It’s official: John Williams will be returning to a galaxy far, far away to provide a score for J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII.
The legendary film composer confirmed his involvement with Abrams and producer Kathleen Kennedy’s developing sequel during the above video, which was played at Star Wars: Celebration Europe (according to USA TODAY), a Lucasfilm-sanctioned fan event that was held in Essen, Germany. Said Williams:
"I'm happy to be a continuing part of the Star Wars saga and the joy in the journey of discovery that awaits us all."
And yet, in the video, Williams admits what many of us fear: He hasn’t seen a script and doesn’t know the story for Abrams’ planned Star Wars sequel, and has no idea what lies ahead. Williams, to his credit, confesses that he prefers NOT to know what’s coming up in the storyline. Internet bloggers politely disagree, I am sure, as we all have been scouring the ‘Net for the latest detail pertaining to the next chapter in the ongoing Star Wars saga.
What we are hearing lately, unfortunately, has been bad. Or vague, which is a more accurate description. There has been a persistent rumor that Abrams might actually be backing away from the project. There have been casting rumors linking teen heartthrob Zac Efron and brooding Ryan Gosling to the mysterious project. There was new that Lucas hadn’t even spoken to Abrams about his vision for the future of the saga.
And while Williams likely is on the outside looking in for the major Star Wars decisions, he does confirm in the video that Abrams still is in place as the director of Episode VII, and that he’s the trusted guardian of the next steps in Star Wars.
Many of us believe that there will be huge Episode VII news revealed at Disney’s own D23 Expo in August. The studio only unveiled their Marvel projects at Comic-Con, and could grab major headlines by dropping key information regarding Abrams’ sequel at the Anaheim, California event. In the meantime, we know that Williams will be bringing his triumphant chords to yet another Star Wars film. To help get your blood pumping, here’s a video of Williams conducting the Main Theme of Lucas’ film with the Boston Pops. Try not to do an Imperial March around your house.
