JOHN WILLIAMS’ “MINORITY REPORT” SCORE MARKS 30 YEARS OF COLLABORATION WITH DIRECTOR STEVEN SPIELBERG

LOS ANGELES, May 28, 2002 ¯ Asked to sum up his very latest commission, composer John Williams – the recipient of five Academy Awards and 19 Grammy Awards – calls it “challenging.”

“This film represents a departure for Steven and to some degree for me,” says Williams of the Spielberg-directed, Tom Cruise-starring “Minority Report,” which premieres nationally June 21. “It’s a science-fiction film and an action film and it has elements of film noir. It’s also tinged with humor and satire. Then, on top of all that, there’s an emotional dimension that’s warm and tender. The score has to address all of this.”

Based on a story by famed science fiction writer Philip K. Dick, “Minority Report” is set in Washington, D.C., in 2054, a time when police utilize a psychic technology to arrest and convict murderers before they commit their crimes. Tom Cruise plays the head of this Pre-Crime unit and is himself accused of the future murder of a man he has yet to meet.

Typically, Williams rose to the musical challenges presented by the film, composing the score, conducting the orchestra and producing Minority Report: Original Motion Picture Score (DreamWorks Records), released June 18. “Minority Report” is the 18th Spielberg-directed film for which Williams has provided music. In fact, he’s done so for all of Spielberg’s films except one (1985’s “The Color Purple”). This is the 30th year of Williams’ association with Spielberg, which started with the director’s first major motion picture, “The Sugarland Express” (begun in 1973 and released the following year). The teaming is perhaps the most celebrated in all of film history.

Says Williams: “This kind of longevity is almost unheard of between a composer and director. But Steven is a marvelous collaborator and a marvelous human being. His films are successful not just because he shoots and edits brilliantly, or because he’s such a good storyteller, but because his basic humanity always comes through. I have been very fortunate to have worked with him from the start.”

Of course, Williams has enjoyed fruitful pairings with other directors as well, among them George Lucas. In fact, Williams plunged into the “Minority Report” score immediately after finishing that for “Star Wars: Episode II – Attack Of The Clones.”

Film composers are frequently relegated to writing music based on bits and pieces of a cinematic work in progress. But Williams was able to view a nearly complete version of “Minority Report” before ever penning a note for the score. As a result, he was able to weave together the film’s disparate moods in a cohesive manner, as well as undertake something unexpected.

The haunting theme “Visions Of Anne Lively,” for example, marries the orchestral and the electronic. “The electronic piece is synched up with the orchestra,” Williams explains. “So it becomes a kind of loop that’s orchestral but also synthesized. It wafts through the film.” Another intriguing variation is represented by the piece “A New Beginning,” heard at the end of “Minority Report.” “That surprises a lot of people,” says Williams. “We’ve been in a dark, futuristic mode and then, unexpectedly, there’s this lyricism reflecting a sense of innocence and hope.”

Asked to comment on the creative process that has fueled his work for more than three decades, Williams ventures: “You learn as you go. I write what I can every day and I bring all I have to bear on that daily work. All we owe ourselves is the determination to do our best. Every now and then, unavoidably, I hear something I wrote 30 years ago and I think either, ‘That’s pretty good,’ or ‘I can do better than that,’ or ‘I should’ve known better.’ Still, those reactions are no different from what I might feel about something I wrote last week. But writing for film is not a job for me; it’s an obsession – I become more in love with it the more I do it.”

Williams has created many of film’s most memorable scores. Nominated for 41 Academy Awards, he won Best Original Score honors for Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” (1993), “E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial” (1982) and “Jaws” (1975). He also garnered statuettes for “Star Wars” (1977) and “Fiddler On The Roof” (1971). Among the films for which he’s been nominated are: the Spielberg entries “Close Encounters Of The Third Kind” (1977), “Raiders Of The Lost Ark” (1981), “Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom” (1984), “Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade” (1989), “Amistad” (1997), “Saving Private Ryan” (1998) and “Artificial Intelligence: A.I.” (2001); a pair of Lucas’ other “Star Wars” episodes, “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980) and “Return Of The Jedi” (1983); and Oliver Stone’s “Born On The Fourth Of July” (1989), “JFK” (1991) and “Nixon” (1995).

Williams’ remarkable discography includes seven gold and two platinum score albums, including recent achievements like “Harry Potter And The Sorcerer’s Stone” (gold) and “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” (platinum). Williams has also been recognized with 19 Grammy Awards, not only for films but for the “Olympic Fanfare And Theme” marking the 1984 Los Angeles Games and, in 2001, for Best Classical Crossover Album, for Perpetual Motion, starring eclectic banjo master Bela Fleck.

Coming up for Williams are scores for “Catch Me If You Can,” directed by Spielberg, and “Harry Potter And The Chamber Of Secrets.” A spate of additional projects should keep the busiest composer in showbiz occupied well into 2005.

Twentieth Century Fox and DreamWorks Pictures Present A Cruise/Wagner/Blue Tulip/Ronald Shusett/Gary Goldman Production of A Steven Spielberg Film. Starring Tom Cruise, “Minority Report,” directed by Steven Spielberg, also stars Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton and Max Von Sydow. Executive producers are Gary Goldman and Ronald Shusett. Producers are Gerald R. Molen, Bonnie Curtis, Walter F. Parkes and Jan De Bont. The screenplay is by Scott Frank and Jon Cohen based upon the short story by Philip K. Dick.

DreamWorks Records is a division of DreamWorks SKG, which was formed in October 1994 by its three principal partners – Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen – to produce live-action motion pictures; animated feature films; network, syndicated and cable television programming; home video entertainment; records; books; toys; and consumer products.

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