- By Steven McIntosh
- Entertainment reporter
Image source, Getty Images
Oppenheimer’s Emily Blunt, Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr were all nominated for acting prizes
Oppenheimer leads the field at this year’s Academy Awards, with 13 nominations.
Christopher Nolan’s three-hour epic about theoretical physicist J Robert Oppenheimer was acclaimed by critics and a huge success at the box office.
Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt and Robert Downey Jr were nominated for acting prizes, and Nolan for best director.
Poor Things, Killers of the Flower Moon, Barbie and Maestro are among the other nominations this year.
Jimmy Kimmel will host the Oscars ceremony from Los Angeles on 10 March.
The top nominees:
- 13 nominations – Oppenheimer
- 11 – Poor Things
- 10 – Killers of the Flower Moon
- 8 – Barbie
- 7 – Maestro
- 5 – American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers, The Zone of Interest
For the first time in Oscar history, three of the best picture nominees were directed by women: Past Lives, Barbie and Anatomy of a Fall.
With Barbie’s nomination for the top prize, Greta Gerwig becomes the first female to have directed three best picture nominees – Little Women, Lady Bird and Barbie. However, she missed out on a nomination for best director.
The nominations also saw Killers of the Flower Moon star Lily Gladstone became the first ever Native American actress to be recognised, while Jodie Foster received her first nomination in nearly three decades for Nyad.
Her co-star Robert De Niro broke the record of longest tune between first and most recent Oscar nominations – 49 years 0vertaking beat Katharine Hepburn’s previous record of 48.
The Zone of Interest’s nomination in best international feature marks the UK’s first appearance in the category in 24 years.
Half of this year’s acting nominees are nominated for the first time.
Snubs and surprises
Barbie’s America Ferrera, who was seen as an outside bet, scored a nomination for best supporting actress
Given the success of Barbie overall, perhaps the biggest snub is the absence of the film’s director and star from the nominations.
Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie missed out on best director and best actress spots respectively. However, Robbie is nominated as a producer in the best picture line-up, and Gerwig for best adapted screenplay.
In the leading actress category, there was recognition for Nyad star Annette Bening – whose nomination had been seen as an outside bet.
Justine Triet‘s nomination for best director means there is still a woman in the category, despite Gerwig’s absence.
One of the biggest surprises in the acting categories was America Ferrera being nominated for her supporting performance in Barbie.
She was in the outer lane but her monologue in the film about what it means to be a woman clearly connected with Academy voters.
May December struggled – receiving one nomination for original screenplay but missing out on acting nominations for its stars Julianne Moore, Charles Melton and Natalie Portman.
And there were no nominations whatsoever for All of Us Strangers or Saltburn, despite their strong performance at the Bafta nominations last week.
Far less surprising, but still notable, were Leonardo DiCaprio‘s absence from best actor for his role in Killers of the Flower Moon, and Poor Things star Willem DaFoe‘s miss in best supporting actor.
Martin Scorsese secured his 10th nod for Killers of the Flower Moon, a record for a living director. But he has only won the award once, for 2007’s The Departed.
Meanwhile, 91-year-old composer John Williams achieved his 54th nomination for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. He is the second most-nominated person in Oscar history after Walt Disney, but has said the film will be his last major work.
Read more about the films in this year’s awards race:
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
