Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Total Film
Total Film
Entertainment
Lauren Milici

John Williams, the legendary composer behind Star Wars, Jurassic Park, and the original Superman theme admits he "never liked film music very much"

John Williams.

Legendary, Oscar-winning film composer John Williams says he doesn't care for film music in general, actually.

"I never liked film music very much," Williams told The Guardian. "Film music, however good it can be – and it usually isn't, other than maybe an eight-minute stretch here and there… I just think the music isn't there. That, what we think of as this precious great film music is… we're remembering it in some kind of nostalgic way… Just the idea that film music has the same place in the concert hall as the best music in the canon is a mistaken notion, I think."

Williams is perhaps best known for creating some of the most important music in pop culture history – point blank, period. He scored the first Star Wars movie in 1977, winning an Academy Award, and then he went on to be nominated for a whopping 53 more Awards and become a 5-time Oscar winner.

His extensive catalog includes many iconic Steven Spielberg vehicles like E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Jaws, and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. More recently, Williams composed the score for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and Spielberg's coming-of-age drama The Fabelmans. He also previously stated in 2023 that he has no plans to retire anytime soon, and has "at least 10 more years" in him.

For more, check out our guide to the most exciting upcoming movies coming our way in 2025 and beyond, or, check out our list of movie release dates.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.