Film Music Reporter

The Academy has announced the updated rules for next year’s 92nd Academy Awards and confirmed that the short lists that were reintroduced last year in both “Original Score” and “Original Song” music categories will return for next year’s Oscars. The new procedure in the nomination phase generated mixed reactions last year, with some parties feeling movies and their respective songs/scores that are released at the very end of the year are being disadvantaged, while others welcomed the spotlight placed on ten additional scores/songs that appeared on the short lists but ultimately were not nominated.While the result of the eventual five nominees in the “Original Score” category would have likely looked the same this past Oscar season without the short list, there could be a major casualty of the system this coming season. Assuming Disney/Lucasfilm will follow similar protocol in terms of when they are showing Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker to press and industry members ahead of its December 20 release as they did with the previous two Star Wars saga episodes (which only premiered and screened less than a week before opening day), it raises a big question mark whether John Williams’ score, which would otherwise be considered a front runner based on the composer’s track record with the Academy and his nominations for the previous Star Wars films, will be in the running as it seems uncertain whether it would make the November 15 submission deadline and whether voting Academy members would have a chance to see the movie prior to the short list voting deadline. For the complete list of rules, visit the Academy’s official website.