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Star Wars Spinoff ‘Rogue One’ Taps Alexandre Desplat as Composer

By Kyle Warnke

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The Sith may follow the Rule of Two, but when it comes to the music of Star Wars, there’s only been one master: John Williams.

But now there’s a new apprentice in town to pick up the

lightsaber

baton.

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Composer Alexandre Desplat confirms he will score the upcoming spinoff film Rogue One, according to an interview Desplat gave on Radio Classique’s Culture Club in French (confirmed by Film Music Reporter).

Desplat recently collaborated with Rogue One‘s director, Gareth Edwards, on 2014’s Godzilla. He also won his first Oscar this year for The Grand Budapest Hotel. And he’s no slouch: That was only one of two Oscars he was up for this year, along with The Imitation Game. In total, he has eight Oscar nominations for his composing work.

The musician doesn’t have too many science fiction films on his résumé besides Godzilla, but he’s dabbled plenty in fantasy, earning credits on both Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows films along with The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

The most encouraging sign of this hire is Desplat’s recent team-up with Edwards. Assuming the two established a solid partnership on Godzilla, they can instantly pick up where they left and deliver a stellar score for Rogue One.

I’m also digging the fact that the main talent for the spinoff film is so far markedly different from the original trilogy. In addition to the director and composer, Felicity Jones is set to star, though she has no known role in the new trilogy of films.

Of course, it’s not totally out of the question that cast or crew members of Episodes VII, VIII and IX will appear in the spinoff films. But it’s slowly starting to take shape that Disney wants these spinoffs to have their own distinct identity from the new trilogy, and that entails hiring fresh talent.

Desplat certainly has a lot to live up to, and his work will undoubtedly be compared to Williams’. But the important thing isn’t that his music measure up to the greatest movie composer of all time. All that matters is that he forges his own path.

Rogue One is scheduled for release on Dec. 16, 2016.

Next: Description of Rogue One Concept Art

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