John Williams receives his 52nd Oscar nomination for ‘Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’ score

13 January 2020, 14:08 | Updated: 13 January 2020, 14:51

The film composing legend has broken his own Oscars record, with a 52nd nomination in the bag for his work on the latest ‘Star Wars’ film.

John Williams is up for Best Original Score at the 92nd Academy Awards for his work on Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

On receiving the nomination, the 87-year-old film composer broke his own record, with 52 Oscar nominations now in the bag – the highest number for a living person. He hangs behind Walt Disney, who holds the all-time most Oscar nominations record at 59 nods.

Williams received his first Oscar nomination in 1968, for Valley of the Dolls, going on to win the prestigious accolade for scoring E.T., Schindler’s List, Jaws and Star Wars.

This year, he is joined in the race by Hildur Guðnadóttir (Joker), the Icelandic composer who made history last week as the first woman to win Best Original Score at the Golden Globes.

Thomas Newman (1917), Randy Newman (Marriage Story) and Alexandre Desplat (Little Women) have also been nominated.

Main Oscar nominations listed below.

Best Picture

Ford V Ferrari
The Irishman
Jojo Rabbit
Joker
Little Women
Marriage Story
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Parasite

Best Director

Martin Scorsese – The Irishman
Joker – Todd Phillips
1917 – Sam Mendes
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – Quentin Tarantino
Parasite – Bong Joon Ho

Best Actress

Cynthia Erivo – Harriet
Scarlett Johansson – Marriage Story
Saoirse Ronan – Little Women
Charlize Theron – Bombshell
Renee Zellwegger – Judy

Best Actor

Antonio Banderas – Pain and Glory
Leonardo DiCaprio – Once upon a Time in Hollywood
Adam Driver – Marriage Story
Joaquin Phoenix – Joker
Jonathan Pryce – The Two Popes

Best Supporting Actress

Kathy Bates – Richard Jewell
Laura Dern – Marriage Story
Scarlett Johansson – Jojo Rabbit
Florence Pugh – Little Women
Margot Robbie – Bombshell

Best Supporting Actor

Tom Hanks – A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
Anthony Hopkins – The Two Popes
Al Pacino – The Irishman
Joe Pesci – The Irishman
Brad Pitt – Once upon a Time in Hollywood

Adapted Screenplay
The Irishman – Steven Zaillian
Jojo Rabbit – Taika Waititi
Joker – Todd Phillips & Scott Silver
Little Women – Greta Gerwig
The Two Popes – Anthony McCarten

Original Screenplay
Knives Out – Rian Johnson
Marriage Story – Noah Baumbach
1917 – Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood – Quentin Tarantino
Parasite – Bong Joon Ho, Han Jin Won

Cinematography
The Irishman
Joker
The Lighthouse
1917
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Original Song
Toy Story 4
Rocketman
Breakthrough
Frozen 2
Harriet

Original Score
Joker
Little Women
Marriage Story
1917
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

The 92nd Academy Awards ceremony will take place on 9 February.