With ‘The Odyssey’ on Fire at the Box Office, Could Ludwig Göransson Be Headed for Another Oscar?

The Odyssey is the fifth consecutive film that Göransson has scored that has become a certified blockbuster. 7/21/2026 NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JULY 14: Ludwig Göransson attends "The Odyssey" New York Premiere at AMC Lincoln Square Theater on July 14, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images) Getty Images Christopher Nolan’s film The Odyssey dominated the box office in its opening weekend. The nearly three-hour epic grossed $123.5 million in the U.S. and Canada and $263.8 million globally, according to boxofficemojo.com. Will The Odyssey also dominate the Oscar nominations? We won’t know for sure until the nominations for the 99th annual Academy Awards are announced on Jan. 21, but Oscar pundits are already breathlessly speculating that it could equal or beat Sinners’ newly minted record as the film with the most nominations (16). The common link between these two films is composer Ludwig Göransson, who won an Oscar for scoring Sinners on March 15 and could win again in that category for The Odyssey. Göransson has already won three Oscars for best original score, more than anyone else in the 21st Century. He won in 2019 for Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther; in 2024 for Nolan’s previous film, Oppenheimer; and in 2026 for Coogler’s aforementioned Sinners. The Odyssey is the fifth consecutive film that Göransson has scored that has become a certified blockbuster. His output since 2022 consists of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever ($859.2 million gross at the global box office), Oppenheimer ($975.8 million), Sinners ($371.4 million),The Mandalorian and Grogu ($340.6 million) and The Odyssey ($263.8 million so far). It is of course too early to declare someone the front-runner to win an Oscar. There are more than five months left in the eligibility year. But given Göransson’s track record, and the film’s success at both the box office and with critics,The Odyssey seems sure to at minimum be in the Oscar conversation for best original score. Göransson will set several records if his score wins at the Oscars on March 14. Even if he is just nominated, it will mark the first time that a composer has been nominated for best original score the year after winning in that category since Alexandre Desplat was nominated for Isle of Dogs in 2019, one year after winning for The Shape of Water in 2018. The Odyssey is the third consecutive Nolan film that Göransson has scored. The director and composer first teamed on Tenet in 2020. Nolan previously teamed with composers Hans Zimmer (for six films, one in tandem with James Newton Howard) and David Julyan (four films). Zimmer was Oscar-nominated for his scores for three Nolan films:Inception, Interstellar and Dunkirk. Here are five records Göransson will set if his score for The Odyssey wins at the 99th Oscars. First composer in two decades to win back-to-back Oscars for best original score The last composer to win back-to-back Oscars for best original score was Gustavo Santaolalla, who won with Brokeback Mountain in 2006 and Babel in 2007. First composer in more than three decades to win three scoring Oscars in the space of four years As noted, Göransson won in 2024 for Oppenheimer and in 2026 for Sinners. If he wins again for The Odyssey, he would become the first composer to win three scoring Oscars in the space of four years since Alan Menken, who won in 1990 for The Little Mermaid, in 1992 for Beauty and the Beast and in 1993 for Aladdin. First composer in more than three decades to win four scoring Oscars in the space of nine years Göransson would also become the first composer since Menken to win four Oscars in scoring categories in the space of nine years. Göransson won his first Oscar in 2019 for Black Panther. In addition to the three wins detailed in the previous item, Menken won for Pocahontas in 1996, giving him four wins in scoring categories in the space of seven years. Youngest composer in more than six decades to win four Oscars in scoring categories Göransson will be 42 on Oscar night. The only composer who was that young, or younger, upon winning his fourth scoring Oscar was André Previn, who was 35 – one day shy of turning 36 – in 1965 when he won his fourth Oscar for My Fair Lady. Note: Previn won three of his four Oscars for adapting and conducting other composers’ work. He won for Gigi and My Fair Lady (both composed by Frederick Loewe) and Porgy and Bess (composed by George Gershwin). He also won for Irma La Douce, which he composed, drawing on themes by Marguerite Monnot. First person born in Sweden to win four Oscars (in any category) Göransson, who was born in Linköping, Sweden in 1984, would become the first person who was born in Sweden to win four Oscars (in any category). He would pull ahead of three Swedes who each won three Oscars: legendary actress Ingrid Bergman; sound and sound effects editor Per Hallberg; and sound editor and mixer Paul N.J. Ottosson. Note: Director Ingmar Bergman directed three films that won the Oscar for best foreign film, but the only Oscar he personally won was an Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award in 1970. Get weekly rundowns straight to your inbox Sign Up