2025 Oscar Predictions: Best Original Score
Of all the below-the-line categories at the Oscars, Best Original Score is the most difficult to predict early on due to the finicky nature of the music branch of the academy. Scores that sound like frontrunners are disqualified for a variety of reasons, from the number of credited composers to the amount of previously recorded music used. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2025 Oscar predictions for Best Original Score.)
Starting with the 2019 Oscars, the academy released a shortlist of 15 contenders. We got this year’s roster of semi-finalists on December 17, 2024. A second round of voting by the members of the music branch, again using preferential voting, will cut these 15 down to the final five nominees. These will be announced, along with the final contenders in all of the other competitive categories on January 17. The entire voting membership of the academy will then vote for the winners, which will be revealed during the 97th Academy Awards ceremony on March 2.
More from GoldDerby
Shaboozey's 'A Bar Song (Tipsy)' could ride historic crossover success all the way to the Grammys
Ayo Edebiri ('The Bear'): Emmys 2024 episode submission revealed
As with many of the creative arts categories at the Oscars, most usually equals best when it comes to Best Original Score. So, the more music in your movie, the better your chances. Is it any wonder Justin Hurwitz (“La La Land”) took home a trophy for composing an original movie musical in 2018, or that Ludovic Bource (“The Artist”) triumphed for penning wall-to-wall score for a silent film in 2013?
Last year, Ludwig G?ransson won his second Academy Award for Best Original Score for the epic biopic “Oppenheimer.” He’d picked up his first Oscar five years earlier for Marvel’s superhero extravaganza, “Black Panther.” That he won his awards for those two deeply contrasting movies sums this category up.
Best Original Score doesn’t have a favorite genre. “Oppenheimer” is a period biopic; “All Quiet on the Western Front” (Volker Bertelmann) is a war movie; “Dune” (Hans Zimmer) is sci-fi; “Soul” (Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon Batiste) is animated; “Joker” and “Black Panther” are both comic book adaptations; “The Shape of Water” (Alexandre Desplat) is a romance; “La La Land” (Justin Hurwitz) is a musical; “The Hateful Eight” (Ennio Morricone) is a western; and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (Desplat) is a period comedy. Ten winners, nine different genres. Only comic book movies have won this award more than once in the last 10 years.
Please note: To read full descriptions of each film, check out our 2025 Oscars Best Picture predictions.
UPDATED: July 25, 2024
LEADING CONTENDERS
“Blitz” (Apple Original Films) — Hans Zimmer
“Challengers” (Amazon MGM Studios/Warner Bros.) — Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
“Conclave” (Focus Features) — Volker Bertelman
“Gladiator II” (Paramount Pictures) — Harry Gregson-Williams
“Here” (Sony Pictures) — Alan Silvestri
“Joker: Folie à Deux” (Warner Bros.) — Hildur Guenadóttir
“Sing Sing” (A24) — Bryce Dessner
STRONG CONTENDERS
“Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.) — Hans Zimmer
“Emilia Pérez” (Pathé) — Clément Ducol
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (Warner Bros.) — Junkie XL
“Inside Out 2” (Disney) — Andrea Datzman
“Nickel Boys” (Amazon MGM Studios) — Alex Somers
“Queer” (TBC) — Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
“The Piano Lesson” (Netflix) — Alexandre Desplat
POSSIBLE CONTENDERS
“Anora” (Neon) — Matthew Hearon-Smith
“Horizon: An American Saga” (Warner Bros.) — John Debney
“I Saw the TV Glow” (A24) — Alex G
“In the Blink of an Eye” (Searchlight) — Thomas Newman
“Nosferatu” (Focus Features/Universal) — Robin Carolan
“Megalopolis” (Lionsgate) — Osvaldo Golijov
“The Room Next Door” (Warner Bros.) — Alberto Iglesias
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?
SIGN UP for Gold Derby newsletters and updates
Best of GoldDerby
Revisiting Hugh Jackman's awards races in honor of 'Deadpool and Wolverine'
Kevin Costner movies: 17 greatest films ranked worst to best
Sign up for Gold Derby's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.