FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: ORIGINAL SCORE, ORIGINAL SONG, SOUND
Four film scores have hit all precursors so far: Critics Choice, Golden Globe, Hollywood Music in Media, Society of Composers & Lyricists as well as the BAFTA longlist and those are Sinners, One Battle After Another, Hamnet and Frankenstein. Any of them missing would be a bit of a surprise so if they’re all in then we have probably a four-way fight for that spot with Bugonia, F1, Marty Supreme and Train Dreams. I’m going with Marty Supreme but any would make sense. Still crazy that Jay Kelly hasn’t made a single dent all season, at any precursor. On the other side, Bugonia has been a guild beast so far so I wouldn’t count it out.
For Original Song, I haven’t changed my top 5 from last month but I did move the rankings around a bit. If there’s an upset it could be similar to Score and be Train Dreams unless Hans Zimmer pulls it out for F1. As with almost any year that Diane Warren is in contention, we have to wonder ‘is this the year they snub her?’ Until there is a trend to do so it feels unwise to bet against her. The branch has enormous respect for her; even the score from her documentary Diane Warren: Relentless made the cut. Does it help that her name is in the film’s title? It sure doesn’t hurt.
Sound feels pretty secure with F1, Frankenstein, One Battle After Another, Sinners and Sirāt. All hit CCA except Frankenstein, where Avatar: Fire and Ash showed up. Then the opposite happened with the Motion Picture Sound Editors where Frankenstein nabbed three mentions and Avatar was rather shockingly left off all film categories.
Here are my final 2026 Oscar nomination predictions in Original Score, Original Song and Sound.
ORIGINAL SCORE
| 1. Sinners — Ludwig Göransson (Warner Bros) | CCA, GG, HMMA (main), SCL (BAFTA longlist) |
| 2. One Battle After Another — Jonny Greenwood (Warner Bros) | CCA, GG, HMMA (main), SCL (BAFTA longlist) |
| 3. Hamnet — Max Richter (Focus Features) | CCA, GG, HMMA (main), SCL (BAFTA longlist) |
| 4. Frankenstein — Alexandre Desplat (Netflix) | CCA, GG, HMMA (main), SCL (BAFTA longlist) |
| 5. Marty Supreme — Daniel Lopatin (A24) ↑ | CCA, HMMA (main) (BAFTA longlist) |
| 6. Train Dreams — Bryce Dessner (Netflix) ↑ | SCL |
| 7. F1 — Hans Zimmer (Apple Original Films/Warner Bros) ↓ | GG, HMMA (main) |
| 8. Bugonia — Jerskin Fendrix (Focus Features) ↑ | HMMA (main), SCL (BAFTA longlist) |
| 9. Jay Kelly — Nicholas Britell (Netflix) ↑ | |
| 10. Sirāt — Kangding Ray (NEON) ↓ | GG |
| 11. A House of Dynamite — Volker Bertelmann (Netflix) | HMMA (main) |
| 12. Hedda — Hildur Guðnadóttir (Amazon MGM) | |
| 13. Wicked: For Good — Stephen Schwartz, John Powell (Universal Pictures) | HMMA (main), SCL (BAFTA longlist) |
| 14. Avatar: Fire and Ash — Simon Franglen (20th Century Studios) | HMMA (sc-fi) |
| 15. Tron: Ares — Nine Inch Nails (Walt Disney) | |
| 16. Nuremberg — Brian Tyler (Sony Pictures Classics) | (BAFTA longlist) |
| 17. Diane Warren: Relentless — Lesley Barber (Greenwich Entertainment) | |
| 18. Wake Up Dead Man — Nathan Johnson (Netflix) | |
| 19. Captain America: Brave New World — Laura Karpman (Walt Disney/Marvel) | |
| 20. Truth & Treason — Aaron Zigman (Angel Studios) | HMMA (independent) |
ORIGINAL SONG
| 1. “Golden” from KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix) | CCA, GG, HMMA (animated), SCL |
| 2. “I Lied to You” from Sinners (Warner Bros) | CCA, GG, HMMA (main), SCL |
| 3. “Dear Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless (Greenwich Entertainment) | HMMA (documentary), SCL |
| 4. “Train Dreams” from Train Dreams (Netflix) ↑ | CCA, GG |
| 5. “The Girl in the Bubble” from Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures) ↓ | CCA, HMMA (main), SCL |
| 6. “Salt Then Sour Then Sweet” from “Come See Me in the Good Light” (Apple Original Films) ↑ | HMMA (documentary) |
| 7. “Last Time (I Seen The Sun)” from Sinners (Warner Bros) ↓ | HMMA (main), SCL |
| 8. “Drive” from F1 (Apple Original Films/Warner Bros) ↓ | CCA, HMMA (main), SCL |
| 9. “No Place Like Home” from Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures) ↓ | GG, HMMA (main) |
| 10. “Dream as One from Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios) | GG, HMMA (sci-fi) |
| 11. “Highest 2 Lowest” from Highest 2 Lowest (A24/Apple Original Films) ↓ | HMMA (independent) |
| 12. “Our Love” from The Ballad of Wallis Island (Focus Features) ↓ | |
| 13. “As Alive As You Need Me To Be” from Tron: Ares (Walt Disney) | |
| 14. Dying To Live” from “Billy Idol Should Be Dead” (Fremantle) | HMMA (documentary) |
| 15. “Sweet Dreams Of Joy” from “Viva Verdi!” (TBD) |
SOUND
| 1. F1 (Warner Bros/Apple Original Films) | CCA, MPSE (x2) |
| 2. Sinners (Warner Bros) ↑ | CCA, MPSE (x3) |
| 3. One Battle After Another (Warner Bros) ↓ | CCA, MPSE (x3) |
| 4. Frankenstein (Netflix) | MPSE (x3) |
| 5. Sirāt (NEON) | CCA, MPSE |
| 6. Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning (Paramount Pictures) ↑ | CAS, MPSE |
| 7. Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures) | MPSE |
| 8. Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios) | CCA |
| 9. Superman (Warner Bros) | |
| 10. Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere (20th Century Studios) |
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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