In a development that feels depressingly appropriate for the troubled journey taken by Solo: A Star Wars Story, John Powell’s score for the latest Star Wars spinoff flick was disqualified from this year’s Oscar race because Disney missed the deadline of submission.
The music for the Han Solo prequel was composed by Powell with themes from John Williams, and while the soundtrack was presented for the Academy’s consideration, Variety reports that the entry was made only after the November 15th due date and was thus deemed ineligible. And after soldiering through the departure of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller only to bomb at the box office, this latest gaffe just feels like the sad icing on the sad cake that was Solo’s 2018.
That being said, Ron Howard’s film wasn’t the only surprise disqualification from the Academy’s Original Score category this year. Variety also mentions that Johann Johannsson’s music for Mandy was denied official consideration because the Nicolas Cage revenge thriller was released on VOD before it could complete its qualifying run in theaters. Meanwhile, Green Book and The Other Side of the Wind were both considered ineligible due to the non-original music that plays throughout each film.
Still, the disqualification of Solo was surely the most avoidable of the bunch, and you have to imagine if someone at Disney is getting a telling off, especially since the Star Wars franchise has a pretty respectable track record when it comes to the Original Score category.
Even episodes as recent as The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi landed nominations in the group for Williams’ work, and it already feels likely that Star Wars: Episode IX will manage the same feat. All the same, perhaps it’s only right that the studio seemed about as mindful of Solo: A Star Wars Story’s deadline as audiences were of its theatrical release.
