The famed movie composer who has given us a plethora of epic soundtracks reveals that he felt the technicality of his Oscar snub was foolish.
The movie scores of Hans Zimmer have resonated with audiences for a long time. One of his latest compositions is for the Denis Villeneuve space odyssey Dune: Part Two. That film was recently nominated for five Oscars, including Best Picture, and won for Best Sound and Best Visual Effects. However, Zimmer’s work on the soundtrack would not be recognized this time around due to the Academy’s rule stating, “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.”
Deadline reports on Zimmer’s appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast, where he addressed how much he resented the rule. The Dune: Part Two Maestro stated, “You know something? It’s not really a sore point. It’s just such a stupid point — how can it be a sore point?” Then, he continued, “I got disqualified because I was using material from the first movie in the second movie, but it’s not a sequel. It is the completion, both movies are one arc. So was I supposed to go and take all the character themes away and write new character themes and develop them? It’s just a stupid rule. What I didn’t want to do is go and bitch about it.”
Zimmer also revealed a bit of news on the progress of Dune: Messiah with Villeneuve. He says, “I talk to Denis every day. Yes, it’s happening sooner rather than later.” When he was inquired about if he’d already started working on the score for that film, the composer would play coy by responding, “Mmm, maybe.”
His Dune: Part Two director didn’t mince words with Zimmer’s Oscar disqualification. Earlier this year, he sounded off on the Academy for deeming him ineligible for Best Original Score as he said, “I am absolutely against the decision of the Academy to exclude Hans, frankly, because I feel like his score is one of the best scores of the year…I don’t use the word genius often, but Hans is one…I’m not here to complain. The soundtrack is really a continuity of Part One.”
