FINAL 2024 Oscar Predictions: ORIGINAL SCORE and ORIGINAL SONG

In Original Score we have just two that have gone all the way with the most precursors an Oscar category has: BAFTA, Golden Globe, Critics Choice, Hollywood Music in Media and the Society of Composers and Lyricists and that’s previous Oscar winner Ludwig Göransson Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon from the late Robbie Robertson. So let’s just lock those in.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse should be safe, as well as Poor Things. That’s four. Making the 5th spot very contested between Saltburn, The Zone of Interest, American Fiction, Barbie, The Boy and the Heron and Society of the Snow. Oh, and this guy called John Williams who is *checks notes* a 48-time nominee and 5-time winner in this category. Now, I’m not saying that some of those 48 nominations aren’t a little bit name-checky but I’m not not saying it. 16 of them have come since 2000 with several years being double nods. He’s sometimes a film’s only nomination or he’s a part of a larger, broader support for a film. For Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (which could find itself with a Visual Effects nomination) there’s as much argument for his inclusion as there is for him missing. He got in for the first three IJ movies but missed for Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. He comes in with zero precursors so the music branch would really have to go in hard where others haven’t.

Speaking of name-checky, what would the original song category be without Diane Warren? A 14-time nominee, Warren was finally awarded an Honorary Oscar two years ago and then immediately earned that 14th nod so there wasn’t a feeling of ‘ok we don’t have to nominate her anymore’ from the music branch. Can it keep happening? I have a hard time not seeing it happen as HMMA and SCL actually have Academy crossover and are crucial to understanding why we see her nominated year after year. To be clear, that’s not a dig at Warren – she should have won a competitive Oscar years ago – but I feel like this will be a big test year for her if she’s able to keep the nominations rolling in.

Oscar nominations will be announced on January 23 and the 96th Academy Awards will be held on March 10. Here are my final 2024 Oscar nomination predictions in Original Score and Original Song.

ORIGINAL SCORE

1. Oppenheimer – Ludwig Göransson (Universal Pictures) – BAFTA, CCA, GG, HMMA, SCL
2. Killers of the Flower Moon – Robbie Robertson (Apple Original Films) – BAFTA, CCA, GG, HMMA, SCL
3. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Daniel Pemberton (Sony Pictures) – BAFTA, CCA, GG, HMMA
4. Poor Things – Jerskin Fendrix (Searchlight Pictures) – BAFTA, CCA, GG
5. The Zone of Interest – Mica Levi (A24) – GG, HMMA, SCL

6. The Society of the Snow – Michael Giacchino (Netflix) – CCA

7. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny – John Williams (Walt Disney)

8. The Boy and the Heron – Joe Hisaishi (GKIDS) – GG, SCL

9. Saltburn – Anthony Willis (Amazon MGM Studios) – BAFTA, HMMA, SCL

10. American Fiction – Laura Karpman (Amazon MGM Studios) – HMMA, SCL

11. Barbie – Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt (Warner Bros) – CCA, HMMA 

12. The Holdovers – Mark Orton (Focus Features)

13. Elemental – Thomas Newman (Walt Disney/Pixar) – HMMA

14. American Symphony – Jon Batiste (Netflix) – SCL

15. The Color Purple – Kris Bowers (Warner Bros)

ORIGINAL SONG

1. “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish and Finneas from Barbie (Warner Bros) – CCA, GG, HMMA, SCL
2. “I’m Just Ken” by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt from Barbie (Warner Bros) – CCA, GG, HMMA, SCL
3. “Road to Freedom” by Lenny Kravitz from Rustin (Netflix) – CCA, GG, HMMA, SCL
4. “It Never Went Away” from American Symphony by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson (Netflix) – SCL
5. “The Fire Inside” by Diane Warren from Flamin’ Hot (Searchlight Pictures) – HMMA, SCL

6. “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” by Osage Tribal Singers from Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple Original Films)

7. “Can’t Catch Me Now” from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songs and Snakes by Dan Nigro and Olivia Rodrigo – HMMA, SCL

8. “Keep It Movin’” by by Halle Bailey, Denisia Andrews, Brittany Coney, and Morten Ristorp from The Color Purple (Warner Bros) – HMMA

9. “Dance the Night” by Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson, and Andrew Wyatt from Barbie (Warner Bros) – CCA, GG

10. “Am I Dreaming” by Leland Wayne, Rakim Mayers, Michael Dean, Peter Lee Johnson, and Landon Wayne from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures) – HMMA

11. “Quiet Eyes” by Zach Dawes and Sharon Von Etten from Past Lives (A24) – HMMA

12. “High Life” by John Carney and Gary Clark from Flora and Son (Apple Original Films) – HMMA

13. “Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven)” by Jarvis Cocker, Richard Hawley and Wes Anderson from Asteroid City

14. “Superpower (I)” by Terius Gesteelde-Diamant from The Color Purple

15. “Meet In The Middle” by John Carney and Gary Clark from Flora and Son