John Williams returns to score Star Wars: Episode VII, it has been announced.
Oscar-winner John Williams, who has composed all six films in the Sci-Fi saga, said he was “happy to be continuing to be part of the whole fun” of the franchise.
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy confirmed the news at a Star Wars fan event in Germany.
In an interview with StarWars.com, John Williams hinted he would likely use some of the music from previous films.
John Williams returns to score Star Wars: Episode VII
“I haven’t seen the script, so the story is still unknown to me, but I can’t image there will not be some references to the existing stories that would make appropriate use of some of the earlier themes,” he said.
The composer has won five Oscars over his 60-year career for his famous film scores including Jaws, E.T The Extra-Terrestrial and the first Star Wars film.
John Williams has also been nominated for more than 40 other Academy Awards for his work on movies including Superman, the Indiana Jones films, Saving Private Ryan and most recently, Lincoln.
In April, Episode VII director JJ Abrams indicated he wanted John Williams to score his film, but said it was “early days”.
In his latest interview, John Williams praised the director saying he was “perfectly chosen to continue George Lucas’s great odyssey”.
Star Wars: Episode VII is scheduled to be released in 2015.
Disney has announced a new Star Wars film will appear yearly from 2015, alternating between new episodes in the space saga and spinoff character films.
The announcement, made at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, was reported by Comingsoon.
Star Trek director JJ Abrams will begin the new cycle of movies with Episode VII, from a script by Little Miss Sunshine writer Michael Arndt.
Star Wars creator George Lucas sold his film production company Lucasfilm to Disney last year for $4.05 billion.
The latest announcement was made by Walt Disney Co chairman Alan Horn, at the annual movie theatre convention CinemaCon in Las Vegas.
In February, Disney announced that alongside a new trilogy, a series of films built around existing characters from the Star Wars universe were in development.
JJ Abrams will begin the new cycle of Star Wars movies with Episode VII, the first to be released in 2015
It is rumored the first stand-alone film could focus on the diminutive Jedi master Yoda.
The spinoff films will be written by Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg.
Lawrence Kasdan worked on the scripts of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi – the second and third installments of the first Star Wars trilogy while Simon Kinberg is best known for his work on X-Men: The Last Stand and Guy Ritchie’s hit reboot of Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr.
Fans’ reactions to Disney’s announcement on social networks and film websites have been mixed.
The original Star Wars film starred Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford as they took on the evil Empire “in a galaxy, far, far away”.
In a recent interview George Lucas hinted at a cast reunion, revealing the trio were “in final stages of negotiation”.
