Oscar Predictions: Best Original Score — Can ‘Blitz’ and ‘Dune 2’ Bring Hans Zimmer Double Nominations?

2025 Oscars Predictions:
Best Original Score

Oscar Predictions: Best Original Score — Can ‘Blitz’ and ‘Dune 2’ Bring Hans Zimmer Double Nominations?

As a film enthusiast with over two decades of experience in the industry, I eagerly anticipate the annual Academy Awards. The glamour, the excitement, and the recognition of cinematic excellence make it an event that never fails to captivate me.


Weekly Update (Sept. 26, 2024): Might the Music Department double-up on Hans Zimmer’s nominations this year?

This esteemed film composer, Zimmer, might secure two nominations this award season with his contributions to “Dune: Part Two” directed by Denis Villeneuve and “Blitz” helmed by Steve McQueen. Interestingly, having two mentions in the music category during awards seasons isn’t as uncommon as one might think. Composers like Max Steiner, Victor Young, Alfred Newman, and John Williams have managed this feat on several occasions (with Williams achieving it an impressive nine times). The last composer to receive two score nominations in a single year was Alexandre Desplat back in 2014 for “The Imitation Game” and his award-winning work on “The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Zimmer’s collection of work is nothing less than remarkable. As one of the most productive composers in cinema currently, the German maestro has garnered extensive recognition and praise from critics. With two Academy Awards for “The Lion King” (1994) and “Dune” (2021), as well as four Grammys and six Emmy nominations, Zimmer is an already decorated figure. Yet, this year’s competition looks particularly tough.

A number of esteemed composers yet to receive an Oscar are contending for recognition this year, such as Alberto Iglesias (“The Room Next Door”) and Kris Bowers (“The Wild Robot”). They’ll be going up against past winners like Jon Batiste (“Saturday Night”) and potentially a collaboration between Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross who could receive nominations for both “Challengers” and “Queer.” Additionally, Harry Gregson-Williams, a composer with an impressive portfolio that includes films like “The Rock” (1996), “Shrek” (2001), and “The Martian” (2015), is also in the running despite never having been nominated for an Oscar. This year, he’s working on the highly anticipated sequel to “Gladiator.” Meanwhile, Tamar-kali, a talented composer who has often been overlooked, is hoping to receive recognition for her powerful work on “Mudbound” (2017). She stands another chance with the acclaimed film “The Fire Inside.

Additionally, there are less popular yet powerful competitors like Daniel Blumberg (“The Brutalist”), Clement Ducol, and Camille (known as “Emilia Perez”), as well as Andrea Datzman (“Inside Out 2”).

There will be more to watch as the circuit unfolds.

The 97th Academy Awards will take place on March 2nd (next Sunday). However, please note that the positions, movie titles, distribution companies, and credited producers may still be subject to changes before the event. Here are the current standings.

** denotes the film is not yet dated or can open in 2025.

    Oscar Predictions: Best Original Score — Can ‘Blitz’ and ‘Dune 2’ Bring Hans Zimmer Double Nominations?

    And the Predicted Nominees Are

    RankPerformer & Film
    1The Room Next Door” (Sony Pictures Classics) — Alberto Iglesias
    2The Wild Robot” (DreamWorks Animation) — Kris Bowers
    3Gladiator II” (Paramount Pictures) — Harry Gregson-Williams
    4Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.) — Hans Zimmer
    5Saturday Night” (Sony Pictures) — Jon Batiste

    Oscar Predictions: Best Original Score — Can ‘Blitz’ and ‘Dune 2’ Bring Hans Zimmer Double Nominations?

    Next in Line

    RankPerformer & Film
    6The Brutalist” (A24) — Daniel Blumberg
    7Blitz” (Apple Original Films) — Hans Zimmer
    8Emilia Pérez” (Netflix) — Clément Ducol, Camille
    9Queer” (A24) — Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
    10Conclave” (Focus Features) — Volker Bertelmann

    Oscar Predictions: Best Original Score — Can ‘Blitz’ and ‘Dune 2’ Bring Hans Zimmer Double Nominations?

    Other Contenders

    RankPerformer & Film
    11Inside Out 2” (Pixar) — Andrea Datzman
    12Challengers” (Amazon MGM) — Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
    13The Piano Lesson” (Netflix) — Alexandre Desplat
    14The Fire Inside” (Amazon MGM) — Tamar-kali
    15Flow” (Janus Films/Sideshow) — Gints Zilbalodis, Rihards Zalupe
    16Young Woman and the Sea” (Walt Disney Pictures) — Amelia Warner
    17Nickel Boys” (Amazon MGM/Orion) — Alex Somers, Scott Alario
    18Nosferatu” (Focus Features) — Robin Carolan
    19Kinds of Kindness” (Searchlight Pictures) — Jerskin Fendrix
    20Here” (Sony Pictures) — Alan Silvestri

    Oscar Predictions: Best Original Score — Can ‘Blitz’ and ‘Dune 2’ Bring Hans Zimmer Double Nominations?

    Also In Contention

    RankPerformer & Film
    21IF” (Paramount Pictures) — Michael Giacchino
    22Transformers One” (Paramount Pictures) — Brian Tyler
    23Drive-Away Dolls” (Focus Features) — Carter Burwell
    24I’m Still Here” (Sony Pictures Classics) — Warren Ellis
    25Nightbitch” (Searchlight Pictures) — Nate Heller
    26We Live in Time” (A24) — Bryce Dessner
    27Moana 2” (Walt Disney Pictures) — Mark Mancina, Opetaia Foaʻi
    28Joker: Folie à Deux” (Warner Bros.) — Hildur Guðnadóttir
    29Hard Truths” (Bleecker Street) — Gary Yershon
    30Spellbound” (Netflix) — Alan Menken

    Eligible Titles (Best Original Score)

    Oscar Predictions: Best Original Score — Can ‘Blitz’ and ‘Dune 2’ Bring Hans Zimmer Double Nominations?

    ** This list is incomplete and not yet finalized. Not all films have distribution or release dates. All are subject to change.

    • “Alien: Romulus” (20th Century Studios) — Benjamin Wallfisch
    • “All We Imagine as Light” (Janus Films/Sideshow) — Topshe
    • “Anora” (Neon) — Matthew Hearon-Smith
    • “The Apprentice” (Briarcliff Entertainment) — Martin Dirkov, David Holmes, Brian Irvine
    • “Babygirl” (A24) — Cristobal Tapia de Veer
    • “Back to Black” (Focus Features) — Nick Cave, Warren Ellis
    • “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” (Warner Bros.) — Danny Elfman
    • “Better Man” (Paramount Pictures) — Batu Sener
    • “Blink” (National Geographic) — Tamar-kali
    • “Blink Twice” (Amazon MGM) — Chanda Dancy
    • “Blitz” (Apple Original Films) — Hans Zimmer
    • “Bob Marley: One Love” (Paramount Pictures) — Kris Bowers
    • “The Book of Clarence” (Sony Pictures) — Jeymes Samuel
    • “The Brutalist” (A24) — Daniel Blumberg
    • “Challengers” (Amazon MGM) — Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
    • “Civil War” (A24) — Ben Salisbury, Geoff Barrow
    • “Conclave” (Focus Features) — Volker Bertelmann
    • “The Count of Monte Cristo” (Samuel Goldwyn Films) — Jérôme Rebotier
    • “Daddio” (Sony Pictures Classics) — Dickon Hinchliffe
    • “Day of the Fight” (Falling Forward Films) — Ben MacDiarmid
    • “Deadpool & Wolverine” (Marvel Studios) — Rob Simonsen
    • “The Deliverance” (Netflix) — Lucas Vidal
    • “Despicable Me 4” (Illumination/Universal Pictures) — Heitor Pereira
    • “A Different Man” (A24) — Umberto Smerilli
    • “Dìdi” (Focus Features) — Giosue Greco
    • “Drive-Away Dolls” (Focus Features) — Carter Burwell
    • “Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.) — Hans Zimmer
    • “Emilia Pérez” (Netflix) — Clément Ducol, Camille
    • “The End” (Neon) — Joshua Schmidt, Marius de Vries
    • “Evil Does Not Exist” (Sideshow) — Eiko Ishibashi
    • “Exhibiting Forgiveness” (Roadside Attractions) — Jherek Bischoff
    • “Fancy Dance” (Apple Original Films) — Samantha Crain
    • “The Fire Inside” (Amazon MGM) — Tamar-kali
    • “Firebrand” (Roadside Attractions) — Dickon Hinchliffe
    • “Flow” (Janus Films/Sideshow) — Gints Zilbalodis, Rihards Zalupe
    • “The Front Room” (A24) — Marcelo Zarvos
    • “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (Warner Bros.) — Tom Holkenborg
    • “Gladiator II” (Paramount Pictures) — Harry Gregson-Williams
    • “Hard Truths” (Bleecker Street) — Gary Yershon
    • “Here” (Sony Pictures) — Alan Silvestri
    • “Heretic” (A24) — Chris Bacon
    • “His Three Daughters” (Netflix) — Rodrigo Amarante
    • “Hit Man” (Netflix) — Graham Reynolds
    • “Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1” (Warner Bros.) — John Debney
    • “I Saw the TV Glow” (A24) — Alex G
    • “I’m Still Here” (Sony Pictures Classics) — Warren Ellis
    • “The Idea of You” (Amazon MGM) — Siddhartha Khosla
    • “IF” (Paramount Pictures) — Michael Giacchino
    • “The Imaginary” (Netflix) — Kenji Tamai, Agehasprings
    • “In the Summers” (Music Box Films) — Eduardo Cabra
    • “Inside Out 2” (Pixar) — Andrea Datzman
    • “It Ends With Us” (Sony Pictures) — Rob Simonsen, Duncan Blickenstaff
    • “Joker: Folie à Deux” (Warner Bros.) — Hildur Guðnadóttir
    • “Kinds of Kindness” (Searchlight Pictures) — Jerskin Fendrix
    • “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” (20th Century Studios) — John Paesano
    • “Kneecap” (Sony Pictures Classics) — Michael “Mikey J” Asante
    • “Lee” (Roadside Attractions) — Alexandre Desplat
    • “The Life of Chuck” (No U.S. Distribution) — The Newton Brothers **
    • “Longlegs” (Neon) — Zilgi
    • “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” (Warner Bros.) — Stephen Gallagher
    • “Love Lies Bleeding” (A24) — Clint Mansell
    • “Megalopolis” (Lionsgate) — Osvaldo Golijov
    • “Memoir of a Snail” (IFC Films) — Elena Kats-Chernin
    • “Misericordia” (Janus Films) — Marc Verdaguer
    • “Moana 2” (Walt Disney Pictures) — Mark Mancina, Opetaia Foaʻi
    • “Monkey Man” (Universal Pictures) — Jed Kurzel
    • “The Most Precious of Cargoes” (StudioCanal) — Alexandre Desplat
    • “Mothers’ Instinct” (Neon) — Anne Nikitin
    • “Mufasa: The Lion King” (Walt Disney Pictures) — Hans Zimmer, Pharrell Williams, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Nicholas Britell, Mark Mancina
    • “My Old Ass” (Amazon MGM) — Tyler Hilton, Jaco Caraco
    • “Nickel Boys” (Amazon MGM/Orion) — Alex Somers, Scott Alario
    • “Nightbitch” (Searchlight Pictures) — Nate Heller
    • “Nosferatu” (Focus Features) — Robin Carolan
    • “Oh, Canada” (Kino Lorber) — Phosphorescent
    • “On Becoming a Guinea Fowl” (A24) — Lucrecia Dalt
    • “One Life” (Bleecker Street) — Volker Bertelmann
    • “The Order” (Vertical Entertainment) — Jed Kurzel
    • “The Outrun” (Sony Pictures Classics) — John Gürtler, Jan Miserre
    • “Parthenope” (A24) — Lele Marchitelli
    • “The Piano Lesson” (Netflix) — Alexandre Desplat
    • “Piece by Piece” (Focus Features) — Michael Andrews
    • “Queer” (A24) — Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
    • “Rez Ball” (Netflix) — Dan Deacon
    • “The Room Next Door” (Sony Pictures Classics) — Alberto Iglesias
    • “Rumours” (Bleecker Street) — Kristian Eidnes Andersen
    • “Santosh” (Metrograph Pictures) — Luisa Gerstein
    • “Sasquatch Sunset” (Bleecker Street) — The Octopus Project
    • “Saturday Night” (Sony Pictures) — Jon Batiste
    • “The Seed of the Sacred Fig” (Neon) — Karzan Mahmood
    • “September 5” (Paramount Pictures) — Lorenz Dangel
    • “Shirley” (Netflix) — Tamar-kali
    • “Sing Sing” (A24) — Bryce Dessner
    • “The Six Triple Eight” (Netflix) — Aaron Zigman
    • “Small Things Like These” (Lionsgate) — Senjan Jansen
    • “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” (Paramount Pictures) — Tom Holkenborg
    • “Spellbound” (Netflix) — Alan Menken
    • “Stopmotion” (IFC/Shudder) — Lola de la Mata
    • “The Substance” (Mubi) — Raffertie
    • “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” (Warner Bros.) — Ilan Eshkeri
    • “That Christmas” (Netflix) — John Powell
    • “Thelma” (Magnolia Pictures) — Nick Chuba
    • “Transformers One” (Paramount Pictures) — Brian Tyler
    • “Tuesday” (A24) — Anna Meredith
    • “Twisters” (Universal Pictures) — Benjamin Wallfisch
    • “Ultraman: Rising” (Netflix) — Scot Stafford
    • “Unstoppable” (Amazon MGM) — Alexandre Desplat
    • “Venom: The Last Dance” (Sony Pictures) — Dan Deacon
    • “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” (Netflix) — Lorne Balfe
    • “We Grown Now” (Sony Pictures Classics) — Jay Wadley
    • “We Live in Time” (A24) — Bryce Dessner
    • “The Wild Robot” (DreamWorks Animation) — Kris Bowers
    • “Wildcat” (Oscilloscope Laboratories) — Latham Gaines, Shelby Gaines
    • “Will & Harper” (Netflix) — Nathan Halpern
    • “Woman of the Hour” (Netflix) — Dan Romer, Mike Tuccillo
    • “Young Woman and the Sea” (Walt Disney Pictures) — Amelia Warner

    More Information (Oscars: Best Original Score)

    Oscar Predictions: Best Original Score — Can ‘Blitz’ and ‘Dune 2’ Bring Hans Zimmer Double Nominations?

    2024 category winner: “Oppenheimer” (Universal Pictures) — Ludwig Göransson

    2024-2025 Oscars Calendar and Timeline (all dates are subject to change)

    • Eligibility period: Jan. 1, 2024 – Dec. 31, 2024
    • General entry, best picture, RAISE submission deadline: Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024
    • Governors Awards: Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024
    • Preliminary voting begins Monday, Dec. 9, 2024, at 9 a.m. PT.
    • Preliminary voting ends Friday, Dec. 13, 2024, at 5 p.m. PT.
    • Oscar Shortlists Announcement: Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024
    • Eligibility period ends: Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024
    • Nominations voting begins Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, at 9 a.m. PT.
    • Nominations voting ends Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, at 5 p.m. PT.
    • Oscar Nominations Announcement: Friday, Jan. 17, 2025
    • Oscar Nominees Luncheon: Monday, Feb. 10, 2025
    • Final voting begins Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, at 9 a.m. PT
    • Final voting ends: Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025, at 5 p.m. PT
    • Scientific and Technical Awards: Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2025
    • 97th Oscars: Sunday, March 2, 2025

    Oscars Prediction Categories

    Best PictureDirector
    Actor in a Leading RoleActress in a Leading Role
    Actor in a Supporting RoleActress in a Supporting Role
    Original ScreenplayAdapted Screenplay
    Animated FeatureProduction Design
    CinematographyCostume Design
    Film EditingMakeup and Hairstyling
    SoundVisual Effects
    Original ScoreOriginal Song
    Documentary FeatureInternational Feature
    Animated ShortDocumentary Short
    Live Action ShortCasting (coming in 2026)

    About the Academy Awards

    The Oscars, commonly known as the Academy Awards, represent Hollywood’s most esteemed artistic honor within the movie industry. Established in 1927, nominees and winners are chosen by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), with approximately 10,000 individuals making up its membership across seventeen different branches. These branches include actors, directors, cinematographers, costume designers, documentary makers, executives, film editors, makeup artists, public relations specialists, music professionals, producers, production designers, short film creators, sound technicians, visual effects experts, and writers.

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2024-09-27 00:52