Back in 1994, Trent Reznor contributed a couple of new Nine Inch Nails songs to the soundtracks of "The Crow" and "Natural Born Killers." It was Reznor's first musical foray into the world of cinema, and both films were considered "edgy" at the time. Fast-forward 17 years, and the NIN leader is an Oscar winner for one of the most mainstream films on the ballot. Reznor and collaborator Atticus Ross won the Academy Award for Best Original Score at last night's 83rd annual Oscar ceremony for their brooding, textured work on "The Social Network." The Oscar win capped off an impressive awards season for Reznor that saw him also win over 10 Best Score awards, including trophies at the Golden Globes and Critics' Choice Awards. Not bad considering this was Reznor's first stab at film scoring.
"Wow, is this really happening?" Reznor remarked when he first stepped to the microphone to accept his Oscar, a sentiment he was still feeling backstage as he tweeted, "HOLY S--- doesn't seem enough..." (Reznor shared a similar backstage tweet following his Golden Globes win.) Reznor defeated past Oscar-winning composers Hans Zimmer ("Inception") and A.R. Rahman ("127 Hours"), and four-time Oscar-nominated Alexandre Desplat ("The King's Speech") to take home the award for "The Social Network," marking one of the few times during that 83rd annual Academy Awards that "The Social Network" actually beat out "The King's Speech" in a category.
It's safe to say that the bar has impossibly been raised for Reznor as he begins work on his follow-up score to "The Social Network," but there will be no downward spiral this time around: Reznor has revealed that he'll reunite with director David Fincher to compose the music for the upcoming adaptation of "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," due out later this year and setting the stage for a repeat appearance for Reznor at next year's Oscars.
[Photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage.com]