Hans Zimmer’s score for ‘Dune 2’ will not be eligible for this year’s Oscars

Zimmer won an Oscar for the score for the first part of the film.

By Joe Allen Published October 22, 2024

Rebecca Ferguson in Dune Part 2. — Warner Bros.

Many elements in the craft of Dune: Part 2 were celebrated upon the movie’s release, but one of the most celebrated pieces of the movie was Hans Zimmer’s electrifying score. Many expected that the score would propel Zimmer, who has a long history of success at the Oscars, to frontrunner status in the race.

Now, Variety is reporting that the movie’s score has been ruled ineligible by the Academy, meaning that it can’t even be nominated for the award. The reason? It surpasses the Academy’s limit for what percentage of the score can be pre-existing music.

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According to the Academy’s official rules: “In cases such as sequels and franchises from any media, the score must not use more than 20% of pre-existing themes and music borrowed from previous scores in the franchise.”

Because Dune: Part 2 borrows substantial amounts of music from the score for the first movie, it has been ruled ineligible. The score will still be eligible for a variety of other pre-cursor awards, though, including the Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes. Zimmer’s work for Steve McQueen’s upcoming movie Blitz will also be eligible. Zimmer won the oscar for Best Original Score for the first half of Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation.

In speaking with Variety, Zimmer said that he doesn’t make music for awards: “In the world of storytelling, our purpose is to serve the narrative and connect with the audience,” he said. “With Dune: Part Two, we continue the journey we began in the first half of the book at the exact moment we left off. The score was always written to expand and evolve its themes and take them, like the book, to a natural ending, planned from the first word to the last note.”

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Joe Allen is a freelance culture writer based in upstate New York. His work has been published in The Washington Post, The…

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