John Williams’ iconic theme from the 1978 film Superman, directed by Richard Donner, may be my favourite movie composition from the maestro. That’s saying loads. Williams clearly has magnificent titles on his resume, from Jaws and E.T. to Raiders of the Misplaced Ark, Jurassic Park, and the Harry Potter franchise. I requested Skeleton Crew co-star Jude Regulation to title his favourite, and it virtually broke his mind. However there’s one thing in regards to the heroic theme for Superman that helps it stand above the remainder. And Superman 2025 director James Gunn agrees.
Throughout a latest press occasion on behalf of the Superman trailer, which closely references the John Williams theme within the rating from John Murphy, I used to be fortunate sufficient to ask Gunn about his use of the signature Williams composition. Earlier than he elaborated on its use within the upcoming DC film, Gunn admitted to CinemaBlend:
I knew from the start what I wished to do with the music. I had considered it loads. Are we going to do one thing utterly totally different? Are we going to make use of the Williams theme? The Williams theme, that soundtrack, is one in every of my favourite soundtracks of all time. And once I was a child, actually, the factor that I beloved essentially the most in regards to the (Donner) film was the music. That was the factor I took house with me greater than the rest. However I knew we have been doing one thing that was harkening again to the previous, and was additionally wanting ahead to the longer term. And so it was about discovering that steadiness.
That must be an actual problem. The Superman theme is so intently related to the character. And different Superman motion pictures have tried to hew near the legacy that’s Richard Donner’s movie – notably, Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns, which in all probability tried too onerous to match Donner, and by no means turned its personal film.
James Gunn desires his Superman to face by itself. So, as he continued to elucidate to CinemaBlend:
John Murphy is a composer who I really like working with. He began engaged on the music earlier than the script was even completed. He was one of many first folks I gave the script to, together with Peter Safran and a few others, in order that he may begin writing music for it. And I stated, ‘I need to use a model of the Williams rating, however I need to do our personal model of it.’ So that is what you hear. What’s actually superb is how that leads into a number of different items. A few of which harken again to the Williams theme, however a few of that are purely John Murphy. It goes into that. It comes again out. It is used fantastically all through the film.
Gunn confirmed to us that John Murphy labored for 2 years on the Superman theme, a chunk of which you’ll be able to hearken to proper now.
Watch On
Superman will likely be a continuation of the DCU, a universe that James Gunn formally launched with the animated collection Creature Commandos, which can conclude in January. That collection goes a great distance towards establishing new characters that we anticipate to see in upcoming DC motion pictures and exhibits, together with Frank Grillo’s Rick Flag Sr., an antagonist in Superman and Peacemaker Season 2. It’s a really thrilling time to be a fan of DC, due to to work of James Gunn, Peter Safran, and their collaborators.