If you were hovering like a ‘thopter, waiting for the inevitable arrival of a Hans Zimmer epic in the nominations for Best Original Score at this year’s Oscars, you’d have been disappointed.
Zimmer’s notable contribution, the soundtrack for Dune 2, wasn’t included this year, a seemingly surprise omission given that his score for the original Dune film sand-walked away with the top honour back in 2021.
But there’s a perfectly good reason for that… And one that Zimmer himself is lightly peeved by.
In an industry ruled by sequels and spin-offs it seems that the Academy eventually wised up to the issue of potential repetition, with famous mega-themes if not winning then potentially clogging up the shortlist and denying new music an airing.
Thus, 'franchises and sequels' must play by different rules.
Rules that - for example - John Williams didn’t have to worry about back in 1977 as, after winning Best Original Score for Star Wars, he successfully made the nominations shortlists for both The Empire Strikes Back in 1980 and Return of the Jedi in 1983, no questions asked.
Moving the goalposts
As late as 2020 the Academy changed its rules to state that a film's score must include a minimum of 60% original music. Franchise films and sequels must include a minimum of 80% new music.
The rules were changed again following complaints the following year, lowering that minimum percentage of original music from 60% to a friendlier 35% of the total in the film, but if you’re a franchise or sequel you still have to work that bit harder.
And it’s that “franchise” rule that Zimmer’s Dune 2 fell foul of, with the film eliminated due to its classification as a ‘franchise or sequel’ - something that Zimmer, and the movie’s director Denis Villeneuve, both take issue with.
And now the always calm and collected Zimmer has gone so far as to call the rule “stupid” during his appearance on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.
“You know something? It’s not really a sore point. It’s just such a stupid point - how can it be a sore point?” he reasoned. “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.”
“It’s called Dune: Part Two, not Dune 2”
Zimmer and Villeneuve had both argued last year that Dune: Part Two shouldn’t be considered a sequel but rather more a continuation of the first film. “It’s called Dune: Part Two, not Dune 2,” Zimmer has previously said on the Variety Awards Circuit podcast.
“The story starts the second we finish the first movie. We are still within that story, those characters, and it would be foolish and completely uncinematic to go and write new themes for the characters instead of enlarging the theme.”
And it’s an opinion that Villeneuve only ever endorses: “I was there when Hans wrote the music, and he did a tremendous amount of music. Part Two is a new score. I don’t accept this because it’s one of the most beautiful scores Hans has ever written, and I would love it, at least, to be considered,” he said.
“I don’t think this is over yet.”
Meanwhile, it seems that, following a successful run of superhero movie soundtracks - a staple that perhaps earned his reputation as being the go-to-guy for bombast - Zimmer is now taking a break. “Look, I’ve done the trifecta. I’ve done Batman, Superman, Spider-Man and Wonder Woman! I mean, what do you want me to do? Some of the minor characters? Probably, yes.
When pressed as to whether Marvel had come knocking, Zimmer explained: “They have, and it was always - timing wasn’t great. And really, quite honestly, I’m looking for other things right now.”
