As the nominations for the 93rd Academy Awards have officially been announced, it’s now game time for those who like to predict who’s going to take home some lovely additions to their trophy room. But one race that’s going to have to wait a little longer is that of whomever will compete with Finneas and Billie Eillish, thanks to their Grammy-winning Bond theme No Time To Die. With their names not being read among the crowd of 2021’s Best Song nominations, some fans might be worried that the tune was overlooked at the Oscars. Then again, there’s more than a chance that this 007 theme will be eligible for the Oscars next year, and it’s all because of the one reason you’d expect: No Time To Die still hasn’t hit theaters yet.
Will No Time To Die’s Theme Be Eligible For The Oscars In 2022?
Yes, No Time To Die’s theme song will absolutely be eligible for the Oscars in 2022. This might be a notion that’s a bit confusing for some, as the Finneas/Billie Eilish tune recently won the Grammy for “Best Song Written for the Visual Medium.” And it is kind of weird that a movie that hasn’t come out yet it’s already won a major award. However, the eligibility windows for both the Grammys and the Oscars are different enough to push the Oscar campaign for No Time To Die into the future.
The Technical Reasons No Time To Die’s Theme Will Have To Wait For The Oscars
Brace yourselves, folks: it’s time to look at the rulebook, the enemy of every Bond villain and the only reason Air Bud could play so many professional sports. If you take a look at the official rules for the Academy Awards, Rule 15 has several conditions that stipulate what a movie like No Time To Die has to do in order to have its theme song considered for an Oscar. Both of these conditions provide the hurdles that prevent the 25th James Bond film from competing for the honors of Best Song this year. The first condition of Rule 15 is that the song in question needs to be written specifically for the movie it’s being used in, and it must be used either “in the body of the motion picture, or the first music cue in the end credits.”
As No Time To Die was specifically written by Finneas and Billie Eilish to be used as the opening titles to the next 007 adventure, that’s met easily enough. However, the second condition stipulates that whomever is running the awards campaign for No Time To Die would have had to submit a 3-minute clip showing the usage of the song in the film. Which leads to some practical reasons why the recent awards race saw this hotly anticipated contender missing on the big day.
The Practical Reasons Why No Time To Die’s Theme Will Have To Wait To Compete
Imagine the following scenario: a 3-minute clip of No Time To Die is issued to the Academy for its usage only. But somehow, after all of the security measures and safeguards that members would have to jump through for access, someone ends up successfully leaking that clip onto the internet. While it’s not terribly likely, even the potential reaction to those moments was probably enough to keep No Time To Die in the running for 2022’s Oscars, as well as in the position to rake in as much box office cash as possible, sans spoilers.
A more important, and much more practical, reason that Billie Eilish and Finneas have another year to prepare their potential acceptance speech is that the folks behind No Time To Die are indeed going to push for awards consideration in 2022. Only, instead of just competing for Best Song, Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli are probably looking to submit the allegedly emotional ending to Daniel Craig’s time in the tuxedo for an entire awards campaign. With awards above and below the line in the crosshairs, that sort of competition will absolutely need to wait until the film is released in a fashion that qualifies for every other category.
Wait, How Did No Time To Die Compete At The Grammys?
Everything circles back to the very event that may have you wondering why Billie Eilish and Finneas aren’t in the running for an Academy Award in 2021. Again, No Time To Die’s title tune did win at this year’s 63rd Grammy Awards, which makes it all feel like putting the horse before the cart. Well, taking what we’ve learned above, it means we have to turn to only one resource to tell us why No Time To Die didn’t compete at the Oscars: the Grammy rule book!
In order to win the Grammy for “Best Song Written for Visual Media,” all you have to do is specifically write your song for the film in question. Even if your soundtrack isn’t released yet, you can still run a single like No Time To Die for the honors of Visual Media. However, you do have the option to submit your single in the same year as the soundtrack album. You just can’t submit your song both the year it’s been released and the year the soundtrack album is available.
So if any of you Billie Eilish fans were worried that somehow No Time To Die was going to be ignored by the Oscars, fear not. The 2022 Academy Awards race is going to be wide open for No Time To Die to be submitted on several crucial fronts. And even this far out, it looks like the latest James Bond theme is going to be a frontrunner for the honors, continuing the tradition that both Skyfall and Spectre have started. That is, if the October 8th opening date still holds. As always, we'll keep you apprised of any significant updates concerning the next James Bond movie as they come in.
