AceShowbiz - Ludwig Göransson strengthened his chances of winning the Oscar for best original score after clinching the award for Sinners at the BAFTA ceremony on Sunday, February 22. This victory follows his earlier wins at the Critics Choice Awards, Golden Globes, and Grammys, positioning him as a frontrunner for the upcoming Academy Awards on March 15.

The competition this year for best original score includes notable composers such as Jerskin Fendrix for Bugonia, Alexandre Desplat for Frankenstein, Max Richter for Hamnet, and Jonny Greenwood for One Battle After Another. Among them, Desplat holds the most nominations with twelve in this category, followed by Greenwood and Göransson each with three, Fendrix with two, and Richter with his first.

A remarkable achievement for Göransson this year is being the only composer nominated for both best original score and best original song. He shares the song nomination with Raphael Saadiq for "I Lied to You" from Sinners. This is the first time Göransson has earned nominations in both categories in the same year, having previously been nominated for best original song with "Lift Me Up" from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever without a corresponding score nomination.

The 98th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, with Conan O'Brien returning as host for the second consecutive year. This year's ceremony will introduce a new category for best casting, increasing the total number of competitive Oscar categories to 24. For context, this is roughly one-quarter of the 95 categories presented at the Grammy Awards this year.

If Göransson wins the Oscar for Sinners, he will achieve six historic milestones in the music scoring category at the Academy Awards.

First, he would become the first composer in the 21st Century to win best original score three times. His previous wins were for Black Panther in 2019 and Oppenheimer in 2024. Currently, he shares the record for most 21st-century scoring Oscars with Howard Shore (The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), Gustavo Santaolalla (Brokeback Mountain and Babel), Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Social Network and Soul), and Alexandre Desplat (The Grand Budapest Hotel and The Shape of Water). Should Desplat win instead, he would be the first to reach three wins this century.

Additionally, Göransson would be the first composer in nearly twenty years to win two best original score Oscars within a three-year span. The last to achieve this feat was Gustavo Santaolalla, who won consecutively in 2006 and 2007 for Brokeback Mountain and Babel, respectively.

At just 41 years old, Göransson would also become the second-youngest composer in Oscar history to win three Oscars in scoring categories. The only younger recipient was André Previn, who was 35 when he won his third scoring Oscar in 1964 for Irma LaDouce. Previn's earlier wins were for Gigi and Porgy and Bess. Previn passed away in 2019 at age 89.

Moreover, Göransson would become only the second composer to maintain a perfect 3-0 record in scoring categories, winning on each of his first three nominations. His earlier victories for Black Panther and Oppenheimer marked wins on his first two score nominations. The only other composer with a similar flawless record is Alan Menken, who won on his first four nominations for The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and Pocahontas.

Winning this Oscar would mark Göransson as the third living composer with three or more Oscars in scoring categories. Although 16 composers have earned three or more Oscars in these categories historically, most are deceased. The living three-time winners include John Williams, 94, with five scoring Oscars, and Alan Menken, 76, who holds four.

Finally, Göransson would become the fourth person born in Sweden to win three Oscars across any category. The previous Swedish three-time Oscar winners are actress Ingrid Bergman, sound and sound effects editor Per Hallberg, and sound editor and mixer Paul N.J. Ottosson. Bergman won two best actress Oscars for Gaslight (1945) and Anastasia (1957), as well as best supporting actress for Murder on the Orient Express (1975).

Notably, director Ingmar Bergman, despite directing three films that won the Oscar for best foreign film—The Virgin Spring, Through a Glass Darkly, and Fanny and Alexander—never won an Oscar personally, except for an Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1970.

It's also relevant that Ryan Coogler directed both Black Panther and Sinners. If Göransson's score for Sinners wins, he will be the first composer to win two Oscars for best original score working with the same director since Howard Shore won for the two Lord of the Rings films directed by Peter Jackson.

The upcoming Oscars will be a pivotal moment for Göransson, who has already demonstrated exceptional dominance in the music categories this season. Should he secure the award for Sinners, his accomplishments will set new benchmarks in Academy Awards history for composers.