The Man Behind Basically Every Iconic Movie Theme Almost... Wasn't

Star Wars Was Supposed To Sound Like A Classical Music Mixtape

George Lucas didn't originally want an original score at all — he wanted to needle-drop classical pieces the way Kubrick had done in 2001, and his temp track leaned hard on Holst and Korngold. Spielberg pushed his friend to meet Williams instead, and by Williams' own account, it was Williams who then had to talk Lucas OUT of using pre-existing music entirely.

Spielberg Straight-Up Laughed At The Jaws Theme The First Time He Heard It

Before Williams cracked the code, Spielberg had temped his killer-shark movie with Williams' own eerie score from the 1972 film Images. So when Williams sat at the piano and played just two alternating notes for the shark, Spielberg's reaction wasn't awe — it was laughter. Spielberg later admitted he "had a great sense of humor, and I thought he was putting me on," before realizing those two notes were exactly what the movie needed.

Williams Quietly Walked Away From Hogwarts — And Almost Nobody Noticed

Williams scored the first three Harry Potter films and wrote Hedwig's Theme, but after Prisoner of Azkaban, scheduling conflicts (reportedly including his wish to score Memoirs of a Geisha) meant he never came back, handing the reins to Patrick Doyle, then Nicholas Hooper, then Alexandre Desplat for the rest of the saga. Producer David Heyman later confirmed they tried repeatedly to get him back for the finale: "We wanted to make it work with John but John's schedule didn't permit."

Superman Almost Had A Completely Different Composer Entirely

Before that unmistakable fanfare ever existed, Superman: The Movie was set to be scored by Jerry Goldsmith — the Omen composer director Richard Donner already trusted. But as the notoriously chaotic production dragged on, Goldsmith had to bow out over scheduling conflicts, and Williams stepped in fresh off his Star Wars Oscar win. Producer Ilya Salkind later admitted it felt almost too good to be true: "It was a big deal to have him at that moment."

Williams Tried To Talk Himself OUT Of Scoring Schindler's List

When Spielberg first approached Williams about Schindler's List, Williams reportedly told him flat out, "You need a better composer than I am for this film." Spielberg's response has become legendary: "I know. But they're all dead!" Williams took the job anyway and won his fifth Oscar for it, with Itzhak Perlman's violin solo becoming one of the most devastating pieces of music ever written for a film.