20 Things You Didn't Know About Star Wars: The Force Awakens
6. Lin-Manuel Miranda Wrote The Cantina Music
The cantina scene at Maz Kanata's (Lupita Nyong'o) castle is one of The Force Awakens' most evocative, and to add some atmospheric flavour to the sequence, J.J. Abrams enlisted the help of a most distinguished musical talent.
Composer John Williams told Abrams he didn't want to write the music for the cantina scene, preferring to focus instead on the orchestral score, and when Abrams later went to watch Hamilton on Broadway, Lin-Manuel Miranda joked that he could help compose some cantina music, being totally unaware of Williams' decision.
Ultimately Abrams took Miranda up on his offer, and together the pair spent two months coming up the music that was eventually featured in the scene.