Oscars Shortlist: 10 Feature Films Shortlisted for Best Sound at 96th Academy Awards

Sound Nominees:

“Barbie”

“The Creator”

“Ferrari”

“The Killer”

“Killers of the Flower Moon”

“Maestro”

“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One”

“Napoleon”

“Oppenheimer”

“The Zone of Interest”

Per the Academy’s press release:

10 films will advance in the Sound category for the 96th Academy Awards. All eligible members of the Sound Branch vote to determine the shortlist and the nominees. Academy members will be invited to view excerpts from each of the shortlisted films beginning Jan. 11, 2024, in the San Francisco Bay area, followed by London, Los Angeles and New York. Branch members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.

Each shortlist is determined by members of that corresponding branch, except for International Feature Film and Live Action Short Film. (Members from all branches are invited to participate in the preliminary round of voting and must meet a minimum viewing requirement to be eligible to vote in the category.)

The nominations for the 96th Oscars will be announced on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024, while the Oscars ceremony will be held on Sunday, March 10, 2024 at the Dolby® Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.

OSCAR NOMINATION PREDICTIONS

“Ferrari”
NEON

“Maestro”
Netflix

“Napoleon”
Columbia Pictures + Apple Original Films

“Oppenheimer”
Universal Pictures

“The Zone Of Interest”
A24

WHY I CHOSE THOSE FIVE?

For the Best Sound category, a few films feel like locks. “Oppenheimer,” which will be an enormous Best Picture front-runner, should make it on the final list. The use of sound, and the lack of it, throughout the film make it an experience. It’s a film about a bomb, so much work goes into creating the igniting sound above all else. “Maestro” also lands as a heavy favorite in this category, as the film centers around music, and the design and mixing of that are imperative.

“Ferrari,” which relies heavily on car racing and the impact of that sound, seems a likely nominee, as does “Napoleon,” which deals with the sound of battles in the war. The last pick, and probably my favorite for this Oscar, is “The Zone Of Interest,” which uses the sounds of a concentration camp beyond the walls of a well-to-do household as the backdrop for the entire film, and I find that a massive achievement in the use of sound in cinema. I’ll personally be rooting for that one.

Listening to the explanation of the use of sound in “Barbie” helped me understand why it got included in this shortlist. All the layers of Barbie Land, including the constant sounds of plastic, make this a more significant achievement than one could tell from the outset. Big-budget sci-fi and action films are also perfect fodder here, as “The Creator” and “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” could make easy cases for getting a nomination. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and “John Wick: Chapter 4” are both missed from this list, and it’s a slight surprise that the musical “The Color Purple” didn’t cut it either.

Barbie

Ai-Ling Lee, Nina Rice, Kevin O’Connell, & Dan Kenyon

July 21, 2023
Directed by Greta Gerwig
Produced by David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, and Robbie Brenner
Warner Bros. Pictures

Synopsis: Barbie suffers a crisis that leads her to question her world and her existence.

The Creator

Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van Der Ryn, Tom Ozanich, & Dean A. Zupancic

September 29, 2023
Directed by Gareth Edwards
Produced by Gareth Edwards, Kiri Hart, Jim Spencer, and Arnon Milchan
20th Century Studios

Synopsis: Against the backdrop of a war between humans and robots with artificial intelligence, a former soldier finds the secret weapon, a robot in the form of a young child.

Ferrari

Lee Orloff, Tony Lamberti, Andy Nelson, & Bernard Weiser

December 25, 2023
Directed by Michael Mann
Produced by Michael Mann, P.J. van Sandwijk, Marie Savare, John Lesher, Thomas Hayslip, John Friedberg, Laura Rister, Andrea Iervolino, Monika Bacardi, Gareth West, Lars Sylvest, and Thorsten Schumacher
NEON

Synopsis: Set in the summer of 1957, with Enzo Ferrari’s auto empire in crisis, the ex-racer turned entrepreneur pushes himself and his drivers to the edge as they launch into the Mille Miglia, a treacherous 1,000-mile race across Italy.

The KILLER

Ren Klyce, Steve Bissinger, Jonathon Stevens, Malcolm Fife, & Stephen Urata

October 27, 2023
Directed by David Fincher
Produced by Ceán Chaffin
Netflix

Synopsis: After a fateful near-miss, an assassin battles his employers and himself, on an international manhunt he insists isn’t personal.

Killers of the Flower Moon

Mark Ulano, Patrick Garcia, Tom Fleischman, & Sanghee Moon

October 20, 2023
Directed by Martin Scorsese
Produced by Martin Scorsese, Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, and Daniel Lupi
Paramount Pictures + Apple Original Films

Synopsis: When oil is discovered in 1920s Oklahoma under Osage Nation land, the Osage people are murdered one by one – until the FBI steps in to unravel the mystery.

Maestro

Richard King, Steven Morrow, Tom Ozanich, & Dean Zupancic

November 22, 2023
Directed by Bradley Cooper
Produced by Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning, Krisitie Macosko Kreiger, and Martin Scorsese
Netflix

Synopsis: Maestro is a towering and fearless love story chronicling the lifelong relationship between Leonard Bernstein and Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein. A love letter to life and art, Maestro at its core is an emotionally epic portrayal of family and love.

Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One

Chris Burdon, Manav Kher, Chris Munro, & Mark Taylor

July 12, 2023
Directed by Christopher McQuarrie
Produced by Tom Cruise, Christopher McQuarrie, and Leifur B. Dagfinnsson
Paramount Pictures

Synopsis: Ethan Hunt and the IMF team must track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity if it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan is forced to consider that nothing can matter more than the mission — not even the lives of those he cares about most.

Napoleon

Paul Massey, James Harrison, Stéphane Bucher & William Miller

November 22, 2023
Directed by Ridley Scott
Produced by Mark Huffam, Ridley Scott, and Kevin J. Walsh
Columbia Pictures + Apple Original Films

Synopsis: A portrayal of ambition, love, and the cost of absolute power, Napoleon is an epic that details the rise and fall of French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. The film captures his relentless journey to power through the prism of his addictive, volatile relationship with his wife, Josephine.

Oppenheimer

Willie D. Burton, Richard King, Gary A. Rizzo, & Randy Torres

July 21, 2023
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Produced by Emma Thomas, Charles Roven, and Christopher Nolan
Universal Pictures

Synopsis: During World War II, Lt. Gen. Leslie Groves Jr. appoints physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer to work on the top-secret Manhattan Project. Oppenheimer and a team of scientists spend years developing and designing the atomic bomb. Their work comes to fruition on July 16, 1945, as they witness the world’s first nuclear explosion, forever changing the course of history.

The Zone of Interest

Maximilian Behrens, Johnnie Burn, & Tarn Willers

December 15, 2023
Directed by Jonathan Glazer
Produced by James Wilson, Ewa Puszczynska, and Jim Wilson
A24

Synopsis: The commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, and his wife Hedwig, strive to build a dream life for their family in a house and garden next to the camp.