The films in the running for the 2022 Best Original Score Oscar are “Don’t Look Up,” “Dune,” “Encanto,” “Parallel Mothers,” and “The Power of the Dog.” Our current odds indicate that “Dune” (16/5) will take the prize, followed in order of likelihood by “The Power of the Dog” (19/5), “Encanto” (9/2), “Don’t Look Up” (9/2), and “Parallel Mothers” (9/2).
Four of this year’s five composers are previous nominees, with Hans Zimmer standing out from the rest with a dozen bids to his name, the first of which was for “Rain Man” (1989). He triumphed on his second outing for “The Lion King” (1995) and has since earned notices for “The Preacher’s Wife” (1997), “As Good as It Gets” (1998), “The Prince of Egypt” (1999), “The Thin Red Line” (1999), “Gladiator” (2001), “Sherlock Holmes” (2010), “Inception” (2011), “Interstellar” (2015), and “Dunkirk” (2018).
Alberto Iglesias’s bid for “Parallel Mothers” is his fourth in this category. He was first recognized for “The Constant Gardener” (2006) and then for “The Kite Runner” (2008) and “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” (2012). Aside from Zimmer, the only other composers to have appeared in as many or more lineups since the turn of the century are Alexandre Desplat, James Newton Howard, Thomas Newman, and John Williams.
Nicholas Britell (“Don’t Look Up”) has been nominated in the past for “Moonlight” (2017) and “If Beale Street Could Talk” (2019). “The Power of the Dog” composer Jonny Greenwood’s “Phantom Thread” score landed him a spot in the 2018 race, which he and Zimmer ultimately lost to Desplat (“The Shape of Water”).
The only newcomer in the bunch is Germaine Franco (“Encanto”). She is only the 10th woman ever nominated in this category and could become its fifth female winner after Marilyn Bergman (“Yentl,” 1984), Rachel Portman (“Emma,” 1997), Anne Dudley (“The Full Monty,” 1998), and Hildur Guðnadóttir (“Joker,” 2020).
With its Best Song nomination for “Dos Oruguitas,” “Encanto” has a shot at becoming the first film since “La La Land” (2017) to win both music awards. It would be the fifth animated feature to pull off the double act after its fellow Disney films “The Little Mermaid” (1990), “Beauty and the Beast” (1992), “Aladdin” (1993), and “Pocahontas” (1996).
The films that won in this category most recently are “Soul” (2021), “Joker” (2020), “Black Panther” (2019), and “The Shape of Water” (2018). This year’s winner will be revealed during the 94th Academy Awards ceremony, airing March 27 on ABC.
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