Composer John Williams announced he will be leaving the “Star Wars” franchise after next year’s “Episode IX.”
“We know (director) J.J. Abrams is preparing one now that I will hopefully do next year for him,” Williams told KUSC radio. “I look forward to it. It will round out a series of nine that will be quite enough for me.”
“Episode IX” is expected to be the final installment in the current storyline as well as the last chapter in the long-running saga of the Skywalker family.
“Doing the first film in 1977, none of us had any idea that there would be a second film,” Williams said. “It’s developed in the most amazing way.”
Disney plans to make more “Star Wars” films featuring new storylines and characters, but it looks like it will have to do so without Williams, who has scored eight “Episode” movies.
In addition to “Star Wars,” the 86-year-old maestro has composed some of the most instantly recognizable themes in the history of cinema, including “Jaws,” “E.T.,” “Superman,” “Jurassic Park,” “Raiders Of The Lost Ark,” “Schindler’s List” and the first three “Harry Potter” films.
Williams, who has won five Oscars and 24 Grammy Awards, will receive the Grammy Trustees Award from The Recording Academy this summer.
“Star Wars: Episode IX,” which does not yet have a full title, is set for release on Dec. 20, 2019.
Less than seven months later, the fifth installment in the “Indiana Jones” series will hit screens. Williams scored the other four films and plans to do the music for this one as well.
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