Lucasfilm announced today that John Powell will score the untitled Han Solo movie. The film is directed by Ron Howard who took over directing duties from Chris Miller and Phil Lord and stars Alden Ehrenreich in the title role, alongside Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Joonas Suotamo. Lawrence Kasdan (Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi) and Jon Kasdan wrote the screenplay. Kathleen Kennedy is producing the project with Allison Shearmur and Simon Emanuel. Powell (How to Train Your Dragon, The Bourne Identity, Shrek, Happy Feet) follows John Williams who scored all original Star Wars movies and Michael Giacchino who composed the music for last year’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story as the third composer to score a live-action feature in the Star Wars universe. Han Solo will be released on May 25, 2018 by Walt Disney Pictures.
Powell’s upcoming projects also include the animated features Ferdinand and How to Train Your Dragon 3.
Look what just jumped to the top of next summer’s must-see list (tough luck, Infinity War).
That’s the good part about the directors having been replaced on this movie. If it still were Lord & Miller, then probably Mark Motherbaugh would write the score. But Ron Howard have worked throughout his career with great composers like James Horner, Thomas Newman, Hans Zimmer and Roque Baños. Actually, some of Horner’s very best scores (Cocoon, Willow, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind) were written for his movies. So, at least he would handle the music part better than Lord & Miller. And I loved that Howard chose Powell, it’s a brilliant choice for a Star Wars movie (aside from, of course, John Williams himself).
I COMPLETELY AGREE WITH YOU! JOHN POWELL IS PROBABLY THE BEST CHOICE!
First, they miscast Solo by not casting Anthony Ingruber who is the spitting image of a young Ford then fired the Lord and Miller and now John Powell for composer? I mean, he’s good but he’s no Hans Zimmer. This movie is doomed.
You are right. Powell is no Zimmer. Zimmer nowadays lets someone else to do his job and he’s mostly into drones with one note themes. Unlike Powell, who even with additional composers, he does most of the job and his scores are diverse, thematic and melodic.
Zimmer for Star Wars? LOL
Hans Zimmer is a great composer but he has none of the class necessary for a Star Wars film. He barely manages to write one decent theme in a movie and then rehashes it in a million different ways which is cool but definitely not Star Wars worthy.
Hans Zimmer is a great composer but he has none of the class necessary for a Star Wars film. He barely manages to write one decent theme in a movie and then rehashes it in a million different ways which is cool but definitely not Star Wars worthy. John Powell on the other hand has all the classic trumpets down with the old style orchestra… plus he is the master when it comes to multiple themes. If anyone could replicate a Star Wars film without replicating it to the exact… it would be Johny P