Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. The AFI did a huge tribute to John Williams last night and of course Steven Spielberg was there. The main table was like my childhood dream team of Spielberg, Lucas and Williams. In attendence were folks like JJ Abrams and a crazily bearded Harrison Ford, who said (and I'm only slightly paraphrasing here) "Your damn music follows me everywhere."
Well, get ready for it to follow you at least one more time, Harrison. Spielberg told Access Hollywood's Scott Mantz that Williams will indeed be returning for Indy 5, which is still planned for a 2019 release.
That's nothing but good news. I know there's a lot of cynicism around this project after Crystal Skull, but all I see in this sequel is Spielberg and Co taking a mulligan and getting a shot at going out on top. That includes Williams, who I admire more than just about any other living composer, but even I can't go to bat for his Crystal Skull score. I hate the prequels, but loved their music, so it's not just that Crystal Skull didn't fully work (and has aged incredibly poorly). Williams' score was a career low for him there, in my opinion. It's still solid, don't get me wrong, but it's flat, which is something an Indy score can not be.
So, I'm optimistic for Indy 5, whichever direction they go with it. I know Spielberg took some of the criticism of Crystal Skull to heart and I have to believe he'll not repeat those same mistakes.
Not that he needs any advice from me, but the only thing I want for Spielberg to do with an Indy 5 is make the movie he wants to see, tell the story he wants to tell, not what he thinks the audience wants. Less winky-winky fan service would be a huge step forward from the last time, I think.
Williams also spoke to Variety and reiterated what he said in mid-May, that if "I can do (Star Wars Episode VIII, I will," adding that he was pretty much in love with composing for Daisy Ridley's Rey and just couldn't imagine someone else doing her music.
So, that's the news. Another "maybe probably maybe" for Star Wars VIII and a "he's doing it!" from Spielberg on Indy 5.
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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