Although Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Two, which was released last year, met with critical and commercial acclaim, Hans Zimmer's powerful score for the epic drama did not qualify for Academy Awards. Academy rules for music eligibility from sequels state that "the score must not use more than 20 per cent of pre-existing themes and music borrowed from previous scores in the franchise."
In a conversation with Josh Horowitz on his Happy Sad Confused podcast, the composer called the rule "stupid" and said, "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 further added, "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 b**** about it."
Zimmer received the Best Score award in 2022 for the first Dune film. Zimmer and Villeneuve have previously argued that that the sequel shouldn't be considered a separate film but rather a continuation of the first. The Arrival director had earlier hit back at the decision ahead of the 97th Oscars. "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,” he said, calling Hans a "genius."
However, Hans Zimmer’s score for Dune: Part Two remains a strong contender for accolades from prestigious organizations such as the Critics Choice Awards, Golden Globes, BAFTA, and the Grammys. Additionally, his work on Steve McQueen’s upcoming World War II film, Blitz, is still in the running, giving him another chance at Academy recognition this year. Zimmer and McQueen have previously collaborated on Widows and the Oscar-winning 12 Years a Slave.
The 12-time nominated composer also spoke about scoring music for superhero films. "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," he said. When probed about being approached to score for Marvel films, he revealed that they had and he'd turned them down. "They have, and it was always — timing wasn’t great. And really, quite honestly, I’m looking for other things right now."
