Tabloids everywhere are suggesting a scandalous Hollywood breakup as DreamWorks Pictures announced this week that composer John Williams would not be handling Steven Spielberg's Bridge of Spies, the first time since 1985 that he wouldn't be scoring a production from the director (from The Hollywood Reporter).
In reality, an unfortunate set of circumstances threw off the composer's schedule and Spielberg was forced to look elsewhere for musical help. Williams was originally schedule to compose for the film but a minor health issue led the 83 year-old to withdraw from the project. It will be the first time since The Color Purple that Spielberg will work with someone else. Thomas Newman will fill in.
"John Williams' schedule was interrupted and he was unavailable to score the film due to a minor health issue, now corrected," read a statement from DreamWorks.
That represents a streak of 19 films for the collaborators, including memorable, Grammy-winning scores and compositions from the films Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Munich and Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull. Perhaps his best and certainly one of his most noted scores, that of Jurassic Park, also came during that period. From the years before 1985, Williams provided the iconic soundtracks to Spielberg films including Jaws, Raiders of The Lost Ark, and Close Encounters of The Third Kind.
Williams has won 22 Grammy Awards, half of which were from films directed Spielberg. Three of his Oscars for Best Original Score came from Spielberg films.
Williams fans shouldn't panic however: He's already got another project lined-up with his director-of-choice. The pair will team up for The BFG, a Roald Dahl adaptation due to be released during 2016.
Another director was forced to split with a longtime collaborator recently however: J.J. Abrams announced that he wouldn't be working with collaborator Michael Giacchino for the first time, for the Star Wars: The Force Awakens project. The replacement? John Williams, of course.
