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The Academy Awards' Shortlist Of Original Scores Is Not Short

Composer Michael Giacchino at the U.S. premiere <em>Coco</em>. Four of Giacchino's scores have been shortlisted for Oscar nominations this year —  <em>The Book Of Henry, Coco, Spider-Man Homecoming </em>and <em>War for the Planet of the Apes</em>.
Charley Gallay
/
Getty Images for Disney
Composer Michael Giacchino at the U.S. premiere Coco. Four of Giacchino's scores have been shortlisted for Oscar nominations this year — The Book Of Henry, Coco, Spider-Man Homecoming and War for the Planet of the Apes.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced its shortlist of original scores for the 2018 Oscars — and it is not short. There are 141 works being considered for the final five spots, including many of Hollywood's usual suspects.

Daniel Pemberton, Michael Giacchino and Rob Simonsen lead the pack with four mentions each. Pemberton is recognized for his work on All the Money in the World, King Arthur, Mark Felt and Molly's Game while Giacchino's work appears on The Book Of Henry, Coco, Spider-Man Homecoming, War for the Planet of the Apes. Simonsen recieves nods for composition on Father Figures, Gifted, Going In Style and The Only Living Boy in New York.

The list also includes some films not likely to be mentioned in proximity to the Academy Awards otherwise — Baywatch, XXX: The Return of Xander Cage, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword and The Fate of the Furious among them.

Dunkirk, the Christopher Nolan-directed war film that has attracted Oscar buzz since its summer release, is a notable appearance considering part of Hans Zimmer's score borrows Edward Elgar's "Nimrod," from the famed English composer's Enigma Variations. The official criteria for the award category states that the submission "must be written specifically for the motion picture by the submitting composer." If Zimmer were to win in 2018, it would mark his first Academy Award for original score since 1995's The Lion King. The composer has been nominated nine times, the first for 1988's Rain Man.

The final list of five nominees will be officially announced on Jan. 23. The 2018 Academy Awards will air Sunday, March 4 on ABC. Check out the 141 initial contenders below.

Alien: Covenant — Jed Kurzel, composer
All I See Is You — Marc Streitenfeld, composer
All the Money in the World — Daniel Pemberton, composer
Annabelle: Creation — Benjamin Wallfisch, composer
Band Aid — Lucius, composer
Battle of the Sexes — Nicholas Britell, composer
Baywatch — Christopher Lennertz, composer
Beauty and the Beast — Alan Menken, composer
The Big Sick — Michael Andrews, composer
Blade Runner 2049 — Benjamin Wallfisch and Hans Zimmer, composers
The Book of Henry — Michael Giacchino, composer
Born in China — Barnaby Taylor, composer
The Boss Baby — Hans Zimmer and Steve Mazzaro, composers
Boston — Jeff Beal, composer
Brad's Status — Mark Mothersbaugh, composer
Brawl in Cell Block 99 — Jeff Herriott and S. Craig Zahler, composers
The Breadwinner — Mychael Danna and Jeff Danna, composers
Breathe — Nitin Sawhney, composer
Brigsby Bear — David Wingo, composer
Brimstone & Glory — Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin, composers
Captain Underpants The First Epic Movie — Theodore Shapiro, composer
Cars 3 — Randy Newman, composer
The Circle — Danny Elfman, composer
Coco — Michael Giacchino, composer
Cries from Syria — Martin Tillman, composer
A Cure for Wellness — Benjamin Wallfisch, composer
Darkest Hour — Dario Marianelli, composer
Despicable Me 3 — Heitor Pereira, composer
The Disaster Artist — Dave Porter, composer
A Dog's Purpose — Rachel Portman, composer
Downsizing — Rolfe Kent, composer
Drawing Home — Ben Holiday, composer
Dunkirk — Hans Zimmer, composer
Earth: One Amazing Day — Alex Heffes, composer
A Fantastic Woman — Matthew Herbert, composer
The Fate of the Furious — Brian Tyler, composer
Father Figures — Rob Simonsen, composer
Ferdinand — John Powell, composer
Fifty Shades Darker — Danny Elfman, composer
Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool — J. Ralph, composer
First They Killed My Father — Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders, composers
Get Out — Michael Abels, composer
A Ghost Story — Daniel Hart, composer
Gifted — Rob Simonsen, composer
The Glass Castle — Joel P. West, composer
Going in Style — Rob Simonsen, composer
Good Time — Daniel Lopatin, composer
Goodbye Christopher Robin — Carter Burwell, composer
Gook — Roger Suen, composer
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 — Tyler Bates, composer
The Hitman's Bodyguard — Atli Ӧrvarsson, composer
Hostiles — Max Richter, composer
Human Flow — Karsten Fundal, composer
An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power — Jeff Beal, composer
It — Benjamin Wallfisch, composer
Jane — Philip Glass, composer
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle — Henry Jackman, composer
Justice League — Danny Elfman, composer
Kepler's Dream — Patrick Neil Doyle, composer
King Arthur: Legend of the Sword — Daniel Pemberton, composer
Kingsman: The Golden Circle — Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson, composers
Kong: Skull Island — Henry Jackman, composer
LA 92 — Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans, composers
LBJ — Marc Shaiman, composer
Lady Bird — Jon Brion, composer
Lake of Fire — Qutub-E-Kripa, composer
Last Flag Flying — Graham Reynolds, composer
The Lego Batman Movie — Lorne Balfe, composer
The Lego Ninjago Movie — Mark Mothersbaugh, composer
The Leisure Seeker — Carlo Virzì, composer
Let It Fall — Mark Isham, composer
Life — Jon Ekstrand, composer
Logan — Marco Beltrami, composer
The Lost City of Z — Christopher Spelman, composer
Loveless — Evgueni Galperine and Sacha Galperine, composers
Loving Vincent — Clint Mansell, composer
The Man Who Invented Christmas — Mychael Danna, composer
Mark Felt – The Man Who Brought Down the White House — Daniel Pemberton, composer
Marshall — Marcus Miller, composer
Mary and the Witch's Flower — Takatsugu Muramatsu, composer
Maudie — Michael Timmins, composer
Molly's Game — Daniel Pemberton, composer
Moomins and the Winter Wonderland — Łukasz Targosz, composer
The Mountain between Us — Ramin Djawadi, composer
Mudbound — Tamar-kali, composer
The Mummy — Brian Tyler, composer
Murder on the Orient Express — Patrick Doyle, composer
My Cousin Rachel — Rael Jones, composer
Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer — Jun Miyake, composer
Okja — Jaeil Jung, composer
Oklahoma City — David Cieri, composer
The Only Living Boy in New York — Rob Simonsen, composer
Only the Brave — Joseph Trapanese, composer
Our Souls at Night — Elliot Goldenthal, composer
Paris Can Wait — Laura Karpman, composer
Patti Cake$ — Geremy Jasper and Jason Binnick, composers
Phantom Thread — Jonny Greenwood, composer
The Pirates of Somalia — Andrew Feltenstein and John Nau, composers
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales — Geoff Zanelli, composer
The Post — John Williams, composer
Professor Marston and the Wonder Women — Tom Howe, composer
The Promise — Gabriel Yared, composer
Pulimurugan — Gopi Sundar, composer
Raw — Jim Williams, composer
Roman J. Israel — Esq. — James Newton Howard, composer
Saban's Power Rangers — Brian Tyler, composer
Same Kind of Different as Me — John Paesano, composer
The Second Coming of Christ — Navid Hejazi — Ramin Kousha and Silvia Leonetti, composers
Served Like a Girl — Michael A. Levine, composer
The Shack — Aaron Zigman, composer
The Shape of Water — Alexandre Desplat, composer
Slipaway — Tao Liu, composer
Smurfs: The Lost Village — Christopher Lennertz, composer
Spider-Man: Homecoming — Michael Giacchino, composer
Split — West Dylan Thordson, composer
The Star — John Paesano, composer
Star Wars: The Last Jedi — John Williams, composer
Step — Laura Karpman and Raphael Saadiq, composers
Stronger — Michael Brook, composer
Suburbicon — Alexandre Desplat, composer
Swing Away — Tao Zervas, composer
Thank You for Your Service — Thomas Newman, composer
Their Finest — Rachel Portman, composer
Thelma — Ola Fløttum, composer
Thor: Ragnarok — Mark Mothersbaugh, composer
Three Billboards outside Ebbing — Missouri — Carter Burwell, composer
Tickling Giants — Paul Tyan, composer
Tommy's Honour — Christian Henson, composer
Trafficked — David Das, composer
Transformers: The Last Knight — Steve Jablonsky, composer
XXX: Return of Xander Cage — Brian Tyler and Robert Lydecker, composers
Victoria & Abdul — Thomas Newman, composer
Voice from the Stone — Michael Wandmacher, composer
Wakefield — Aaron Zigman, composer
War for the Planet of the Apes — Michael Giacchino, composer
Wilson — Jon Brion, composer
Wind River — Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, composers
Wonder — Marcelo Zarvos, composer
Wonder Woman — Rupert Gregson-Williams, composer
Wonderstruck — Carter Burwell, composer
Year by the Sea — Alexander Janko, composer

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Sidney Madden is a reporter and editor for NPR Music. As someone who always gravitated towards the artforms of music, prose and dance to communicate, Madden entered the world of music journalism as a means to authentically marry her passions and platform marginalized voices who do the same.