Oscar voters lined up behind a classic studio blockbuster on Tuesday, giving 13 nominations to Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” the most of any movie, and setting up the long-awaited coronation of Nolan as Hollywood’s leading filmmaker. It was a shift from recent years, when the academy fixated on unconventional art films unseen by most Americans.
No film by Nolan has ever been named best picture and, despite five previous nominations, he has never personally won an Oscar. Nolan received his second nomination for directing on Tuesday, the first coming in 2018 for his complex “Dunkirk.” He was also nominated for his “Oppenheimer” screenplay. (Here is the full list of nominees.)
The recognition for “Oppenheimer” (Universal Pictures) had been expected. But the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences threw surprises into all of the other major categories.
“Barbie” broke two heels, failing to score a directing nomination for Greta Gerwig or a best actress berth for Margot Robbie. On the upside, “Barbie” (Warner Bros.) figured somewhat unexpectedly into the supporting actress category, with America Ferrera receiving her first nomination for playing a harried mother in the film. The film received eight nominations overall, including for best picture and for the adapted screenplay by Gerwig and Noah Baumbach.
Voters recognized Colman Domingo’s lead performance as a brilliant yet flawed political organizer in “Rustin,” while excluding Leonardo DiCaprio (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), a seven-time nominee and one-time winner, from the best actor race. In the supporting actor field, Sterling K. Brown received his first nomination for his performance as a chaos-inducing cosmetic surgeon in “American Fiction,” while Willem Dafoe (“Poor Things”) was denied a nomination.
Here’s what else you need to know:
“Poor Things,” a twist on the Frankenstein story from Searchlight Pictures, received the second-largest number of nominations — 11 — including one for best picture.
Joining in the best picture category were smaller, character-driven films like “American Fiction,” a satire about a writer who puts together a novel that turns on racial stereotypes; “Anatomy of a Fall,” a legal drama set in the French Alps and partly filmed in French; “The Holdovers,” a bittersweet period comedy set at an American prep school; “Maestro,” a divisive black-and-white examination of the conductor-composer Leonard Bernstein’s personal life; “Past Lives,” a romance filmed partly in Korean; and “The Zone of Interest,” set in the shadow of Auschwitz during the Holocaust.
“Barbie” and “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which collected $156 million worldwide, rounded out the category.
Joining Domingo as best actor contenders were Bradley Cooper (“Maestro”), Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”), Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”) and Jeffrey Wright (“American Fiction”).
Annette Bening (“Nyad”), Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), Sandra Hüller (“Anatomy of a Fall”), Carey Mulligan (“Maestro”) and Emma Stone (“Poor Things”) were nominated for best actress. That meant that Greta Lee (“Past Lives”), Fantasia Barrino (“The Color Purple”) and, most notably, Robbie were left off the list in a year that was quite strong in terms of roles for women over all. Gladstone became the first Native American performer to receive an acting nomination.
Along with Brown, the best supporting actor nominees were Robert De Niro (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), Ryan Gosling (“Barbie”), Mark Ruffalo (“Poor Things”) and Robert Downey Jr. (“Oppenheimer”), who is considered the front-runner.
Rounding out the best supporting actress nominees were Emily Blunt (“Oppenheimer”), Danielle Brooks (“The Color Purple”), Jodie Foster (“Nyad”) and Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”), who is seen as the favorite.
The increasingly international academy gave a best director nomination to the French filmmaker Justine Triet, who directed and co-wrote “Anatomy of a Fall,” a did-she-or-didn’t-she legal thriller. Joining Triet and Nolan in the category were Jonathan Glazer (“Zone of Interest”), Yorgos Lanthimos (“Poor Things”) and Martin Scorsese (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), who passed Steven Spielberg to become the most-nominated living director, with 10 nods.
Through its various divisions, Disney racked up 20 nominations, the most of any company. All told, however, technology companies dominated. Netflix received a total of 18, including honors for short films and a lone nomination for “May December” in the original screenplay race. Apple TV+ received 13 nods, with “Killers of the Flower Moon” receiving 10 and “Napoleon” earning three. Amazon’s MGM division received five.
After a year that found the movie industry hobbled for months by dual strikes by writers and actors, ballots were cast from more than 90 countries, academy officials said. ABC will broadcast the 96th Academy Awards on March 10.
Viewership totals for the Oscars telecast perked up last year, reaching about 19 million. Only 10.4 million people watched the pared-down pandemic edition of the Oscars in 2021, setting off alarm bells within ABC and the entire entertainment industry. ABC and the academy are hoping that the popularity of “Oppenheimer,” which collected $953 million worldwide, and “Barbie,” with $1.4 billion in ticket sales, will give this year’s telecast an added viewership boost.
