John Williams earns 50th Oscar nod with latest 'Star Wars'

John Williams, one of the most prolific composers of film scores, on Thursday earned his 50th Oscar nomination with the latest "Star Wars." Williams was nominated for best original score for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," the near record-grossing seventh installment of the science fiction epic. The film earned a total of five Oscar nominations but mostly in technical categories and it was passed over for best picture. Williams, 83, has won Academy Awards five times in his previous 49 nominations. His Oscars included the theme to the original 1977 "Star Wars." The others were for "Fiddler on the Roof" and three of Steven Spielberg's films -- "Jaws," "E.T.: the Extra-Terrestrial" and "Schindler's List." Williams, who has worked on most of Spielberg's movies, is known for his grand neo-Romantic scores in the fashion of Wagner, a contrast to the modern fare prevalent among many contemporary composers outside of Hollywood. He will be up against several other prominent composers for Hollywood. Thomas Newman, who is versatile in his musical directions, received his 13th Oscar nomination for the score of thriller "Bridge of Spies." The film is the first by Spielberg in 30 years to have a composer other than Williams, who left "Bridge of Spies" due to health concerns from which he has recovered. Italian composer Ennio Morricone, 87, received his sixth nomination for his work on the Western film "The Hateful Eight." He has never won the Oscar for his previous nominations which include the score to Mafia saga "The Untouchables." Icelandic composer Johann Johannsson, known for his sparse electronic works, received his second Oscar nomination for the score of the thriller "Sicario." The only first-time nominee was Carter Burwell for 1950s lesbian love story "Carol." He is best known for his work with a number of art-house filmmakers including the Coen Brothers, Spike Jonze and Charlie Kaufman. The separate category of best original song brought nominations for a number of pop stars. Sam Smith, the big winner at last year's Grammys, was nominated for the theme to the latest James Bond thriller "Spectre" and rising R&B star The Weeknd enjoyed a nod for a song from "Fifty Shades of Grey." Lady Gaga was nominated for a song in "The Hunting Ground," a documentary on sexual assault at US universities, while Antony Hegarty, singer of acclaimed dark choral group Antony and the Johnsons, was in the running for the documentary "Racing Extinction" about how homo sapiens have caused the decline of other species.