Robbie Williams “Forbidden Road,” from his upcoming biopic Better Man, was shortlisted at the 2025 Academy Awards but is no longer eligible.
A letter to the Academy’s music branch went out Friday, explaining that “Forbidden Road” has been removed from the best original song shortlist since it “incorporates material from an existing song that was not written for this film.” The decision was made after the music committee reviewed materials.
At the Oscars, a song must be a complete original to qualify. The shortlist will now have 14 songs vying for the top five nomination slots instead of 15; a replacement song will not be added.
Two songs from Emilia Pérez — “El Mal” and “Mi Camino,” written and composed by Clément Ducol and Camille — are on the shortlist. Others on the list are Pharrell Williams for “Piece by Piece” from Piece by Piece; Elton John and Brandi Carlile for “Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late; Lin-Manuel Miranda for “Tell Me It’s You” from Mufasa: The Lion King; Maren Morris for “Kiss the Sky” from The Wild Robot; Lainey Wilson for “Out of Oklahoma” from Twisters; Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for “Compress/Repress” from Challengers; and Diane Warren for “The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight.
Better Man will have a limited release opening on Dec. 25 and will go wide on Jan. 10. The film is about Williams’ life and he is portrayed by a computer-generated monkey. It was co-written, produced and directed by Michael Gracey.
