Academy Announces 145 Original Scores in Oscar Race

Posted: December 13, 2016 by filmmusicreporter in Film Music News

academyThe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 145 scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2016 are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 89th Academy Awards.

The eligible scores along with their composers are listed below, in alphabetical order by film title:

“The Abolitionists,” Tim Jones, composer
“Absolutely Fabulous The Movie,” Jake Monaco, composer
“The Accountant,” Mark Isham, composer
“Alice through the Looking Glass,” Danny Elfman, composer
“Allied,” Alan Silvestri, composer
“Almost Christmas,” John Paesano, composer
“American Pastoral,” Alexandre Desplat, composer
“The Angry Birds Movie,” Heitor Pereira, composer
“Anthropoid,” Robin Foster, composer
“Armenia, My Love,” Silvia Leonetti, composer
“Assassin’s Creed,” Jed Kurzel, composer
“Autumn Lights,” Hugi Gudmundsson and Hjörtur Ingvi Jóhannsson, composers
“The BFG,” John Williams, composer
“Believe,” Michael Reola, composer
“Ben-Hur,” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, composers
“Bilal,” Atli Orvarsson, composer
“Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,” Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna, composers
“The Birth of a Nation,” Henry Jackman, composer
“Bleed for This,” Julia Holter, composer
“The Boss,” Christopher Lennertz, composer
“Bridget Jones’s Baby,” Craig Armstrong, composer
“The Bronze,” Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau, composers
“Captain America: Civil War,” Henry Jackman, composer
“The Charnel House,” Todd Haberman, composer
“The Choice,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer
“Collateral Beauty,” Theodore Shapiro, composer
“The Conjuring 2,” Joseph Bishara, composer
“Criminal,” Bryan Tyler and Keith Power, composers
“Deadpool,” Tom Holkenborg, composer
“Deepwater Horizon,” Steve Jablonsky, composer
“Denial,” Howard Shore, composer
“Doctor Strange,” Michael Giacchino, composer
“The Dressmaker,” David Hirschfelder, composer
“Eddie the Eagle,” Matthew Margeson, composer
“The Edge of Seventeen,” Atli Ӧrvarsson, composer
“Elle,” Anne Dudley, composer
“Eye in the Sky,” Paul Hepker and Mark Kilian, composers
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” James Newton Howard, composer
“Fences,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer
“Finding Dory,” Thomas Newman, composer
“The First Monday in May,” Ian Hultquist and Sofia Hultquist, composers
“Florence Foster Jenkins,” Alexandre Desplat, composer
“Floyd Norman: An Animated Life,” Ryan Shore, composer
“The Founder,” Carter Burwell, composer
“Free State of Jones,” Nicholas Britell, composer
“Ghostbusters,” Theodore Shapiro, composer
“The Girl on the Train,” Danny Elfman, composer
“Gleason,” Dan Romer and Saul Simon MacWilliams, composers
“Gold,” Daniel Pemberton, composer
“Greater,” Stephen Raynor-Endelman, composer
“Hacksaw Ridge,” Rupert Gregson-Williams, composer
“Hail, Caesar!,” Carter Burwell, composer
“The Handmaiden,” Cho Young-wuk, composer
“Hands of Stone,” Angelo Milli, composer
“Hell or High Water,” Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, composers
“Hidden Figures,” Pharrell Williams and Benjamin Wallfisch, composers
“High-Rise,” Clint Mansell, composer
“How to Be Single,” Fil Eisler, composer
“Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” Lukasz Buda and Samuel Scott, composers
“The Huntsman: Winter’s War,” James Newton Howard, composer
“Ice Age: Collision Course,” John Debney, composer
“Independence Day: Resurgence,” Thomas Wander and Harald Kloser, composers
“Indignation,” Jay Wadley, composer
“The Invitation,” Theodore Shapiro, composer
“Ithaca,” John Mellencamp, composer
“Jack Reacher: Never Go Back,” Henry Jackman, composer
“Jackie,” Mica Levi, composer
“Julieta,” Alberto Iglesias, composer
“The Jungle Book,” John Debney, composer
“Keeping Up with the Joneses,” Jake Monaco, composer
“Kicks,” Brian Reitzell, composer
“Krisha,” Brian McOmber, composer
“Kubo and the Two Strings,” Dario Marianelli, composer
“La La Land,” Justin Hurwitz, composer
“Land of Mine,” Sune Martin, composer
“Landfill Harmonic,” Michael A. Levine, composer
“The Legend of Ben Hall,” Ronnie Minder, composer
“The Legend of Tarzan,” Rupert Gregson-Williams, composer
“Life, Animated,” Dylan Stark and T. Griffin, composers
“The Light between Oceans,” Alexandre Desplat, composer
“Lights Out,” Benjamin Wallfisch, composer
“Lion,” Dustin O’Halloran and Hauschka, composers
“The Little Prince,” Hans Zimmer and Richard Harvey, composers
“Live by Night,” Harry Gregson-Williams, composer
“Loving,” David Wingo, composer
“Maggie’s Plan,” Michael Rohatyn, composer
“Me before You,” Craig Armstrong, composer
“The Meddler,” Jonathan Sadoff, composer
“Midnight Special,” David Wingo, composer
“Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates,” Jeff Cardoni, composer
“Miracles from Heaven,” Carlo Siliotto, composer
“Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children,” Mike Higham and Matthew Margeson, composers
“Miss Sloane,” Max Richter, composer
“Mr. Church,” Mark Isham, composer
“Moana,” Mark Mancina, composer
“Money Monster,” Dominic Lewis, composer
“The Monkey King 2,” Christopher Young, composer
“A Monster Calls,” Fernando Velázquez, composer
“Moonlight,” Nicholas Britell, composer
“Morgan,” Max Richter, composer
“My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2,” Christopher Lennertz, composer
“The Neon Demon,” Cliff Martinez, composer
“The Nice Guys,” John Ottman, composer
“No Letting Go,” Alain Mayrand, composer
“Nocturnal Animals,” Abel Korzeniowski, composer
“Now You See Me 2,” Brian Tyler, composer
“O.J.: Made in America,” Gary Lionelli, composer
“Off the Rails,” Steve Gernes and Duncan Thum, composers
“The Other Side of the Door,” Joseph Bishara, composer
“The Ottoman Lieutenant,” Geoff Zanelli, composer
“Ouija: Origin of Evil,” Taylor Stewart and John Andrew Grush, composers
“Our Kind of Traitor,” Marcelo Zarvos, composer
“Passengers,” Thomas Newman, composer
“Paterson,” Carter Logan and Jim Jarmusch, composers
“Patriots Day,” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, composers
“Pelé: Birth of a Legend,” A. R. Rahman, composer
“Pete’s Dragon,” Daniel Hart, composer
“Po,” Burt Bacharach, composer
“Queen of Katwe,” Alex Heffes, composer
“Race,” Rachel Portman, composer
“The Red Turtle,” Laurent Perez Del Mar, composer
“Ride Along 2,” Christopher Lennertz, composer
“Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” Michael Giacchino, composer
“Sausage Party,” Alan Menken and Christopher Lennertz, composers
“The Secret Life of Pets,” Alexandre Desplat, composer
“Silicon Cowboys,” Ian Hultquist, composer
“Sing,” Joby Talbot, composer
“Snowtime!,” Eloi Painchaud and Jorane, composers
“Southside with You,” Stephen James Taylor, composer
“Star Trek Beyond,” Michael Giacchino, composer
“Storks,” Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna, composers
“Suicide Squad,” Steven Price, composer
“Sully,” Christian Jacob, composer
“Swiss Army Man,” Andy Hull and Robert McDowell, composers
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows,” Steve Jablonsky, composer
“10 Cloverfield Lane,” Bear McCreary, composer
“10 Days in a Madhouse,” Jamie Hall, composer
“13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi,” Lorne Balfe, composer
“Trolls,” Christophe Beck, composer
“20th Century Women,” Roger Neill, composer
“Warcraft,” Ramin Djawadi, composer
“Whiskey Tango Foxtrot,” Nick Urata, composer
“X-Men: Apocalypse,” John Ottman, composer
“Zoolander 2,” Theodore Shapiro, composer
“Zootopia,” Michael Giacchino, composer

Notable omissions include Arrival (Johann Johannsson), Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Hans Zimmer & Tom Holkenborg), Manchester by the Sea (Lesley Barber), Silence (Kim Allen Kluge & Kathryn Kluge) and Snowden (Craig Armstrong & Adam Peters). Also notable is that only Benjamin Wallfisch & Pharrell Williams are credited for the Hidden Figures score and not the third composer on the film, Hans Zimmer.

  1. Jerry's Kid says:

    No Arrival? No Manchester by the Sea?

    What happened, tardy applications, incomplete applications, politics?

    • Carlos says:

      Yeah, that’s pretty odd, both Arrival and Manchester By The Sea were two of the very favorites for this year’s award.

      Anyway, I guess the winner will probably gonna be La La Land or Jackie.

      • Roger says:

        The issue with Arrival comes down to the use of composer Max Richter’s piece “On the Nature of Daylight”, which bookends the film and serves as something of an emotional gutpunch. The piece was previously used in Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island, and even though over 80% of the Arrival music is Johansson’s original work, it appears the music branch has decided that the composer’s score was overshadowed by Richter’s piece, which wasn’t composed specifically for this film.

        arrival-amy-adams
        Image via Paramount
        While it’s frustrating that Johansson—who was nominated for his terrifying work last year on Sicario—won’t be in the Oscar race, I do kind of see the branch’s point on this particular film. While one would hope the music branch would be able to differentiate between Richter’s piece and Johansson’s guttural, unsettling original score that permeates throughout the rest of the film, when voting opens up to the Academy at large after the nominations are announced, it’s possible many would mistake “On the Nature of Daylight” to be part of Johansson’s score.

        Also deemed ineligible by a rule deeming them “not substantial enough” are Lesley Barber’s score for Manchester by the Sea and Kim Allen Kluge and Kathryn Kluge’s compositions for Scorsese’s Silence.