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Hans Zimmer has one of the toughest jobs in Hollywood right now. Along with his fellow Bleeding Fingers composers Kara Talve and Anže Rozman, he is creating the music for HBO’s Harry Potter series, which premieres this Christmas.
That means following John Williams, whose Hedwig’s Theme remains one of the most recognizable pieces of movie music ever written. The pressure is huge. But Zimmer has been in this exact spot before.
Williams also composed the legendary score for 1978’s Superman, so when Zimmer signed on for Zack Snyder‘s Man of Steel, he panicked. Speaking to Collider, he recalled:
When I was doing Man of Steel, which, of course, is Superman, for three months I was running around going, ‘I don’t know. I can’t do this. I can’t do this because it’s John Williams. John Williams is — it’s brilliant! It’s brilliant!’
It was only when Snyder and producer Christopher Nolan insisted on paying him a visit that Zimmer finally came up with a tune.
How Hans Zimmer Handled John Williams’ Legacy During Man of Steel
Hans Zimmer recalled that Christopher Nolan, a producer on the movie, told Zack Snyder to go meet Zimmer in person after they had not heard any music from him. With Snyder on his way, Zimmer managed to put something together, but the fear did not go away. He shared, “I came up with a tune, but I still was incredibly worried about it.”
What finally helped him was a simple piece of advice from Snyder. Instead of treating the film as a sacred legacy project, the director reminded Zimmer to see it for what it was. The music composer shared Snyder’s advice:
Zack just said the simplest thing to me. He said, ‘Hans, it was just a movie. This is just a movie.’ And that was so liberating. It’s just a movie, and my life is all about making music for movies, which I do because I love it.
That freedom paid off. Zimmer’s Man of Steel score is now considered iconic in its own right. Tracks like Flight and What Are You Going to Do When You Are Not Saving the World? start with a handful of quiet piano notes before slowly building into a huge, emotional wave of sound.
Instead of copying Williams’ bold, heroic march, Zimmer focused on the man behind the cape. His music feels humble, hopeful, and deeply human. It gave Henry Cavill’s Superman his own identity, and it is why fans still blast it more than a decade later.
Hans Zimmer Will Stay Away from John Williams’ Harry Potter Score
Dominic McLaughlin as Harry Potter | Credits: HBOHans Zimmer is bringing that Man of Steel lesson to Hogwarts. When asked whether his Harry Potter music would sound anything like John Williams’, he made it clear that he is not even going to try. He shared, “I love the movies, and I love having fun with it. I can’t write like John Williams, but even if I could, I would try to stay away as far as possible and try to be original.”
That is great news for fans. The HBO series plans to adapt one book per season, which gives Zimmer and his team plenty of room to build fresh themes that grow along with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Still, Zimmer has never been dismissive of what came before.
When HBO announced him as the composer back in January, he, Talve, and Rozman released a joint statement. The statement read (via Deadline):
The musical legacy of Harry Potter is a touch point for composers everywhere and we are humbled to join such a remarkable team on a project of this magnitude. The responsibility is something that myself, Kara Talve and Anže Rozman do not take lightly. Magic is all around us, often just beyond reach, but as in the world of Harry Potter, you simply must look for it. With this score we hope to bring audiences that little bit closer to it whilst honoring what has come before.
If Man of Steel is anything to go by, stepping out of Williams’ shadow might be the best thing that could happen to the Wizarding World’s new sound.
What are your expectations for Zimmer’s Harry Potter score? Let us know in the comments below!
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