2026 Oscar Predictions: ORIGINAL SCORE, ORIGINAL SONG, SOUND (October)
A triple threat of shortlisted aural categories, today looks at Original Score, Original Song and Sound.
With a shortlist of 20, Original Score has the widest reach of any category and this season will be filled with previous winners like Ludwig Göransson, Alexandre Desplat, Volker Bertelmann, Hildur Guðnadóttir, Hans Zimmer and Daniel Blumberg alongside previous nominees like Nicholas Britell, Jonny Greenwood and Jerskin Fendrix. They’ll be competing with potential newcomers like Bryce Dessner, Max Richter and Daniel Lopatin, all looking for their first nomination.
The full list of eligible scores and songs won’t be revealed until early December, just as shortlist voting kicks off but we do know some submissions and campaigns already underway. While only two songs from a single film can be nominated, the official Oscar rules also state that “no more than three (3) songs from any one film may be submitted for Original Song, regardless of writer(s).” (Thanks Eric Beck for the correction here). Expect to see multiple songs from KPop Demon Hunters, F1: The Movie and Wicked: For Good make the cut.
For sound, it’s guns, guns, guns. Always a ringer to at least make the shortlist round, the sound branch loves a good, sustained gunfight and we have a handful of those this year with Avatar: Fire and Water, Sinners, One Battle After Another and Warfare providing ample firepower. Musicals and music biopics are also players here so Wicked: For Good and Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere should be able to place. But car racing is also a staple here and that puts F1: The Movie in the pole position. Then there are sneakier picks like Hamnet. While not immediately one that comes to mind as a contender here, there are a handful of sequences in the forest where the sound design is almost a character itself, not unlike The Zone of Interest. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s the same Oscar-winning sound mixer from that film, Johnnie Burn.
The Hollywood Music in Media Awards nominations will be announced in the coming weeks. The Oscar shortlists will be announced December 16. Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) Golden Reel nominations are January 12, while the Cinema Audio Society (CAS) nominations will be January 20, just two days before Oscar noms.
Here are my 2026 Oscar nomination predictions in Original Score, Original Song and Sound for October.
ORIGINAL SCORE (shortlist of 20)
| 1. One Battle After Another — Jonny Greenwood (Warner Bros) |
| 2. Sinners — Ludwig Göransson (Warner Bros) |
| 3. Hamnet — Max Richter (Focus Features) |
| 4. Frankenstein — Alexandre Desplat (Netflix) |
| 5. Jay Kelly — Nicholas Britell (Netflix) |
| 6. Marty Supreme — Daniel Lopatin (A24) |
| 7. Bugonia — Jerskin Fendrix (Focus Features) |
| 8. Train Dreams — Bryce Dessner (Netflix) |
| 9. A House of Dynamite — Volker Bertelmann (Netflix) |
| 10. Wicked: For Good — Stephen Schwartz, John Powell (Universal Pictures) |
| 11. F1: The Movie — Hans Zimmer (Warner Bros/Apple Original Films) |
| 12. Hedda — Hildur Guðnadóttir (Amazon MGM) |
| 13. The Testament of Ann Lee — Daniel Blumberg (Searchlight Pictures) |
| 14. Avatar: Fire and Ash — Simon Franglen (20th Century Studios) |
| 15. The Phoenician Scheme — Alexandre Desplat (Focus Features) |
| 16. The Ballad of Wallis Island — Adem Ilhan (Focus Features) |
| 17. The Secret Agent — Mateus Alves, Tomas Alvez Souza (NEON) |
| 18. The Mastermind — Rob Mazurek (MUBI) |
| 19. The Smashing Machine — Nala Sinephro (A24) |
| 20. How to Train Your Dragon — John Powell (Universal Pictures) – if eligible |
Other contenders: After the Hunt — Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross (Amazon MGM), Black Bag — David Holmes (Focus Features), The History of Sound — Oliver Coates (MUBI), Sentimental Value — Hania Rani (NEON), Superman — David Fleming, John Murphy (Warner Bros)
ORIGINAL SONG (shortlist of 15)
| 1. “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix) |
| 2. “I Lied to You” from Sinners (Warner Bros) |
| 3. “The Girl in the Bubble” from Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures) |
| 4. “Dear Me” from Relentless (Greenwich Entertainment) |
| 5. “No Place Like Home” from Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures) |
| 6. “Lose My Mind” from F1: The Movie (Warner Bros/Apple Original Films) |
| 7. “Clothed By the Sun” from The Testament of Ann Lee (Searchlight Pictures) – if eligible |
| 8. “Zoo” from Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney) |
| 9. “Train Dreams” from Train Dreams (Netflix) |
| 10. “We’re Not Like Ev’ryone Else” from The Twits (Netflix) |
| 11. “Highest 2 Lowest” from Highest 2 Lowest (A24/Apple Original Films) |
| 12. “How It’s Done” from KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix) |
| 13. “Takedown” from KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix) |
| 14. “He Lei Pāpahi No Lilo a me Stitch” from Lilo & Stitch (Walt Disney) |
| 15. “Just Keep Watching” from F1: The Movie (Warner Bros/Apple Original Films) |
Other contenders: “Drive” from F1: The Movie (Warner Bros/Apple Original Films), “Baby” from Freakier Friday (Walt Disney), “Both Eyes Closed” from Highest 2 Lowest (A24/Apple Original Films), “Dangerous” from Sinners, “Pale Pale Moon” from Sinners, “As Alive as You Need Me to Be” from Tron: Ares (Walt Disney), “Lullaby” from The Twits (Netflix), “Open the Door” from The Twits (Netflix), “The Problem is You” from The Twits (Netflix)
SOUND (shortlist of 10)
| 1. F1: The Movie (Warner Bros/Apple Original Films) |
| 2. One Battle After Another (Warner Bros) |
| 3. Sinners (Warner Bros) |
| 4. Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures) |
| 5. Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios) |
| 6. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (20th Century Studios) |
| 7. Warfare (A24) |
| 8. Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning (Paramount Pictures) |
| 9. Marty Supreme (A24) |
| 10. Hamnet (Focus Features) |
Other contenders: Bugonia (Focus Features), Frankenstein (Netflix), Kiss of the Spider Woman (Roadside Attractions), Marty Supreme (A24), Nuremberg (Sony Pictures Classics), The Running Man (Paramount Pictures), The Smashing Machine (A24), Superman (Warner Bros), The Testament of Ann Lee (Searchlight Pictures), Tron: Ares (Walt Disney), Weapons (Warner Bros/New Line)
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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