Steven Spielberg has plans to create a documentary depicting iconic composer John Williams' lifelong career.
The Hollywood Reporter confirmed that Amblin Television, Imagine Documentaries and Nedland Media have begun production on the film with Laurent Bouzereau directing. Spielberg serves as executive producer with Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, Justin Wilkes, Sara Bernstein and Meredith Kaulfers.
Spielberg and Williams' first collaboration was in 1974 on The Sugarland Express, which began a 50-year friendship and work partnership. "I don't think we've ever had a disagreement," Spielberg said. "I mean, what am I going to do? Sit down and write the music myself?" The 90-year-old composer has written music for countless well-known franchises, including Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park and three Harry Potter installments.
In September 2022, Williams was among the last people knighted by the late Queen Elizabeth II. In total, the queen reportedly granted honorary knighthoods to 27 Americans during her longtime reign. She knighted Spielberg in 2001, though neither the director nor Williams can identify themselves as "Sir" since they are not from the United Kingdom.
John Williams Isn't Retiring Yet
As for Williams' recent credits, the composer completed his final Star Wars score in 2019 with The Rise of Skywalker, though he returned to write the theme for Obi-Wan Kenobi in 2022. He also recently collaborated with Spielberg on The Fabelmans and the upcoming Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which marks the fifth installment in the action-adventure series since beginning with 1981's Raiders of the Lost Ark. While many believed Dial of Destiny would be Williams' final film before retirement, he shocked Spielberg by revealing he plans to continue working on films beyond the forthcoming Indiana Jones movie. Star Harrison Ford, however, reportedly plans to hang up Indy's fedora after Dial of Destiny.
Williams got himself in a bit of hot water in December 2022 when he claimed Dial of Destiny had to shoot multiple endings, which director James Mangold later debunked. "Our film is 99% finished, getting rated by MPAA & VFX being completed," Mangold wrote. "He was mistaken. Asked and answered elsewhere." The director also answered a fan's question about how many tracks Williams wrote for the film. Mangold revealed that the Jaws composer wrote and conducted about "two hours of brilliant music" with more than 60 cues.
Dial of Destiny primarily takes place in 1960s Manhattan but includes a flashback sequence that employs technology to de-age Ford into a 1944 version of Indy. "I wanted the chance to dive into this kind of full-on George [Lucas]-and-Steven [Spielberg] old picture and give the audience an adrenaline blast," Mangold remarked about the flashback scene. In the franchise's fifth entry, viewers will witness the archaeology professor face off against Jürgen Voller (Mads Mikkelsen), an ex-Nazi involved with the moon-landing program at NASA. Voller was inspired by real-life Nazi-turned-engineer Wernher von Braun.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny releases in theaters on June 30.
Source: THR