2025 Oscars Best Original Score Predictions

Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

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OSCARS | EMMYS | GRAMMYS | TONYS

2025 Oscars Predictions:
Best Original Score

Weekly Commentary (Updated Sept. 26, 2024): Could the Music Branch check off Hans Zimmer’s name twice this year?

With two high-profile projects — Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune: Part Two” and Steve McQueen’s “Blitz” — the revered cinematic composer Zimmer could find himself in the running for two nominations this awards season. Surprisingly, double mentions in the music category aren’t as rare as you might think. Legendary composers such as Max Steiner, Victor Young, Alfred Newman, and John Williams have accomplished this feat on multiple occasions (Williams himself has done it an astounding nine times). The last composer to receive two score noms in the same year was Alexandre Desplat in 2014 for “The Imitation Game” and his Oscar-winning work on “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”

Zimmer’s body of work is nothing short of extraordinary. As one of the most prolific composers in cinema today, the German maestro has earned widespread respect and critical acclaim. With two Academy Awards for “The Lion King” (1994) and “Dune” (2021), along with four Grammys and six Emmy nominations, Zimmer is already a decorated figure. However, the competition this year promises to be fierce.

Several highly regarded composers who have yet to win an Oscar are vying for attention, including Alberto Iglesias (“The Room Next Door”) and Kris Bowers (“The Wild Robot”). They’ll be competing alongside past winners like Jon Batiste (“Saturday Night”) and a possible double act from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, who could receive nods for both “Challengers” and “Queer.” Also in the mix is Harry Gregson-Williams, a composer with an impressive résumé that includes films like “The Rock” (1996), “Shrek” (2001), and “The Martian” (2015), but who has never received an Oscar nomination. This year, he’s scoring the highly anticipated “Gladiator II.” Not to be overlooked is Tamar-kali, a long-ignored talent whose powerful work on “Mudbound” (2017) should have garnered more attention. She has another shot at recognition with the crowd-pleasing “The Fire Inside.”

There are also some lesser-known but equally formidable contenders, such as Daniel Blumberg (“The Brutalist”), Clément Ducol and Camille (“Emilia Pérez”), and Andrea Datzman (“Inside Out 2”).

There will be more to watch as the circuit unfolds.

Read: All Primetime Emmy predictions in every category on Variety’s Awards Circuit.

The 97th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 2. The full rankings are below. All movie listings, titles, distributors, and credited producers are not final and are subject to change.

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

Read: You can see all Academy Award predictions in all 23 categories on one page on the Variety Awards Circuit: Oscars.

And the Predicted Nominees Are

Next in Line

Other Contenders

Also In Contention

Eligible Titles (Best Original Score)

** 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)

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

About the Academy Awards

The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, is Hollywood’s most prestigious artistic award in the film industry. Since 1927, nominees and winners have been selected by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Seventeen branches are represented within the nearly 10,000-person membership. The branches are actors, associates, casting directors, cinematographers, costume designers, directors, documentary, executives, film editors, makeup and hairstylists, marketing and public relations, members-at-large, members-at-large (artists’ representatives), music, producers, production design, short films and feature animation, sound, visual effects and writers.

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