wrzuta.pl/film/4jrrAjoV2Sg/john_williams_danny_elfman)(warning: Polish site, although the clip is in English). I was going to nominate either Horner or the guy who scored the Star Trek reboot, who upon checking turns out to be the aforementioned Michael Giacchino. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-compose-star-wars-music-after-john-williams-retires-or-dies/640517/34 "2015-06-29T20:43:14Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > James Horner was first to come to mind for his scoring of Star Trek II and III. Unfortunately no longer an option. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-compose-star-wars-music-after-john-williams-retires-or-dies/640517/35 "2015-06-29T21:00:29Z")
And you bumped a three year old thread just to make that comment? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-compose-star-wars-music-after-john-williams-retires-or-dies/640517/36 "2015-06-29T22:09:01Z")
Well, now it is resurrected, I’ll play. Patrick Doyle or Nicholas Hooper Both did separate Harry Potter movies and did amazing work. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2015, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-compose-star-wars-music-after-john-williams-retires-or-dies/640517/37 "2015-06-29T22:36:26Z")
Yeah, I’ll play along too, since the original version didn’t mention people who are already working within the franchise. Joel McNeely did the Shadows of the Empire sound track. This wasn’t a movie, but a series of books. I think the music was for the audio book version. It’s not my favorite, and I’m not real impressed with the rest of his work. Kevin Kiner is credited (or at least co-credited) with the music for both the Clone Wars cartoon and the Rebels cartoon. Given that these are more recent and include an actual Disney project, he’d be a logical choice and from what I’ve heard (Star Wars cartoons and Hell on Wheels), he could probably pull it off. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-should-compose-star-wars-music-after-john-williams-retires-or-dies/640517.md?page=1)