Oscar nominations have hit and to no one's surprise The Revenant could be this year's top earner with 12 nominations in its corner. However the list also includes, more importantly, Ennio Morricone's score for The Hateful Eight, John Williams' score for Star Wars and Thomas Newman's score for Bridge of Spies all contending for Best Original Score; and David Lang's "Simple Song #3" competing in the Best Original Song category.
The Original Score category is heavily weighted this year with a lot of press going to The Hateful Eight and, as many expected, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Perhaps it's because Mr. Morricone admitted to rehashing old music from John Carpenter's The Thing, which some considered grounds to disqualify him from the running.
Nonetheless, the nomination stands and also in the category is Thomas Newman for Bridge of Spies; Carter Burwell for Carol; Jóhan Jóhannsson for Sicario; and of course Mr. John Williams for Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
For the Best Original Song nomination, David Lang's "Simple Song #3" is voted into the category alongside "Manta Ray" from Racing Extinction; "Earned It" from Fifty Shades of Grey; "Til It Happens to You" from The Hunting Ground; and "Writing's on the Wall" from the Bond movie Spectre.
In other news for Ennio Morricone and The Hateful Eight, it's also been announced that Quentin Tarantino plans to bring the movie to the stage with Tarantino helming the writing, directing and production side himself.
Tarantino said at the Golden Globes, "I've thought it out completely. I'm just waiting for this season to be over so I can write it."
Congratulations to all the nominees. The Oscars will be broadcast on ABC on Feb. 28.
