‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ gets New Composer a Mere Three Months before Release
Rogue One reshoots have been so extensive, and pushed the schedule back so much, that the film’s original composer no longer could fit the film into their schedule. That’s okay, though, cause the film has landed Michael Giacchino. You know, Star Trek guy. LOST dude. Incredibles composer.
No matter what, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will be the first Star Wars film not scored by John Williams. It just won’t be scored by who we thought. The Hollywood Reporter says Michael Giacchino just replaced Alexandre Desplat as the film’s composer.
The reason behind the change? Those damned reshoots. Apparently, because the reshoots pushed the schedule back so much, Desplat was no longer available to score the film. They asked Giacchino to step in, and he has.
For Star Wars fans, a Giacchino/Star Wars collaboration is something we long expected. The instant J.J. Abrams was brought on to direct The Force Awakens, we speculated that he’d replace Williams with his long-time collaborator. Obviously, that didn’t happen, but now we’ll hear a Giacchino Star Wars score only one year later, on the second film released under the new Disney umbrella.
To me, what’s most curious about this move is that it’s so close to release, Desplat had to have done some music for the film already. I wonder if Giacchino will be incorporating any of that, or just wiping the slate clean.
Giacchino won an Oscar for his music to Pixar’s Up but he’s also written some of the most memorable themes in recent memory. Inside Out, The Incredibles, Star Trek, Lost: all Giacchino.
Rogue One opens December 16.