Followup: Nicholas Hooper Confirms He Will Not Score Deathly Hallows
DH Film
Posted by: sue
July 16, 2009, 01:41 PM
Several days ago we first told you Harry Potter producer David Heyman publicly stated the rumors were true and they were in talks with legendary composer John Williams about returning to score Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Quotage: "We have talked to
John Williams and a lot of it will depend on his schedule for [Harry
Potter] seven part two. If we can make work , and that's a big if, for
his schedule and ours then yes." Today, Film Score Monthly let us know they have an interview with Nicholas Hooper on his decision to step down from the Harry Potter films and his hope that indeed John Williams may return to the post. Nicholas Hooper, who scored back to back Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, tells the magazine the work was affecting his family life, saying "I actually decided I wouldn’t [return]. It impinged on my life and my family too
much to do it again. We managed to cope with two of them, and I just
felt it was time to hand it on..." The full interview with Nicholas Hooper can be found in the new issue of the magazine.
Thanks so much Tim!
73 Comments
3238 Points
Man, I thought he was pretty good!
67 Points
He did a really good job with HP5 and HP6, bringing new themes into the score. I wonder even why some of the tracks on the soundtrack are not in HP6.
Hope Williams will be back, his HP3 score is brillant ! Let’s hope he’ll do new things (I want something else than Hedwige theme all along).
56 Points
No disrespect intended, but really? Half the songs in HBP were from the last movie so it didn’t really sound like he did that much with this one. Hopefully they can get a good replacement.
2799 Points
Don’t get me wrong, I love John Williams, but I think that Hooper did a better job, especially considering that the movies get darker and darker. We’ll just have to wait and see….. But I absolutly love the Prisoner of Azkaban soundtrack, it rocked!
Extremely incorrect. Two tracks by Nicholas Hooper from HBP were in OOTP. That’s it. The rest of the music was new.
139 Points
I just cheered when I read this. Please come back Mr. Williams. I was very disappointed with the latest soundtrack for HBP. It is the worst one out of all 6 movies! I liked only a handful of songs and none were outstanding.
8876 Points
This is great news, I read the other story a few days ago but, I didnt want to get my hopes up too much. As a John Williams fan I really hope they do bring him back to score DH, that would be awesome :)
139 Points
I just cheered when I read this. Please come back Mr. Williams. I was very disappointed with the latest soundtrack for HBP. It is the worst one out of all 6 movies! I liked only a handful of songs and none were outstanding.
Disaster!!! Hooper was the best of the lot. Williams is as subtle as an elephant in a china shop. What is he going to do with the King’s Cross scene? Turn it into ET meets Indianna Jones with trumpets, kettle drums, and hit-you-over-the-head strings? He’s too Hollywood, too loud, too in-your-face, and too sentimental. He’s Steven Speilberg’s right hand man.
He has as much a British sensibility and subtlety as Superman on steroids. He almost ruined CoS and PoA, with the endless noise and gushiness of his score. It was like listening to hammers on a metal roof whilst trying to propose to the woman of your dreams (or something). Anybody, anybody, but Williams. If we can’t have Hooper they should get a French composer. At least they know subtle and sophisticated. What a disaster.
3048 Points
As saddened as I am to hear that he is not returning, as I consider the soundtrack he created for the Half-Blood Prince to be the greatest yet, I accept his decision. His family is far more important than his career as a composer. He brings a subtlety and elegant emotional eloquence whose quiet ability to communicate meaning stands in great contrast to the more boisterous contributions of John Williams and will be missed.
5089 Points
Ok…I’m sooooo happy that he is not returning. I don’t like his scoring…It lacks originality and it gets borring. I thought that Patrick Doyle was really good in Goblet of fire but Hooper did not do justice to HBP
50 Points
I thought OotP was alright. He did much better with HBP, but I really do hope Williams will return for the 7th. He’ll make it epic.
347 Points
this is super duper news!!! Hooper was rubbish and i was devistated when i heard the new soundtrack, Williams back!! williams back!
6690 Points
williams is great for the EPIC soundtracks! i think it will be better than hooper for that—i liked hooper for OOtP buttt i am not 100% on the HBP soundtrack, good but not awesome :]
67 Points
don’t forget that the director is also an important part in the choice of the music, he works with the composer to find the mood of the movie.
I like the subtilities of Hooper soundtrack but I want something more epic for the last movies. Listen to HP3 soundtrack it’s really brillant quite different from the work Williams did with Columbus (too pushy !).
Man, I thought he was pretty good!