The late Robbie Robertson was shortlisted for an Oscar on Thursday (Dec. 21), when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences revealed the shortlists in 10 categories. Robertson’s name was shortlisted under best original score for his work on Killers of the Flower Moon. A total of 148 scores were eligible, from which this shortlist was culled by members of the music branch, who will also vote to determine the nominees.
This was the 12th and last Martin Scorsese film that Robertson worked on. Robertson, who died in June at age 80, is vying to become the first composer to be nominated in this category posthumously since the legendary Bernard Herrmann was cited in 1976 for both Obsession and Taxi Driver.
The nominations for the 2024 Academy Awards will be announced on Jan. 23. The awards will be presented on March 10. Should Robertson win, he would be the first composer to win posthumously in the category since Larry Russell and Raymond Rasch won for Limelight in 1973, two decades after the film was released.
John Williams was shortlisted for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. This would be Williams’ record-extending 49th nod in a scoring category and his fourth for a film in the Indiana Jones franchise. In total, it would be Williams’ 54th Oscar nomination (the other five are for best original song), which would pull him closer to Walt Disney’s all-time record of 59 for an individual.
Ludwig Göransson was shortlisted for his score for Oppenheimer. The Swedish composer won in this category five years ago for scoring Black Panther. He was nominated for an Oscar last year for co-writing a song for the sequel.
Mica Levi was shortlisted for the critically-acclaimed The Zone of Interest.The English composer was nominated in this category seven years ago for Jackie.
Kris Bowers was shortlisted for The Color Purple, but fell short with his equally touted score for Origin.
Other highly-touted scores that failed to make the shortlist include Past Lives (Christopher Bear, Daniel Rossen), The Peasants (Lukasz Rostowski), The Killer (Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross), Nyad (Alexandre Desplat) and Rustin (Branford Marsalis).
Five films were shortlisted for both best original score and best original song – American Symphony, Barbie, The Color Purple, Killers of the Flower Moon and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Here’s a complete list of the scores that were shortlisted for best original score.
American Fiction (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM)
Laura Karpman
American Symphony (Netflix)
Jon Batiste
Barbie (Warner Bros.)
Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt
The Boy and the Heron (GKids)
Joe Hisaishi
The Color Purple (Warner Bros.)
Kris Bowers
Elemental (Pixar)
Thomas Newman
The Holdovers (Focus Features)
Mark Orton
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (Disney)
John Williams
Killers of the Flower Moon (Apple)
Robbie Robertson
Oppenheimer (Universal Pictures)
Ludwig Göransson
Poor Things (Searchlight Pictures)
Jerskin Fendrix
Saltburn (Amazon/MGM)
Anthony Willis
Society of the Snow (Netflix)
Michael Giacchino
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures)
Daniel Pemberton
The Zone of Interest (A24)
Mica Levi
