- Denis Villeneuve has criticised the Oscars committee for disqualifying Hans Zimmer’s score
- Oscar committee had specific reason for disqualification
- Dune: Part Two was one of the biggest grossing films of 2024
Denis Villeneuve has criticised the Academy Awards’ decision to disqualify Hans Zimmer’s score for Dune: Part Two from the running for an award at this year’s ceremony.
There had been high hopes that Zimmer’s score would be nominated in the Best Original Score category. However, the Academy has ruled that it is ineligible for the award as it contains too much music that also appeared in the 2021 film Dune.
Denis Villeneuve unhappy with decision
It is fair to say that Villeneuve, who directed Dune: Part Two, is not happy with the ruling. SlashFilm reported Villeneuve as saying: “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.”
Villeneuve added that Dune: Part Two’s soundtrack naturally has similarities because of the continuity between that and Dune.
Zimmer’s thoughts have not been recorded. However, he was nominated in the Best Original Score category at the Golden Globes for Dune: Part Two, but lost out to Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross from Nine Inch Nails for their work on Challengers. You can read about all the major winners at the Golden Globes 2025 ceremony here.
The 97th Academy Awards will take place on Sunday, 2 March at 4pm Pacific Standard Time and 7pm Eastern Standard Time. The ceremony will air live on ABC. Nominations for the 2025 Oscars will be announced on 17 January. Here is all we know about the 2025 Oscars.
Dune: Messiah in the works
Meanwhile, Villeneuve is busy working on Dune: Messiah, the third part of the trilogy currently. Currently, there is no official release date confirmed but it is expected to hit theaters in late 2026. Here is all we know about the third Dune film.
