Who should be the Director for Star Wars Episode 7?

[Captaindemotion]

A Star Wars movie won't sound like SW without a theme in the vein of Williams. It's not like the forthcoming Superman movie, where they understandably want to distance themselves from the Donner movies and thus Williams' iconic score. Star Wars needs to sound like Star Wars.

[Kegg]

Morpheus 02 wrote:

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Bear McCreary. No doubt the new movie will have way more aliens than the original. His score for BSG seemed way more alien than the series "deserved" (the series & the peoples felt very American).

It's true that nuBSG's culture was largely American, but it was American with a melange of other influences - the Greek gods, etc. I think McCreary's electic influences fit in very well with that show.

The Mirrorball Man wrote:

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I don't want a John Williams clone. If we can't have Williams himself, they should hire someone completely different, like Terence Blanchard or Jonny Greenwood.

I don't think it needs a clone like Ottman's work on Superman Returns, but a composer working in the same neo-romantic film music tradition as John Williams would be a good call (hence my pick of Howard Shore).

[JD]

Howard Shore did the LOTR movies, right? I think he would do a great SW score.

[The Mirrorball Man]

Kegg wrote:

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I don't think it needs a clone like Ottman's work on Superman Returns, but a composer working in the same neo-romantic film music tradition as John Williams would be a good call (hence my pick of Howard Shore).

Ah, but that's an excellent example, because before Lord of the Rings, Howard Shore didn't do a whole lot of neo-romantic scores. I do believe that Blanchard or Greenwood or other non-conventional choices could write music that would fit a Star Wars movie while bringing something new to the plate, which is what Shore did for LOTR.

[Skywalker]

I fully expect to hear Michael Giacchino's name get bandied about once the search for a composer begins.

[Kegg]

The Mirrorball Man wrote:

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I do believe that Blanchard or Greenwood or other non-conventional choices could write music that would fit a Star Wars movie while bringing something new to the plate, which is what Shore did for LOTR.

That's true, but when you were championing someone 'completely different' I assumed the subtext was also to have very different sounding music (with Greenwood say putting out a soundtrack more like There Will Be Blood than Empire Strikes Back).

Whoever the composer is, I think a neo-romantic score littered with easily identifable leitmotifs is the best way to go for a Star Wars picture.

[The Mirrorball Man]

Kegg wrote:

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That's true, but when you were championing someone 'completely different' I assumed the subtext was also to have very different sounding music (with Greenwood say putting out a soundtrack more like There Will Be Blood than Empire Strikes Back).

Whoever the composer is, I think a neo-romantic score littered with easily identifable leitmotifs is the best way to go for a Star Wars picture.

Yes, but I think there's an opportunity to do something fresh within the usual Star War guidelines here, not unlike what Max Richter did with Vivaldi's "Four Seasons", and I'll be disappointed when they appoint a soundtrack drone instead of someone who has a vision and a sense of style.

[Caliburn24]

Personally I'd like to see Bear McCreary, John Powell or Murray Gold get a crack at Star Wars. All three know how to use a full orchestra, all three like leit motifs, and any of them could bring that epic "Star Wars" feel. And all three deserve a chance for that break-out score.