Movies without John Williams
What movies has Spielberg made without John Williams providing the score?
shareOne, I think. John wasn't available.
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MovieChat Forums > Steven Spielberg Discussion > Movies without John Williams
Counting only feature length TV movies and theatrical films, John Williams has only missed out on 7¼ Spielberg films since 1971. Williams has scored every Spielberg short film/documentary since 1974, as far as I know, plus some TV episodes directed by Spielberg as well (Amazing Stories). Williams did no TV work with Spielberg prior to 1974 during Spielberg's apprenticeship. There is some controversy as to whether or how much of Poltergeist (1982) Spielberg directed. That was scored by Jerry Goldsmith. If you are in the camp that Spielberg secretly directed it then you could count that in the "without John Williams" category, as well.
TV Movies (3):
Duel (1971) Billy Goldenberg
Something Evil (1972) Wladimir Selinsky
Savage (1973) Gil Mellé
Feature Films (4 ¼):
Twilight Zone: The Movie {"Kick the Can" sequence}* (1982) Jerry Goldsmith
The Color Purple (1985) Quincy Jones
Bridge of Spies (2015) Thomas Newman
Ready Player One (2018) Alan Silvestri
West Side Story (2022) Leonard Bernstein
*multipart film with four separate directors
I imagine few, if any, Spielberg films from hereon out will use Williams as the composer. He's retired like 8 times and I bet he's too old now.
shareIf Spielberg can raise the money to make a new film (after several flops in a row) I believe he WILL use Williams again if his collaborator is still physically and mentally up to the task. We may yet see one or two more Williams/Spielbrg collaborations. I would have thought Williams was too old a few years ago, but he still seems exceptional sharp, and keeps up a composing and conducting schedule to this day. It's easy to overlook how much music he's actually written in the last ten to fifteen years due to the fact that it has mostly been concert music. It depends on Williams' psychical health and mental stamina, and how quickly Spielberg can put out another movie. Williams can't have too much more time, though. At some point, he will not be able to do it anymore.
I WOULD like to see Williams do one more Spielberg feature film. That would bring their total number of feature film collaborations to an even 30.
"If Spielberg can raise the money to make a new film (after several flops in a row) I believe he WILL use Williams again if his collaborator is still physically and mentally still up to the task."
I think he can probably finance any movie he likes out of his own pocket...
Probably, but he will have to resign himself to it being streaming only, most likely.
shareJohn Williams specifically turned DOWN the remake of West Side Story because he knew it would suck and that he wouldn't be able to top the score to the original. He probably tried to warn Spielberg NOT to mess with the iconic original film, but Spielberg wouldn't listen!
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