The opening fanfare music in every single Star Wars movie is the same; right? Wrong. Last Jedi director Rian Johnson has revealed that the famous John Williams opening fanfare is slightly different in every single new Star Wars film, and that The Force Awakens version is different from The Last Jedi.
On Tuesday, the digital download of The Last Jedi was released on multiple platforms including iTunes and Amazon Video. And if you listen to the director’s commentary track from Rian Johnson, you’ll be hit with a surprising detail right away: the opening theme music is different in The Last Jedi than it is in The Force Awakens. Here’s what Johnson says on the commentary track:
“We re-recorded it with John Williams. They re-record it every time they do it. The more interesting thing for me was the mix. Realizing it’s just like mixing a song. Realizing there’s many different ways you can mix that opening fanfare. And if you listen to all the different movies, every single one of them has a slightly different take on the mix of the fanfare. Some are brighter some are warmer. The Force Awakens one has a sharper attack to it. We went for a warmer-type feel.”
Here’s the original Star Wars fanfare and opening crawl.
And here’s The Force Awakens opening crawl and fanfare.
Johnson also admitted to writing the final draft of the text crawl the day before the final cut of the film was sent to Lucasfilm.
In terms of future Star Wars music, legendary composer John Williams has said that the forthcoming J.J. Abrams-directed Episode IX will be his last Star Wars movie. Though, Willams did compose at least one theme for Solo: A Star Wars Story.
The Last Jedi is out on digital download now and will be released on a physical Blu-ray and DVD on March 27.
Solo: A Star Wars Story is out in theaters on May 25, 2018.
