If both Mank and Soul nominated, which seems likely, Reznor & Ross will be the first composer or composite team with two nominated scores in the same year since Alexandre Desplat was double nominated six years ago: The Grand Budapest Hotel (who won) and The counterfeit game.
All five Golden Globe nominees recently nominated for Best Original Score recently made the Oscar shortlist. They are, in addition to Mank and Soul, The Midnight Sky (Alexandre Desplat), Tenet (Ludwig Göransson) and News from the world (James Newton Howard).
As The Midnight Sky with a nomination, it would be Desplat’s 12th nomination in 15 years – more than any other composer in this time frame. Desplat wins for The Grand Budapest Hotel and The form of water.
Howard has yet to win an Oscar, despite eight nods over the years (six in categories for points).
Thomas Newman is shortlisted with The little things. This would be Newman’s 15th nomination in this category, which would enable him to surpass Alex North as the composer with the most points without winning. (Of course, Newman could win on April 25, which would make him lose the distinction.)
Terence Blanchard is shortlisted for his job at Da 5 bloods. Blanchard was nominated two years ago for BlacKkKlansman, what, like Da 5 bloods, was written, directed and produced by Spike Lee. Nominated as Da 5 Bloods, Blanchard will become the second Black composer – following Quincy Jones – to receive two or more career nods at parties. Jones received three.
Here is a list of the 15 shortlisted parties, alphabetically by movie title:
Ammonite (Neon)
Dustin O’Halloran & Volker Bertelmann
Blizzard of Souls
Lolita Ritmanis
Da 5 bloods (Netflix)
Terence Blanchard
The invisible man (Universal pictures)
Benjamin Wallfisch
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (Netflix)
John Debney
The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se) (Netflix)
Gabriel Yared
The little things (HBO Max / Warner Bros.)
Thomas Newman
Mank (Netflix)
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross
The Midnight Sky (Netflix)
Alexandre Desplat
Minari (A24)
Emile Mosseri
Mulan (Disney +)
Harry Gregson-Williams
News from the world (Universal)
James Newton Howard
Soul (Pixar)
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste
Tenet (Warner Bros.)
Ludwig Göransson
The Chicago 7 Trial (Netflix)
Daniel Pemberton
These 15 parties were selected by the Academy’s 376-member music branch from 136 eligible songs in the category. The members of the music branch will also select the five nominees, which will be announced on March 15. All members of the Oscar voting list will vote to determine the winners, which will be announced on April 25.
Highly rated scores that could not be shortlisted include Shirley (Neon) Tamar-kali; The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Hulu) Kris Bowers; Wonder Woman 1984 (HBO Max / Warner Bros.) Hans Zimmer; Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios) Abraham Marder & Nicolas Becker; Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix) Hans Zimmer & David Fleming; Cherry (Apple TV +) Henry Jackman; Emma. (Focus Features) Isobel Waller-Bridge & David Schweitzer; The Glorias (Roadside Attractions and LD Entertainment) Elliot Goldenthal; I’m your wife (Amazon Studios) Aska Matsumia; Forward (Pixar) Mychael Danna & Jeff Danna; Over the moon (Netflix) Steven Price; and Wolfwalkers (Apple TV + / GKIDS) Bruno Coulais & Kila.