After a tumultuous movie year marred by strikes and work stoppages, the Academy Awards Tuesday on Christopher Nolan鈥檚 blockbuster biopic, 鈥淥ppenheimer,鈥� which came away with a leading 13 nominations.
, viewed as the best picture frontrunner, received nods for best picture; Nolan鈥檚 direction; acting nominations for Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt; and multiple honors for the sweeping craft of the J. Robert Oppenheimer drama. Though Nolan is regarded as the big-canvas auteur of his era, he鈥檚 never won an Academy Award, nor have any of his films won best picture. This, though, could be his year.
The year鈥檚 biggest hit, 鈥淏arbie,鈥� came away with a nominations haul slightly less than its partner in Barbenheimer mania. , with more than $1.4 billion in ticket sales, was nominated for eight awards, including best picture; Ryan Gosling for best supporting actor; and two best-song candidates in 鈥淲hat Was I Made For鈥� and 鈥淚鈥檓 Just Ken.鈥�
Gerwig was surprisingly left out of the best director field. She was nominated for best director in 2018 for her solo directorial debut, 鈥淟ady Bird.鈥� At the time, Gerwig was just the fifth woman nominated for the award. Since then, Chlo茅 Zhao (鈥淣omadland鈥�) and Jane Campion (鈥淭he Power of the Dog鈥�) have won best director. Before those wins, Kathryn Bigelow (鈥淭he Hurt Locker,鈥� in 2010) was the only woman to win the Oscar鈥檚 top filmmaking honor.
Both Martin Scorsese鈥檚 Osage epic and Yorgos Lanthimos鈥� Frankenstein riff 鈥淧oor Things鈥� were also widely celebrated. 鈥淧oor Things鈥� landed 11 nods, while 鈥淜illers of the Moon鈥� was nominated for 10 Oscars.
, star of 鈥淜illers of the Flower Moon,鈥� became the first Native American nominated for best actress. For the 10th time, Scorsese was nominated for best director. Leonardo DiCaprio, though, was left out of best actor. The late Robbie Robertson, , also became the first Indigenous person nominated for best score.
鈥淧oor Things,鈥� a about Bella Baxter鈥檚 sexual awakening, received nominations for Lanthimos鈥� direction, Emma Stone鈥檚 leading performance, Mark Ruffalo鈥檚 supporting performance and widespread nods for the .
The were: 鈥淥ppenheimer,鈥� 鈥淏arbie,鈥� 鈥淧oor Things,鈥� 鈥淜illers of the Flower Moon,鈥� 鈥淭he Holdovers,鈥� 鈥淢aestro,鈥� 鈥淎merican Fiction,鈥� 鈥淧ast Lives,鈥� 鈥淎natomy of a Fall鈥� and 鈥淭he Zone of Interest.鈥�
That group, which mirrored the Producers Guild Awards nominees, went much as expected and, as critics noted, a remarkably strong collection of films. For the first time, three of the best picture nominees were directed by women: 鈥淧ast Lives鈥� by Celine Song; 鈥淎natomy of a Fall鈥� by Justine Triet, who was also nominated for best director; and Gerwig鈥檚 鈥淏arbie.鈥�
But surprises abounded in other categories.
The best actor category had been seen one of the most competitive. In the end, the nominees were Murphy, , , Bradley Cooper (鈥淢aestro鈥�) and . Domingo鈥檚 nomination, for his performance as civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, made him just the second openly gay man to be nominated for playing a gay character, following Ian McKellen for the 1998 film 鈥淕ods and Monsters.鈥�
鈥淎merican Fiction,鈥� about a frustrated novelist, had an especially good day, collecting five nominations. That included a nod for Sterling K. Brown for best supporting actor. Robert De Niro (鈥淜illers of the Flower Moon鈥�) rounded out that category with Downey Jr. and Gosling.
Best actress was also closely contested. Along with Gladstone and Stone, the nominees were Carey Mulligan (鈥淢aestro鈥�), Annette Bening (鈥淣yad鈥�) and Sandra H眉ller (鈥淎natomy of a Fall鈥�). That left out Margot Robbie, the star of 鈥淏arbie,鈥� and Fantasia Barrino from 鈥淭he Color Purple.鈥�
In supporting actress, the frontrunner Da鈥橵ine Joy Randolph of 鈥淭he Holdovers鈥� continued her march to her first Oscar. She was joined by Blunt, Danielle Brooks (鈥淭he Color Purple鈥�), Jodie Foster (鈥淣yad鈥�) and America Ferrera (鈥淏arbie鈥�).
Lead nominees 鈥淥ppenheimer,鈥� 鈥淏arbie,鈥� 鈥淧oor Things鈥� and 鈥淜illers of the Flower Moon鈥� made for a maximalist quartet of Oscar heavyweights. Nolan鈥檚 sprawling biopic. Gerwig鈥檚 near-musical. Scorsese鈥檚 pitch-black Western. Lanthimos鈥� sumptuously designed fantasy. Each utilized a wide spectrum of cinematic tools to tell big, often disturbing big-screen stories. And each 鈥� even Apple鈥檚 biggest-budgeted movie yet, 鈥淜illers of the Flower Moon鈥� 鈥� had robust theatrical releases that saved streaming for months later.
The Associated Press in the news organization鈥檚 178-year history with 鈥�20 Days in Mariupol,鈥� of the besieged Ukrainian city and of the last international journalists left there after the Russia invasion. It was nominated for best documentary, along with 鈥淔our Daughters,鈥� 鈥淏obi Wine: The People鈥檚 President,鈥� 鈥淭he Eternal Memory鈥� and 鈥淭o Kill a Tiger.鈥�
鈥�20 Days鈥� is a joint production between The Associated Press and PBS鈥� 鈥淔rontline.鈥�
The nominees for best international film are: 鈥淪ociety of the Snow,鈥� (Spain); 鈥淭he Zone of Interest,鈥� (United Kingdom); 鈥淭he Teachers鈥� Lounge鈥� (Germany); 鈥淚o Capitano鈥� (Italy) ; 鈥淧erfect Days鈥� (Japan).
The nominees for best animated film are: 鈥淭he Boy and the Heron鈥�; 鈥淓lemental鈥�; 鈥淣imona鈥�; 鈥淩obot Dreams鈥�; 鈥淪pider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.鈥�
The best-picture collection of films 鈥� all of which played in theaters for at least a month, including Netflix鈥檚 鈥淢aestro鈥� 鈥� reflected the industry鈥檚 rebalancing after years of experimentation during the pandemic. Netflix came away with the most nominations of any studio with 18, but industry consensus has, for now, turned back to believing cinemas play a vital role in the rollout of most movies. Apple and Amazon, which in 2022 acquired MGM, have each made theatrical a priority.
In heaping nominations on 鈥淥ppenheimer,鈥� Oscar voters are poised to do something they haven鈥檛 done in a long time: Hand its top award to a big-budget blockbuster. Granted 鈥淥ppenheimer鈥� isn鈥檛 your average big-screen spectacle, but the academy has for years favored smaller films for best picture, movies like 鈥淐ODA,鈥� 鈥淣omadland鈥� and last year鈥檚 winner, 鈥淓verything Everywhere All at Once.鈥� Ben Affleck鈥檚 2012 film 鈥淎rgo鈥� was the last best picture winner to surpass $100 million domestically. 鈥淥ppenheimer鈥� grossed $326.8 million in the U.S. and Canada, and nearly $1 billion globally.
Historically, blockbusters have helped fueled Oscar ratings. Through the pile-up of award shows (an after-effect of last year鈥檚 strikes) could be detrimental to the Academy Awards, the Barbenheimer presence could help lift the March 10 telecast on ABC. Jimmy Kimmel is returning as host, with the ceremony moved up an hour, to 7 p.m. EST.
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