Star Wars | John Williams’ Score for The Rise of Skywalker Will Feature EVERY Star Wars Theme!
Share the Force:
Phil Roberts 
The legendary composer will deliver a whopping 135 minutes of music to conclude the Star Wars Saga.
Culminating a saga that began back in 1977 would be a daunting prospect for anyone, but for legendary composer John Williams, the finale of the Skywalker saga will bring his tenure as the composer of the Star Wars saga to a bittersweet end. Williams has been the composer for every single episode in the Skywalker saga and his masterful themes have become the lifeblood of the franchise.
As we near the release of The Rise of Skywalker, the composer is making his way into the Star Wars recording studio for the last time tasked with sweeping us away on one final symphonic adventure before he walks away from the franchise forever. But according to his brother Don, Williams is going all out to ensure he culminates the Star Wars saga with an almighty bang!
Don Williams is currently part of the orchestra for The Rise of Skywalker and he was on hand at a discussion with the Academy of Scoring Arts where he revealed some juicy tidbits about working with his brother on the new score. He revealed brother John has composed roughly 135 minutes’ worth of music for the upcoming blockbuster.
“John’s started up on another Star Wars. We started on it last week. He’s got 135 minutes’ worth of music to write, so that kind of tells how long the film is. It is top to bottom music. We’ve done four days and we just scratched the surface. I think we’ve got something like 34 minutes in the canon at this point.”
That would suggest that the score for The Rise of Skywalker is currently running at two hours and fifteen minutes, which a considerable score even for a Star Wars movie. The average Star Wars episode has a running time of over two hours and even the most detailed soundtrack (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace – The Deluxe Edition) only comes in at two hours and five minutes, which would suggest that The Rise of Skywalker is set to be a juggernaut of a finale.
When discussing whether fans of the franchise can expect to hear any of John’s iconic themes amongst the new score, Williams had this to say: “But I can tell you that every theme that you’ve heard is going to be compiled into this last effort. Leia, Yoda, ‘Phantom,’ Darth, all of it is going to be in there. And in his usual style, he hides them. You gotta go look for them.”
It sounds like J.J. Abrams and John Williams are going all out to ensure The Rise of Skywalker is going to be the mother of all send-offs, and yet, I cannot help but feel a sense of sadness that this will mark the final time the maestro will be scoring a Star Wars movie. That being said, what better way for the composer to step aside than after culminating a franchise he helped start over forty years ago.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker culminates the Skywalker legacy on December 20th.
The Future of the Force. The future of pop culture writing.
Phil Roberts is the Owner, Daily Content Manager and Editor of Future of the Force. He is passionate about Star Wars, Marvel, Batman, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, King Kong, and the Ray Harryhausen movies. Follow him on Twitter @philthecool where he uses the force frequently!
Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
Source: Academy of Scoring Arts
Phil Roberts is the owner, daily content manager, and editor-in-chief of The Future of the Force. He is a huge fan of Star Wars, Batman, DC, Marvel, Star Trek, Indiana Jones, Ghostbusters, King Kong, and the Ray Harryhausen movies.
If he’s not in the cinema he’s probably streaming something equally awesome!
In the can, not in the canon. And I highly doubt every themes ever composed by Williams for Star Wars will be in this film.