'Dune' team backs Hans Zimmer despite big odds

Hans Zimmer's score for Dune Part: Two was said to flout the Academy Awards submission rules. But Arrakis's team is not backing down.

Variety previously reported an independent review objected to his submission for the Oscars nomination of composition because they said the sci-fi epic has thematic elements from his earlier work on the original 2021’s Dune.

Nonetheless, the makers did not officially submit the movie for consideration. But now the outlet reported they have.

So far, the submission has not been reviewed. However, the window of announcing the nomination is closing fast. The Academy will announce the shortlist scores on Dec. 17.

In the meantime, the franchise director Denis Villeneuve threw his weight behind his legendary composer, saying, “I don’t think this is over yet… 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 added.

It is relevant to mention that Oscar’s rule on music eligibility for sequels is, “In cases such as sequels and franchises from any media, the score must not use more than 20% of pre-existing themes and music borrowed from previous scores in the franchise.”