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Oscars 2024

“Fan it,” instructs Emily Blunt with a bit of humor, speaking of her dress’ train as she prepares to enter the Dolby Theater’s main floor seating. Meanwhile, a showrunner whispers into her walkie-talkie that Bradley Cooper should really be in his seat by now for the top of the show as Mark Ronson and wife […]

The nominees for best original song and score discuss soundtracking, and defining, a movie’s biggest moments.
Songs

Two tracks from Barbie are competing for best original song at the 2024 Academy Awards. The Greta Gerwig blockbuster is the first film to have two best song nominees since La La Land seven years ago. Plus: Oscar perennial Diane Warren was nominated for best original song for the 15th time — a benchmark that only five other songwriters have reached.

“I’m Just Ken”Barbie (Warner Bros.)Music and lyrics by Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt

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Five years after winning for “Shallow” from A Star Is Born, Ronson and Wyatt are back with this comic highlight from the year’s top box-office hit.

What direction did you get from Barbie director Greta Gerwig and co-writer Noah Baumbach?

Mark Ronson: They’re like, “If we’re going to have something for Barbie, then we need something that speaks from Ken’s point of view.” That’s the amazing thing about this film: It definitely is a story driven by women. But there is this wonderful little offshoot of this story of Ken — somebody who’s not as smart or as enlightened as Barbie trying to find their self-worth and value. So I just had an idea [of] what the song should be. And then when we saw the first marketing campaign, like, “She’s everything, he’s just Ken,” we were like, “Wow, they’re really doubling down on this song.”

You and Andrew Wyatt co-wrote another song that was vying for a nomination, Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night,” but Oscar rules state that no more than two songs from a film can be nominated. Is that bittersweet?

Ronson: It is because Dua’s song is still the biggest song from the soundtrack and Dua was really the first artist of anywhere near her stature that committed to the film. It really set the bar for what the whole soundtrack could be. So Dua definitely deserves all the credit for that, and it would have been lovely to have her as well.

“It Never Went Away”American Symphony (Netflix)Music and lyrics by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson

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Batiste, who won the best original score Oscar in 2021 for Soul, stars in this moving documentary about his composing a symphony and receiving 11 Grammy nominations while dealing with his wife’s recurring leukemia. Semisonic’s Wilson has previously written with Adele, Taylor Swift and The Chicks.

Did you originally write this as a lullaby to your wife, Suleika?

Jon Batiste: Yes. She is a best-selling author and couldn’t put pen to paper because the medication blurred her vision badly, so she began to paint and I began to write lullabies. These lullabies were meant for her to go to sleep easier and have peace in the hospital. They were never meant to be released publicly. One of the themes of our relationship is creativity as an act of survival.

Why did you bring in Dan Wilson to co-write?

Batiste: His ability to sit with artists in their most personal and vulnerable moments and not usurp or influence the authenticity of the expression. I like to have a mirror — I felt that collaboration space would be sacred.

Dan, Jon obviously felt you were a kindred spirit.

Dan Wilson: When “Closing Time” was coming out, my first daughter was in the hospital the entire year 
 I felt I could understand what it’s like to have your most glorious musical successes accompanied by personal difficulty.

“What Was I Made For?”Barbie (Warner Bros.)Music and lyrics by Billie Eilish, FINNEAS

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This is the sibling duo’s second nomination following a nod and ultimate win in 2022 with their sweeping James Bond track, “No Time To Die.” “What Was I Made For?” was made with a specific purpose in mind: to become a pinnacle song in the Barbie film. The hit also won song of the year at the Grammys.

How did this nomination feel different from your first?

FINNEAS: Because we were on tour last time, this has been our first time attending the Critics Choice Awards and the [Golden] Globes. So this whole season I’ve been buzzing more.

How do TV and film awards shows compare to a music awards show?

FINNEAS: I do joke that when you go to the Grammys, they’re like, “One minute back from commercial,” and everyone’s up and talking and climbing over chairs. And you’re at the Oscars and they’re like, “30 seconds,” and everyone’s already in their seat waiting silently. It’s a room full of people with a real understanding of being live.

How did you balance this song being so specific to Barbie yet so universally felt?

FINNEAS: The goal is always to do that: to write something about the human experience. And the way that you do that is to examine the humanity of the character, however far-fetched and fantastical the story is 
 We haven’t all been Barbies, but the first time anything good [or] bad happens to you, you go through it with this naivetĂ©. We were trying to write about how devastating it is to feel anything for the first time.

“The Fire Inside”Flamin’ Hot (Hulu/Searchlight Pictures)Music and lyrics by Diane Warren

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The title of Warren’s latest Oscar contender — her seventh in a row — can be interpreted two ways. On one level, it refers to the burning sensation one would get from eating too many Flamin’ Hot Cheetos (the snack food concocted by the movie’s subject, Richard Montañez). But that “fire inside” can also refer to inner drive, something Warren has in abundance.

I like the title’s double meaning.

Diane Warren: The song’s really about passion. As I was writing it, I’m thinking, “I’m like that, too.” I’m the person always having to convince people and fight for what I believe in. I’ve always been a self-starter. I’m pretty persistent. This is kind of my theme song, too, I have to say.

Of your 15 nominated songs, 10 — including this one — scored the film’s only nomination.

Warren: I am always the little underdog, which I love. Maybe it’s weird for some people to see me as that, but I have to fight for a lot of stuff. Even with this song, I kind of did this on my own. It was the only Disney song that got through [to a nomination]. They had some pretty big movies — The Little Mermaid and Wish — that they spent a lot of money on. And this little song got through.

“Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)”Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple Original Films/Paramount Pictures)Music and lyrics by Scott George

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George has already made history, becoming the first Native American to land an Oscar nomination for best original song with the Osage Tribal Singers for “Wahzhazhe,” a celebratory song that soundtracks the film’s final scene.

You’ve said your life is defined by music. What song defines this moment now?

Scott George: That’s kind of why we made [this song]. We didn’t want [it to] just be for the movie. Because that, to us, felt like a death sentence. So our intention was to create something that they could use in a movie, but we could also use later to honor our people in celebration.

What was the biggest challenge throughout this process?

George: Trying to submit [the song] to the Oscars. None of our music is written down. It’s all held on to by memory. But one of the submission requirements was that it would be in a written form. And I just happen to know a person that took that on several years back as part of his education 
 And so he used that recorder that you got to take home in elementary school to find all the notes and write it all out. Within three to four days, he had it finished, and we got it submitted in time.

Clockwise from top: Robbie Robertson, Margot Robbie and Rhea Perlman in Barbie, Scott George and Ludwig Göransson.

Illustration by Klawe Rzeczy; Frazer Harrison/Getty Images; John Phillips/Getty Images; Stephen Lovekin/Variety; Lara Cornell/Warner Bos./Courtesy Everett Collection

Scores

John Williams received his 49th Oscar nomination for best original score, and his 54th overall, which pulls him closer to Walt Disney’s all-time record of 59 nods for an individual. Robbie Robertson, who died in August, is the first composer to be posthumously nominated in this category since Bernard Herrmann was cited 47 years ago for both Obsession and Taxi Driver.

American FictionLaura Karpman (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)

Karpman, a Primetime Emmy winner in 2020 who is up for her first Oscar for the score to the Cord Jefferson-directed satirical tale, says the nomination is “a validation on so many levels.”

Was it a given that the score would be jazz-oriented since Jeffrey Wright’s character is named Thelonious and nicknamed “Monk”?

Laura Karpman: It was a mandate because of the obvious reference to Monk, but it goes deeper than that. There’s something jazzy about the interplay between the cast members. It’s fast, it’s smart, it’s talky. It works. It’s not just that it was “Monk.” It felt like the right vibe in terms of the rhythms of the action.

You were scoring The Marvels at the same time. Did that creep into this score at all?

Karpman: There’s a really amazing young [flutist], Elena Pinderhughes, and I had the idea of using her for the sound of the villain in The Marvels and I thought, “How perfect. Let’s use a flute as one of the lead instruments in American Fiction.”

The score, including the two main themes, “Monk’s Theme” and “Family Theme,” was composed on your father’s newly restored piano, which you had just gotten back that day.

Karpman: It was the first time I played the piano since it had been restored. I was improvising and came up with the “Family Theme.” For sure, my dad came through that thing. It flowed out of the piano into my hands and back out again. It was weird.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of DestinyJohn Williams (Disney)

Williams, who lands his 54th total Oscar nomination, scored the fifth and last installment of the Indiana Jones series and will be vying for his sixth Oscar.

You previously said you may just do the movie’s themes. What made you change your mind and do the entire film?

John Williams: When I saw the film, I loved both Harrison [Ford] and Phoebe [Waller-Bridge] so much that I became proprietary and didn’t want anybody else to write music for them. Their performances were simply so good that I couldn’t resist.

“Helena’s Theme” is timeless. How did that piece come about?

Williams: The film is set in the 1960s, and Phoebe inspired me to recall the movie sirens of the ’30s and ’40s such as Lauren Bacall and Lana Turner. Helena was a woman who smoked, drank, gambled and had countless adventures, all the while looking breathtakingly beautiful, just like the great femme fatales of yesteryear.

This was your fifth Indiana Jones movie. How did it feel knowing this would be the final chapter?

Williams: I’ve always loved Harrison in all the films he has made, and I’ve been particularly privileged to accompany so many of them with music, among them Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Presumed Innocent and Sabrina. It has always been an honor working with such a great actor, and I have both my friends George Lucas and Steven Spielberg to thank for this great opportunity.

Poor ThingsJerskin Fendrix (Searchlight Pictures)

Musician Fendrix had never worked on a film prior to Poor Things — and director Yorgos Lanthimos had never worked on a film with a composer. And yet, both emerged better for it, as the film’s score earned Fendrix his first Oscar nod.

How did you find out about your nomination?

Jerskin Fendrix: I was by myself in the countryside. I’d gone back to my home to do some recording, and then I had a look and then a lot of people called me. And then my mom came home from work, and [we] had some nice champagne. It was great.

This was a surprising opportunity. How did you prepare?

Fendrix: We didn’t want any references. This had to be a really unique world, very special and exclusive to itself. I deliberately didn’t watch anything for quite a while and didn’t think about other film scores or any other music — I tried to have a look around and see what was already in my head.

You started composing just off the script, is that right?

Fendrix: I also had this very big, 200-page document of all the concept artworks: the set and costume designs and what the sky was going to look like and so on. So I had a good sense of how exuberant and how kaleidoscopic the whole thing looked. And that was very important for knowing what instruments I would choose, what textures I wanted, especially because up until this point, Yorgos’ films have been slightly more sober in their palette. So I was kind of surprised at how bright and insane everything looked. And I did ask, and he said that it’ll be pared down by the time we get to shooting — and it wasn’t.

From left: Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon, Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer and Emma Stone in Poor Things.

Illustration by Klawe Rzeczy; Melinda Sue Gordon; Atsushi Nishijima

Killers of the Flower MoonRobbie Robertson (Apple Original Films/Paramount Pictures)

This was the 12th and last Martin Scorsese film that Robertson worked on. Robertson, who died in August at age 80, is the first composer to be nominated in this category posthumously since Bernard Herrmann 47 years ago for both Obsession and Taxi Driver.

What did you have in mind for the score initially – what emotions did you want to evoke?

Martin Scorsese: Over the years, Robbie and I had figured out how to communicate with each other — we found a common language. For the scene with the oil gusher, I told Robbie that I wanted a gusher of sound, and that’s what he delivered. For the scene where Lily gets into Leo’s cab for the first time, I said that I wanted something dangerous and fleshy, and he gave me something dangerous and fleshy — and in so doing, he gave us a rhythm and a texture that became the heartbeat of the whole picture.

How does this nomination honor Robbie’s legacy?

Scorsese: I know that Killers of the Flower Moon meant a great deal to Robbie, for many reasons. I suppose we both realized that it might be our last chance to collaborate on a picture. And then there was the fact that it was a story set in the world of the First Nations, reflecting one of the worst chapters in the long history of suffering, injustice, real tragedy. As Robbie grew older, his Mohawk and Cayuga heritage became more and more important to him. Because of our friendship, along with other more personal reasons, it became important to me, too, that we work together on a project that dealt with that terrible history and at the same time brought indigenous culture itself, in this case Osage culture, to cinematic life, so to speak. So for us, on many levels, it was a culmination. Robbie’s score is one of the most beautiful in the history of movies.

As for his greater legacy as an artist, his entire body of work speaks for itself. He was a giant. He still is.

OppenheimerLudwig Göransson (Universal)

Göransson, who won this category in 2019 for Black Panther, has already taken home a Golden Globe and a Grammy for his often tense score for Christopher Nolan’s epic about the primary creator of the atomic bomb.

Had you and Nolan developed a shorthand from working previously on his 2020 film, Tenet?

Ludwig Göransson: We were able to enter this film on speed 10, which was needed because there’s a lot to go through. I started writing music based on the script and talking about the characters and the feelings. We were creating our sound world before we started shooting the film.

Your wife, Serena McKinney, plays violin on the score.

Göransson: When the main theme came together, a big part of that was her performance of the melody on the violin, how intimate and fragile that sounded. When I sent that to Chris, the performance really resonated with him and with me, too, so [it] was a huge turning point.

You approached this through J. Robert Oppenheimer’s eyes. How heavy was that for you?

Göransson: It’s a very complex character, and he goes through some very interesting but also at times very dark places. To try to get those emotions out definitely was very challenging.

This story originally appeared in the Feb. 10, 2024, issue of Billboard.

Barbie is likely to be well represented when the Academy Award shortlists are revealed Dec. 21. At least two (and maybe even three) songs from the box-office juggernaut could be in contention for best original song (though only two from a film can be nominated, according to a 2008 rule change).
Diane Warren and Alan Menken are each looking to score their 15th best original song nominations, a benchmark that only five songwriters have reached. If John Williams and the late Robbie Robertson are nominated for best original score, each could make history.

“I’m Just Ken”Mark Ronson, Andrew WyattBarbie, Warner Bros.

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Ronson and Wyatt won in this category five years ago for co-writing “Shallow” from A Star Is Born. “I’m Just Ken,” sung by Ryan Gosling, provided one of the funniest sequences in Barbie. Ronson and Wyatt could have a second Barbie song on the shortlist — the bubbly “Dance the Night,” which they co-wrote with Dua Lipa and Caroline Ailin.

“What Was I Made For?”Billie Eilish, FINNEASBarbie, Warner Bros.

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The siblings won in this category two years ago for their title song to the James Bond film No Time To Die. They’re likely to be nominated for this tender ballad, which Barbie director Greta Gerwig has described as her movie’s “heart” song. Barbie is vying to become the first film with two best original song nominees since La La Land seven years ago.

“Keep It Movin’”Halle Bailey, Denisia Andrews, Brittany Coney, Morten RistorpThe Color Purple, Warner Bros.

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Bailey (as young Nettie) and Phylicia Pearl Mpasi (as young Celie) sing this song onscreen in this new iteration of The Color Purple. “Miss Celie’s Blues (Sister),” from the original 1985 film, was nominated in this category. Quincy Jones, who co-wrote that song with Rod Temperton and Lionel Richie, served as a producer of both films.

“Out Alpha the Alpha”Marius de Vries, Josh Sharp, Aaron Jackson, Karl Saint LucyDicks: The Musical, A24

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Megan Thee Stallion sings this ribald song onscreen in Dicks: The Musical, which is based on an off-Broadway show with an even more risquĂ© title, F–king Identical Twins. The rap star is also in the cast, along with another famous Megan (Mullally), as well as Bowen Yang and Nathan Lane. Megan Thee Stallion took part in an all-star performance of “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” on the Oscar telecast two years ago.

“The Fire Inside”Diane WarrenFlamin’ Hot, Hulu/Searchlight Pictures

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Warren has been nominated in this category the last six years in a row. If she makes it again this year, she’ll have the longest consecutive streak of best original song nods since Sammy Cahn was nominated eight years running (1954-61). The indefatigable Warren has a second song in play, “Gonna Be You” from 80 for Brady.

“High Life”Gary Clark, John CarneyFlora and Son, Apple

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In addition to co-writing this song, Carney wrote and directed the film. Two of Carney’s previous films, Once and Begin Again, yielded best original song nominees (and a winner in the case of Once). Clark, a Scottish musician-songwriter, was the frontman of 1980s pop band Danny Wilson. Eve Hewson, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, OrĂ©n Kinlan and Jack Reynor sing “High Life” onscreen in Flora and Son.

“Can’t Catch Me Now”Dan Nigro, Olivia RodrigoThe Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, Lionsgate

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The Hunger Games franchise has yet to receive an Oscar nod in any category, but the red-hot Rodrigo is at the point in her career that the music branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is likely to pay notice. She and Nigro have received two Grammy nods for song of the year, for “drivers license” and “Vampire.” Will the moody and atmospheric “Can’t Catch Me Now” find favor here?

“For the First Time”Alan Menken, Lin-Manuel MirandaThe Little Mermaid, Disney

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Menken is an EGOT winner, and Miranda will be one as soon as he wins an Oscar. Menken won his first of four Oscars in this category for “Under the Sea” from the original 1989 iteration of The Little Mermaid. Halle Bailey sings “For the First Time” onscreen in the film. Two other Menken-Miranda songs from the film, “Wild Uncharted Waters” and “The Scuttlebutt,” are also in play.

“Find a Way”Linda PerryNyad, Netflix

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This would be the first Oscar nod for Perry, a two-time Grammy nominee for song of the year. Annette Bening and Jodie Foster star in the film, which tells the story of Diana Nyad who, at age 64, undertook a 110-mile swim from Cuba to Florida. Perry named her song after the title of Nyad’s book, on which the movie is based.

“Road to Freedom”Lenny KravitzRustin, Netflix

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Kravitz, a four-time Grammy winner for best male rock vocal performance, could score his first Oscar nod for this song from a biopic about Bayard Rustin, a lesser-known but crucial figure in the civil rights struggle. The film’s director, George C. Wolfe, helmed the 2020 movie Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which received five Oscar nods.

“Addicted to Romance”Patti Scialfa, Bruce SpringsteenShe Came to Me, Vertical Entertainment

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Springsteen won an Oscar in 1994 for “Streets of Philadelphia” and was nominated again two years later for “Dead Man Walkin’.” This would be his first nomination with a collaborator — his wife, Scialfa. The original score was composed by The National’s Bryce Dessner. Peter Dinklage and Marisa Tomei star in the film.

“Am I Dreaming”A$AP Rocky, Metro Boomin, Michael Dean, Peter Lee Johnson, Roisee, ScriptpluggSpider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Sony Pictures

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Spider-Man: Into the Spider Verse won an Oscar for best animated feature film five years ago, though its biggest hit, “Sunflower” by Post Malone and Swae Lee, missed out on a best original song nod. Metro Boomin curated the soundtrack to this film, which reached No. 5 on the Billboard 200 in June. A$AP Rocky’s partner, Rihanna, was nominated in this category last year.

“Peaches”Jack Black, Aaron Horvath, Michael Jelenic, Eric Osmond, John SpikerThe Super Mario Bros. Movie, Illumination/Nintendo/Universal

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This was the year’s second-­biggest hit at the box office, behind Barbie. In addition to co-writing and performing the song, Black was in the animated film’s voice cast as Bowser. This would be the first Oscar nomination for Black, who won a Grammy for best metal performance nine years ago for a track he recorded with Tenacious D for a Ronnie James Dio tribute album.

“Better Place”Amy Allen, Shellback, Justin TimberlakeTrolls Band Together, DreamWorks Animation

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Animated characters portraying *NSYNC perform this song onscreen in the movie. Timberlake was nominated in this category seven years ago for co-writing “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” for the first Trolls film. He and the other members of *NSYNC are in the voice cast, along with Anna Kendrick, Kid Cudi, Troye Sivan, Camila Cabello and Anderson .Paak, among others.

“This Wish”Julia Michaels, Benjamin Rice, JP SaxeWish, Disney

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Michaels and Saxe received a Grammy nod for song of the year three years ago for their collaboration “If the World Was Ending.” It was Michaels’ second nod in that category; her first was for co-writing her breakthrough hit, “Issues.” Ariana DeBose, an Oscar winner for the West Side Story remake, sings “This Wish.” She’s also in the voice cast, along with Chris Pine and Victor Garber.

American Fiction (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM)Laura Karpman

Karpman could be headed for her first Oscar nod for her score to this satirical film that was written and directed by Cord Jefferson (in his feature directorial debut). The film stars Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae and Sterling K. Brown. Karpman won a Primetime Emmy three years ago for scoring The Discovery Channel’s Why We Hate.

Barbie (Warner Bros.)Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt

Ronson and Wyatt, who executive-produced the hit soundtrack album — and were involved in writing and producing several of its tracks — could be headed for their first nod in this category. Wyatt has co-written songs for several Ronson albums. In 2012, the two musicians collaborated on a ballet score for The Royal Ballet of London.

Elemental (Pixar)Thomas Newman

If Newman is nominated, this would be his 15th nod in the category, a total so far achieved by only eight composers in Oscar history. Unlike them, though, he has yet to win. Newman is the youngest son of the late Alfred Newman, who amassed 41 nominations in this category, winning a record nine times.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (Disney)John Williams

This would be Williams’ record-extending 49th nod in a scoring category and his fourth for a film in the Indiana Jones franchise. In total, it would be Williams’ 54th Oscar nomination (the other five are for best original song), which would pull him closer to Walt Disney’s all-time record of 59 for an individual.

The Killer (Netflix)Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross

This would be the fourth nod in this category for Reznor and Ross following The Social Network, Mank and Soul (a collaboration with Jon Batiste). David Fincher, who directed The Social Network and Mank, also directed The Killer. Reznor and Ross won for both The Social Network and Soul. Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton star in The Killer.

Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple)Robbie Robertson

This was the 12th and last Martin Scorsese film that Robertson worked on. Robertson, who died in June at age 80, would become the first composer to be nominated in this category posthumously since Bernard Herrmann was cited in 1976 for both Obsession and Taxi Driver. Two other Scorsese regulars, Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, star in the film.

Nyad (Netflix)Alexandre Desplat

This would be Desplat’s 12th nomination in this category, all since 2006. That’s more than anyone else has accumulated in that period. The French composer has won twice, for The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Shape of Water. This would be Desplat’s first nod in the 2020s, following three in the 2000s and eight in the 2010s.

Oppenheimer (Universal Pictures)Ludwig Göransson

The Swedish composer won in this category five years ago for scoring Black Panther. He was nominated for an Oscar last year for co-writing a song for the sequel. Oppenheimer was the year’s fifth-biggest box-office hit, a strong showing for a three-hour adult drama. The Christopher Nolan film was based on the book American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Clockwise: Elemental, Killers of the Flower Moon, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Oppenheimer.

Disney/Pixar; Melinda Sue Gordon; Sony Pictures.

Origin (Neon)Kris Bowers

Origin is the fifth feature film directed by Ava DuVernay. Her 2014 historical drama, Selma, yielded the Oscar-winning song “Glory” by Common and John Legend. Bowers was nominated for documentary (short subject) three years ago for co-directing A Concerto Is a Conversation, which centered on his conversations with his jazz pianist grandfather. This would be his first nod in a scoring category.

Past Lives (A24)Christopher Bear & Daniel Rossen

Past Lives was written and directed by Celine Song in her feature directorial debut. The film, which stars Greta Lee, Teo Yoo and John Magaro, follows the relationship between two childhood friends over 24 years. Bear and Rossen are members of veteran indie rock band Grizzly Bear, which has landed two top 10 albums on the Billboard 200.

Rustin (Netflix)Branford Marsalis

This would be the first Oscar nomination for jazz saxophonist Marsalis, who is a three-time Grammy winner. Marsalis received a Primetime Emmy nod two years ago for outstanding music composition for a documentary series or special for Tulsa Burning: The 1921 Race Massacre, which aired on the HISTORY Channel.

Saltburn (Amazon/MGM)Anthony Willis

This would be the Australian composer’s first Oscar nod after building a reputation with his scores for How To Train Your Dragon: Homecoming (2019), Promising Young Woman (2020) and M3GAN (2022). Saltburn is the second film to be written, directed and co-produced by Emerald Fennell following Promising Young Woman. Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi and Rosamund Pike star in the psychological thriller.

Society of the Snow (Netflix)Michael Giacchino

This would be Giacchino’s third nomination in this category following Ratatouille (2007) and Up (2009). He won for the latter. Society of the Snow is a 2023 survival thriller about a 1972 flight disaster in Argentina’s Andes Mountains. The cast comprises Uruguayan and Argentine actors, most of whom are newcomers to the craft. The film is scheduled to be released in theaters on Dec. 15.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures)Daniel Pemberton

The English composer has yet to be nominated in this category. His only Oscar nod is for co-writing “Hear My Voice” from The Trial of the Chicago 7, a best original song nominee three years ago. This film is a sequel to 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which Pemberton also scored.

The Zone of Interest (A24)Mica Levi

The English composer was nominated in this category seven years ago for Jackie. The Zone of Interest, based on a Martin Amis novel, revolves around Auschwitz commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife and their plans to build a dream life next to the concentration camp. The film, which was written and directed by Jonathan Glazer, is set to be released in the United States on Dec. 15.

Additional reporting by Melinda Newman.

This story will appear in the Nov. 18, 2023, issue of Billboard.