by: S. Scott Stanikmas

Fans were excited to hear that John Williams would be returning to familiar territory and scoring the new Star Wars film. And why wouldn’t we be? The man is responsible for some of the greatest and most recognizable music to grace the silver screen.

So of course the question on everyone’s mind was “Would we hear the classic SW theme in this new incarnation?” Vanity Fair caught up with the composer and put that question to him.

VF: In the new score, aside from the main Star Wars theme, are you going to be reviving any of the themes from the first trilogy which were associated with Luke, Leia, and Han?

JW: There are some scenes where we do make reference to earlier thematic pieces. We haven’t done it yet, but we’re planning to do it. It’s something that I think will seem very natural and right in the moments for which we’ve chosen to do these kinds of quotes. There aren’t many of them, but there are a few that I think are important and will seem very much a part of the fabric of the piece in a positive and constructive way.

So that’s good news for fans of the original score. Hopefully they use it as a bridge when established characters meet newer ones – kind of an intergalactic mash-up!