Episode 9 Will Be Williams' Last. Did Disney Put Him Off?

If you haven't heard already, Star Wars Episode 9 is in full swing with John Williams already confirmed to compose. But what you might not know is that in a recent interview with kusc.org Williams dropped a subtle statement that 9 would be his last. Stating that after 9 movies in the saga "that will be quite enough for him".

“We know J.J. Abrams is preparing one now that I will hopefully do next year for him,” said Williams. “I look forward it. It will round out a series of nine, that will be quite enough for me.”
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It seems strange to me why Williams would drop the mantle, even after all this time. With a reasonable break and all the creative direction and freedom, the 83-year composer should have re-visited the new movie or trilogy "fresh". Unfortunately, Disney has a firm commitment to utilising its Star Wars purchase, and there's certainly no denying serious Star Wars fatigue even amongst hardcore fans. It's been a good decade from "Revenge of The Sith" to "The Force Awakens". For many the trilogy and the saga as we knew it drew to a close but here we are...

So has fatigue really set in for those working, specifically Williams? Or is it interference from Disney in how and what he can compose?

Working under George Lucas, Williams crafted not only fresh new motifs, themes, ques, and developments but timeless ones. The prequels are not most Star Wars fans greatest memory, but one thing that will remain is the musical scores. Williams took our childhood and backwards engineered our nostalgia of previous classics into renditions that were truly original. More subtle than obvious. Prequel music that when listened to in chronological order developed into the themes and motifs we cherished. The scores to Episodes 1-3 were all original works of art that stand on their own merit. Williams very sparingly music from Episodes 4-6 and wove them into new scores to accompany the narrative. It's only at the end credits of "Revenge of The Sith" that we really get a full blast of nostalgia as Williams repeats from "A New Hope." And that's perfectly ok. It was the end credits and didn't affect the narrative in any way. If anything the 13-minute long track comes more across as a beautiful goodbye to the saga in complete form, with the "Throne Room" theme thrown in with more development, charge and energy than the original track.

So let's warp 10 years later to a whole new setting. Whether we wanted it or not we got a new trilogy under new direction and leadership. The scores to both "Force Awakens" and "Last Jedi" come off as shadows of what could have really been. As a long time film score lover, my impression of them while listenable come across as stale and underdeveloped. Why is it even nominated for an Oscar? Is this the state of movie scores in 2017? Does "The Battle of Crait" really compare to "Duel of The Fates" or "Battle of the Heroes"? What about any of the new "battle" tracks compare to Episode 2's "Arena" scene or Episode 3's Opening medley with General Grievous?

I'm just giving an example of how Williams created amazing landmark tracks vs the somewhat "autopilot" music we got. That's not to say both Episodes 7 and 8 don't have some redeemable music. I appreciate what's been done but I feel Williams was told by some Disney executive to cram in and milk as much nostalgia from the previous trilogy vs developing new event themes, landmarks and overarching motifs that mix and weave into the rest of the score. Something "Phantom Menace" did amazing with child Anakin's theme, "Duel of The Fates" and the classic "Jedi battle" music (from the original trilogy) toward the latter part of the film. Something "Attack of The Clones" did masterfully with "Across The Stars" throughout the whole score, its characters and into the milestone part of the film's score into the Arena battle leading to Yoda's first fight appearance. Even with this when Yoda is used the most, Williams did not use nor milk Yoda's themes from Episode 5 but somehow Williams ran out of ideas and motivation when it came to "Last Jedi". Really? Did "Last Jedi" have to recycle "Luke and Leia's theme" note for note? Why didn't we get a newly developed version of that old cherished track from "Return of The Jedi"? Was Williams pressed for time and thought to rush it? I think the decision came from Disney as part of their fan service mission to revisit every opportunity. Knowing there's going to be another trilogy on the way and side movies, maybe he's thinking his creative efforts and freedoms will erode more and more vs putting his time and energy into something new.
 

The sad thing is a lot of great opportunities that's been missed here. "Duel of The Fates" nor "Battle of The Heroes" were not featured in a developed or "nodded to" form in "Last Jedi". But maybe there's hope. Maybe Williams will give Disney the finger and go about Episode 9 his own way and at least deliver a score worth remembering. If I've been wrong about all this, then Williams genuinely is bored and done with Star Wars, which well... is a worse and more disappointing scenario.

I'll leave you with some Star Wars music when Williams was not recycling and over using old motifs and themes at every chance given.