2024 Oscars Best Original Score overview: Veterans and first-timers compete in an eclectic music race
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
The Oscar for Best Original Score is an odd below-the-line category line-up. It includes one of the most nominated artists of all time; a recent winner; a couple of newcomers; and a late, great rock pioneer receiving his very first nomination. If all five of these composers were sat down at the same table, what on earth would they talk about? Music, obviously.
More from GoldDerby
“American Fiction”
Laura Karpman
Karpman has mainly been scoring Marvel series like “Ms. Marvel” and “What If…?” as well as Nia Da Costa‘s feature film “The Marvels” as of late, but she’s an incredibly prolific composer who has been scoring television, films and even video games since the early ’90s. She has also been nominated for eight Primetime Emmys, winning one for “Why We Hate” in 2020. Her nomination in this category may have been a surprise, since she was going up against much bigger and more bombastic scores that failed to move past the shortlist. Fortunately, she got in; she’s the only woman in this category for the year.
SIGN UPfor Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
“Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny”
John Williams
What more needs to be said about John Williams? He created the themes for “Star Wars” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” as well as the iconic score for Steven Spielberg‘s “Jaws.” While Spielberg himself has moved on from the “Indiana Jones” franchise, leaving the fifth movie to director James Mangold (“Ford v Ferarri”), Williams’s work still connects with enough members of the academy’s music branch that they nominated the 94-year-old composer for the 54th (!!) time. He has already won five Oscars, the most recent being for Spielberg’s “Schindler’s List” in 1993. It almost seems like nominating Williams whenever he’s eligible is de rigueur, even though he’s unlikely to win the category this time around.
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
Robbie Robertson
Robbie Robertson’s collaboration with “Killers” director Martin Scorsese goes all the way back to The Band‘s 1978 concert film “The Last Waltz,” directed by Scorsese. Sadly, Robertson passed away in August 2023, shortly before the theatrical release of this movie, though after its Cannes premiere. In the past Robertson had worked as a music consultant and producer on many of Scorsese’s films going back to “The King of Comedy” in 1982, as well as the director’s more recent films including “Silence” and “The Irishman” — the latter of which he composed the entire score for. For “Killers,” the Canadian musician, who has indigenous roots through his mother’s Cayuga and Mohawk heritage, created a score that included a fitting tribute to the Osage Nation people at the heart of this thriller.
“Oppenheimer”
Ludwig Göransson
No stranger to the Oscars, Swedish composer Ludwig Göransson won this category for scoring Ryan Coogler‘s Marvel movie “Black Panther” and then received another nomination last year for his contribution to the Oscar-nominated original song “Lift Me Up” from that movie’s sequel. He also won two Primetime Emmys for his score for the Lucasfilm series “The Mandalorian” in 2020 and 2021. Göransson’s gorgeous orchestral score for this film features his wife Sierra McKinney, who performed all of the solo violin pieces. His work on this film already won him Golden Globe and Critics Choice Awards, as well as the BAFTA Award, so this is the score to beat.
“Poor Things”
Jerskin Fendrix
One of the less conventional scores of the year came from another one of this year’s first-time Oscar nominees, a British musician best known for a Brixton music scene that also produced the groups Black Midi and Black Country, New Road. Director Yorgos Lanthimos clearly found an apt collaborator since Fendrix’s manipulation of instruments makes the sounds accompanying the Greek filmmaker’s absurdist comedy unique and complimentary to the visuals, clearly why he was able to beat out better-known, more traditional composers for a nomination in this category.
At one point it seemed as though Robertson might get a well-deserved posthumous Oscar for his longtime collaboration with Scorsese, but Göransson’s score for “Oppenheimer” is just too gorgeous and powerful not to award, considering how it has already won this category from other awards groups.
PREDICTthe 2024 Oscar winners
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?
Best of GoldDerby
Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
