One of the year’s most anticipated and epic musical scores won’t be in the running for an Academy Award.

Warner Bros.’ “Dune: Part Two,” directed by Denis Villeneuve, was met with critical acclaim when it hit theaters in March. Both critics and audiences lauded the film’s visuals, storytelling, and, most notably, the music score by Academy Award-winning composer Hans Zimmer. However, Zimmer’s powerful and evocative score for the sci-fi epic is not eligible to be submitted for this year’s Oscars due to surpassing the Academy’s limit on pre-existing music; therefore, it cannot be nominated in the best original score category.

The Academy’s rule states: “In cases such as sequels and franchises from any media, the score must not use more than 20% of pre-existing themes and music borrowed from previous scores in the franchise.” Since Zimmer’s composition for “Dune: Part Two” incorporates substantial...