Oscars 2019: Best Original Score Shortlist Led by ‘First Man’ and ‘Beale Street’

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the 15 scores that are still in contention for an Oscar this year. The shortlist finds a number of heavily tipped favorites (“First Man,” “If Beale Street Could Talk”) competing against a handful of blockbusters (“Avengers: Infinity War,” “Ready Player One”), smaller films (“Annihilation,” “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”), and scores by returning winners like Alexandre Desplat, who took home trophy last year for “The Shape of Water” and returns to the mix with “Isle of Dogs.” Nicholas Brittell earned two spots here, for his scores for “If Beale Street Could Talk” and “Vice.”

Most of the glaring absences come from the indie side of things, as brilliant scores from the likes of Jonny Greenwood (“You Were Never Really Here”), Anna Meredith (“Eighth Grade”), and Colin Stetson (“Hereditary”) were largely overlooked in favor of films with larger profiles and higher budgets.

The following scores have made the shortlist for Best Original Score:

“Annihilation”
“Avengers: Infinity War”
“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”
“Black Panther”
“BlacKkKlansman”
“Crazy Rich Asians”
“The Death of Stalin”
“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald”
“First Man”
“If Beale Street Could Talk”
“Isle of Dogs”
“Mary Poppins Returns”
“A Quiet Place”
“Ready Player One”
“Vice”

Nominations for the 91st Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 22. The officially ceremony will be held on Sunday, February 24 at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood. ABC will broadcast the ceremony ABC starting at 6:30 p.m. ET/ 3:30 p.m. PT.