Cue the menacing tuba. And the Imperial March. And the rousing Indiana Jones theme. Five-time Oscar-winning composer John Williams is getting the feature documentary treatment, and his half-century collaborator is among those wielding the baton.
Steven Spielberg and his Amblin Television are teaming with Imagine Documentaries and Nedland Media for an untitled doc about the legendary composer behind such franchises as Star Wars, Jaws, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park and Harry Potter, Deadline has confirmed. Directed by Laurent Bouzereau (Five Came Back), the project is in the early stages, with Spielberg exec producing alongside Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Darryl Frank, Justin Falvey, Justin Wilkes, Sara Bernstein and Meredith Kaulfers.
Williams, who turns 91 in a few weeks, has been nominated for 52 Academy Awards during his singular 67-year career and won for Fiddler on the Roof (1971), Jaws (1975), Star Wars (1977), E.T. The Extra-Treeestrial (1982) and Schindler’s List (1994) — the last four helmed by Spielberg. He also has three Emmys on his mantle, dating to 1968.
Starting with television in the late 1950s, Williams has more than 165 composing credits — stretching from Playhouse 90, Wagon Train and Lost in Space to hit features including The Poseidon Adventure, The Towering Inferno, the Christopher Reeves-led Superman films, Home Alone, JFK, Angela’s Ashes and The Patriot.
And the composer has stayed busy, penning the music for Spielberg’s current awards-season favorite The Fabelmans and Disney+’s Star Wars spinoff series Obi-Wan Kenobi. (Deadline)