Much has been made about how Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny is the final adventure for Harrison Ford as the character he made iconic. But there’s another legend who deserves plenty of credit for helping to make Indiana Jones as iconic as he is, and that’s John Williams.
Dial of Destiny is almost certainly Williams’s last ride with the franchise as well, and Lucasfilm is taking time to celebrate the legendary composer. At a recent premiere showing, the legends of the franchise all came together. Director James Mangold and star Harrison Ford joined producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall, as well as executive producers Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, on stage to discuss the film – and Spielberg then introduced John Williams, who was behind the curtain with a full orchestra to treat the audience to a show.
Additionally, they released a short featurette about Williams and his impact, with James Mangold, Kathleen Kennedy, and Harrison Ford sharing tribute. Mangold said that Williams initially thought about just doing some themes for the film (like he did with Solo or Obi-Wan Kenobi), but just kept writing and wound up scoring the whole thing.
For the Indiana Jones franchise, just like with Star Wars, it’s impossible to imagine the films without the influence of John Williams’s brilliant music. He has provided the score for Raiders of the Lost Ark, Temple of Doom, The Last Crusade, and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the first three of which all received Academy Award nominations for best original score. Dial of Destiny is his fifth score for the Indiana Jones franchise, and it’s sure to be just as great as the others.
In all, this movie marks the 14th original score that John Williams has composed for a Lucasfilm movie, spanning all nine Skywalker films in the Star Wars franchise and all five Indiana Jones films. He’s also worked on three other projects, composing themes for Solo: Star Wars Story, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and the Galaxy’s Edge theme park. His work for Lucasfilm has earned him nine Academy Award nominations (1 win) and 19 Grammy nominations (8 wins).
UPDATE: Disney Music has released the new theme for Helena Shaw composed by John Williams. Enjoy!
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