Grammys 2021: James Bond, Joker & Jojo Rabbit join forces for trio of early genre wins

Is there any sticky situation that Special Agent 007 can’t find a way to overcome? Stranded by the COVID-19 pandemic for yet a third delay to its release date, No Time to Die may still be for producers’ eyes only — but  that didn’t stop the upcoming swan song for star Daniel Craig from picking up a coveted statue at this year’s Grammy Awards.

Pop phenomenon Billie Eilish gave No Time to Die the first Grammy in history for a film that hasn’t yet been shown in theaters, winning out over a pair of other genre hopefuls in the Best Song Written for Visual Media category. Eilish’s “No Time to Die” theme song took home the award while spying from above a musical field that also included Taylor Swift’s “Beautiful Ghosts" from Cats, Brandi Carlile’s "Carried Me with You" from Pixar’s Onward, Idina Menzel’s “Into the Unknown” from Disney’s Frozen II, and  Cynthia Erivo’s "Stand Up" from the Harriet Tubman historical biopic Harriet.

Joining Eilish in the pre-ceremony winner’s circle was Jojo Rabbit, which picked up a Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media. Director Taika Waititi was clearly surprised to score a Grammy against competition that also included compilations from Bill & Ted Face the Music, Frozen II, and the charming Mister Rogers' Neighborhood homage A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. The recurring MCU collaborator could only muster a bewildered “Lol wtfffff” as he retweeted a congratulatory post depicting him in suave repose, reclining in a white leisure suit in parodic homage to Michael Jackson’s iconic album cover for Thriller.

Waititi’s Grammy win gives the Thor: Love and Thunder director a new trophy to set alongside his earlier Academy Award for Jojo Rabbit, but it wasn’t the only repeat win for a genre movie. Todd Phillips’ Joker got its last awards-season laugh by picking up the Grammy for Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media, handing composer Hildur Guðnadóttir a new honor to go with her 2020 Oscar for Best Original Score.

Joker beat out a field that also featured composer Max Richter’s score for Ad Astra, as well as John Williams’ score for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. While those are films fans can actually watch, we still can’t say the same for No Time to Die, for which the awards committee (via Variety) carved out an eligibility exemption due to the extraordinary circumstances created by the pandemic. The thrice-delayed Bond movie is currently slated to arrive in theaters (at last!) on Oct. 8 of this year.