With wins at BAFTA, the Golden Globes, the Critics Choice Awards, and almost 30 prizes from the critics groups, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Jon Batiste’s score for Soul is all but unbeatable at the Oscars. The trio has sailed through awards season without a single blip in their campaign and it’s unfathomable to even ponder anything else winning at this point. Soul will be the first animated film to win Best Original Score since Up in 2009 and it will be the first time three composers have shared this award since The Last Emperor in 1987.
While many may have initially suspected Reznor and Ross being nominated for both Soul and Mank could cause a voting split catastrophe, the former has been the chosen contender all season long, thus avoiding any confusion where voters should lay their hat. They’ve been double nominees at numerous other awards show, and it clearly didn’t harm their chances with those voting bodies, so there’s no reason to suspect it will play a factor with the Academy.
If (and it’s a big if) there’s a spoiler waiting in the wings, it would likely be Emile Mosseri’s gorgeous score for Minari. But there really is no stopping Soul sweeping the entire season and Reznor and Ross will undoubtedly collect their second Oscars after taking this category in 2010 for The Social Network.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE PREDICTIONS:
1. Soul (Disney)
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste
2. Minari (A24)
Emile Mosseri
3. News of the World (Universal Pictures)
James Newton Howard
4. Mank (Netflix)
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
5. Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Terence Blanchard
Will win: Soul
Should win: Soul
Possible shocker: News of the World