Oscars 2018: Denis Villeneuve Says ‘Blade Runner 2049’ Score Should’ve Been Nominated

On Tuesday morning, this year’s Oscar nominations were unveiled, and while there were various surprises and snubs, for the most part there weren’t any major quibbles (aside from “The Boss Baby” being nominated for Best Animated Feature, which is simply ridiculous). You might not have realized it at the time, but Denis Villeneuve‘s “Blade Runner 2049” walked away with five nominations including Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects, and Best Production Design. However, the filmmaker believes there’s one more category where his sci-fi sequel deserved some love.

Speaking with CBC, Villeneuve expressed his disappointment that the film’s terrific soundtrack by Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch wasn’t nominated for Best Original Score.

“I think what [they] did for the movie, the score of the movie, was by far one of the best this year,” he said.

READ MORE: 2018 Oscar Nominations By The Numbers

You won’t get any argument from me that the “Blade Runner 2049” score was one of the year’s best, but the category at the Oscars was particularly tight this year. The other nominees are no slouches and include Alexandre Desplat for “The Shape of Water,” Jonny Greenwood for “Phantom Thread,” and John Williams for “Star Wars: The Last Jedi.” Heck, even Zimmer scored a nomination for “Dunkirk,” an equally outstanding score to “Blade Runner 2049.” I suppose you could argue perhaps Carter Burwell‘s work on “Three Billboard Outside Ebbing, Missouri” could be removed without being missed (and I’d argue Burwell’s “Wonderstruck” score is actually better).

As for why “Blade Runner 2049” didn’t make the grade in categories beyond craft, Villeneuve has a theory.

“It’s very uncommon for a movie that didn’t do well at the box office in the United States to get a nomination for Best Picture,” he said.

This year, at least, he’s not wrong. This year’s Best Picture nominees all did quite well at the box office, perhaps with the exception of “Phantom Thread,” though it only started going wide last weekend and will surely get a nice awards season boost. You might be wondering why a film that earned $259 million worldwide is considered bad box office. Well, the movie cost $150 million before marketing, and producers are expected to lose somewhere in the neighborhood of $80 million.

Thoughts? Did “Blade Runner 2049” deserve more Oscar love? Let us know in the comments section.