You know what Glen Powell’s Tyler says, “If you feel it, chase it!” And in the case of the 2025 Oscars, they might be feeling the love for Tiwsters, as they just acknowledged the film by placing it in two categories on the shortlist. Now, admittedly, the visual effects recognition was expected, however, it’s the film’s other nod in the Original Song category I’m particularly excited about.
As attention and anticipation around the upcoming award show on the 2025 TV schedule increases, The Academy has made its first announcement that clues us into who could be nominated this year. As Variety noted, these shortlists serve as “mid-term exams for awards contenders” and reveal the field of projects that could get nominated for a bunch of categories. While the big ticket categories aren't included in these, one of my favorite below-the-line ones is, and that's Original Song.
This category also included songs like “Compress/Repress” from Challengers, “Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late, two songs from Emilia Pérez as well as tracks from Disney’s projects -- with Moana 2's “Beyond” and Mufasa's “Tell Me It’s You” both being named.
I’m a big fan of this musical category for two reasons. One: I think original music should be recognized and awarded. And two: the nominees all get to perform at the ceremony, adding some needed breaks from the talking into the telecast.
Bringing this all back around to Twisters, the 2024 movie schedule hit made its way into the Original Song list thanks to Lainey Wilson’s emotional ballad “Out Of Oklahoma.” And, there’s a lot that’s exciting about this recognition.
First of all, the Twisters soundtrack rules, and it’s genuinely one of my most-played albums of the year. Filled with high-profile country artists, it’s a diverse collection of songs that represent the genre, and it adds bangin' and modern background music to this high-energy film. Plus, not only are these tracks generally great country songs, but they’re also super fitting for the movie and the scenes they’re featured in.
From Luke Combs’ “Ain’t No Love In Oklahoma” being used when Tyler is introduced to Jelly Roll’s “Dead End Road” being a hype song during a chase, the music in Twisters really amplifies the story and action.
Then, in the case of Lainey Wilson’s song that could become Oscar-nominated, it highlights a slower more emotional instance of the film when Daisy Edgar-Jones’ Kate returns home after a chase for the first time in a long time.
![Lainey Wilson - Out of Oklahoma (From Twisters: The Album) [Official Music Video] - YouTube](https://img.youtube.com/vi/1TsZH__etDA/maxresdefault.jpg)
I adore that scene, as it leads to an emotional and scientific breakthrough from both Kate and Tyler. The song underscores the importance of home and returning, and not only does it up the emotion of this particular moment it also emphasizes the themes of Twisters.
So, yeah, Lainey Wilson deserves recognition from The Academy for this one. Now, we need to cross our fingers that she also ends up getting officially nominated.
If she is, that will give her the opportunity to perform the song live too (which trust me, you'll want to see)!
Now, the wait is on to see if this track takes the next step and moves from the shortlist to the nominated list. Here’s hoping it is, because when I stream the Oscars on Hulu this year, I desperately want to see some love and appreciation for Twisters on that stage through a performance and a nice shout-out!
In the event that this Twisters track does get nominated, you’ll be able to watch the Oscars on ABC or with a Hulu subscription on March 2. In the meantime, you can go back and watch the beloved legacy sequel with a Peacock subscription.
