Curated playlist
Films scored by John Williams
- Star Wars (film)Star Wars opened on the 25th of May 1977, in just 32 theaters across the United States. The cast and crew believed it would be a failure. The film went $3 million over budget. George Lucas was so absorbed in work on opening day that he…
- Jaws (film)Jaws, the 1975 thriller directed by Steven Spielberg, begins with a simple and terrifying image: a young woman swimming alone at night, and then something pulling her under. In the morning, only part of her remains washes ashore. That…
- A.I. Artificial IntelligenceA.I. Artificial Intelligence arrived in theaters on the 29th of June 2001, carrying the weight of two filmmakers' visions and nearly three decades of troubled development. Stanley Kubrick had first acquired the rights to Brian Aldiss's…
- Return of the JediReturn of the Jedi opened in American theaters on the 25th of May 1983. Lucas booked that date deliberately, exactly six years after the original Star Wars had premiered in 1977. Richard Marquand directed it from a screenplay by Lawrence…
- Star Wars: The Last JediStar Wars: The Last Jedi is dedicated to Carrie Fisher, who played General Leia Organa and died on the 27th of December 2016. Written and directed by Rian Johnson, the film is the second installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy,…
- The Empire Strikes BackThe Empire Strikes Back opens with a single haunting image: probe droids scattered across the galaxy, hunting. It was the 21st of May 1980, and audiences packing into just 126 theaters across North America had little idea that the film…
- Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom MenaceStar Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace was still shooting in the Tunisian desert outside the city of Tozeur when disaster struck. On the night after the third day of filming there, an unexpected sandstorm tore through the Mos Espa set.…
- Star Wars: The Rise of SkywalkerStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker carried a net budget of about $490.2 million. That made it the second most expensive film ever produced. The price tag hints at how much was riding on one movie. J. J. Abrams directed the film. He was…
- Star Wars: The Force AwakensStar Wars: The Force Awakens arrived in theaters on the 18th of December 2015, carrying a weight that almost no film in history had to bear. Thirty-two years had passed since Return of the Jedi closed out the original trilogy. A generation…
- Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the ClonesStar Wars: Episode II, Attack of the Clones premiered on Sunday, the 12th of May 2002. The screening took place at the BMCC Performing Arts Center in New York City, opening the first Tribeca Film Festival. It benefited the Children's Aid…
- Lincoln (film)Lincoln, Steven Spielberg's 2012 biographical drama, opens not with a battle or a speech but with a political puzzle: how does a president end slavery when the courts might undo his most important act? Daniel Day-Lewis plays Abraham…
- Indiana Jones and the Dial of DestinyIndiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny reached theaters in 2023, decades after Paramount Pictures signed a deal in 1979 for five Indiana Jones films. James Mangold directed this fifth entry, working from a screenplay he wrote with David…