A ‘Jurassic’ score for Williams
If you can hum a classic movie theme song, there’s a good chance it was written by John Williams. From “Star Wars” and “E.T.: The Extraterrestrial” to “Jaws” and “Harry Potter,” the superstar composer has more or less built the template for what blockbuster Hollywood film scores ought to sound like.
Yet despite boasting more than 20 Grammys (and twice that in nominations), one of Williams’ most iconic themes — the original “Jurassic Park Theme” — has never made it into the top 10. Any top 10. Until now, that is: On the eve of the release of the franchise’s newest installment, “Jurassic World,” his song hit the No. 9 slot on the Classical Digital Songs chart last week. It then sold a whopping 1,000 downloads to rise to No. 6 this week, Billboard reports.
Even weirder: “World’s” score was composed by Michael Giacchino, not Williams (though with credits like “Cloverfield” and “Up,” Giacchino is perhaps the closest thing Williams has to an heir in Hollywood). The “World” soundtrack does contain an updated version of Williams’ original, but it’s the original, not the adaptation, that’s finally charted.