Who's the first creative mind you think of when looking back on the entire Star Wars saga? It's probably George Lucas, but I'm confident that for a lot of you, John Williams comes in a close second. After all, not only has Williams scored all of the main Star Wars movies, but his epic music is one of the main reasons why the series has become so popular. Without him, Star Wars just wouldn't feel the same. That's why makes it all the more shocking that after all these decades, Williams has never seen any of the finalized Star Wars movies due to all the time he pours into the scoring process. He explained:
I let it go. I have not looked at the Star Wars films, and that's absolutely true. When I'm finished with a film, I've been living with it, we've been dubbing it, recording to it, and so on. You walk out of the studio and, 'Ah, it's finished.' I'm not particularly proud of that, I have to say, but it's also part of the fact that I finished Star Wars now and I'm already working on Spielberg's new film and I don't want to listen to music or see films.
John Williams confessed that he hasn't seen any of the seven Star Wars movies he's scored in an interview with The Mirror. He also preceded these comments by speculating that his music isn't "very memorable." It's safe to say that a lot of people would disagree with that, but as far as not seeing the movies go, that makes sense. With all the time he pours into making the Star Wars music sound perfect and appropriate for each scene, by the end he's had his fill of the project and eager to move on to the next one. Now I can't help but wonder if Williams has missed out on other movies of his that we consider to be classics, like Superman: The Movie, E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial, Jurassic Park, the Indiana Jones series, etc. It'd be a shame, but the man is entitled to do so.
It's worth noting that John Williams hasn't participated in all of the Star Wars movies. Namely, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was the first live action Star Wars movie that Williams didn't score, with Michael Giacchino handling those duties after Alexandre Desalt had to bow out due to the reshoots altering the post-production schedule. Fortunately, Williams is already confirmed to be involved with Episode VIII, and if all goes well, hopefully he'll be back for Episode IX, too.
If you're looking forward to hearing more of John Williams' soundtrack goodness, Star Wars: Episode VIII opens in theaters on December 15, 2017.
