UPDATED with full list, more details: The nominations for the 96th Oscars unveiled Tuesday has focused the race around a real Best Picture competition between Universal’s Oppenheimer (13 nominations), Apple Original Films’ Killers of the Flower Moon (10 noms), Searchlight’s Poor Things (11 noms) and Warner Bros’ Barbie (eight noms).
That means an impressive 21 nominations for Barbenheimer, the one-two summer punch that had a collective gross of almost $2.4 billion at the global box office, and did as much to restore moviegoing as Tom Cruise and Top Gun: Maverick did the previous year as the business struggled to rebound from the pandemic. Oppenheimer and Barbie got to fully promote their films right before the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes that hindered many of the other films that bowed in the fall because guild members were forbidden from stumping for their films.
See the full list of today’s nominees below, including noms by film and distributor.
There is diversity in the nominations and an international presence that reflects an Oscar voter overhaul that has made nominations less predictable. There were surprises in the major categories this morning, and momentum for certain films, performances and directors that mean we are in for some aggressive campaigning before final voting begins February 22 ahead of the March 10 Oscarcast.
One of the big surprises was the omission of Leonardo DiCaprio for Killers of the Flower Moon in the Best Actor category, and in the Best Adapted Screenplay category for the film’s Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese. While the latter has now set the record for living directors with 10 Best Director nominations, one more than Steven Spielberg (William Wyler holds the all-time record at 12), Roth would have passed Billy Wilder for most screenwriting noms (Roth, himself a Hollywood legend, did pass John Huston for most scripted Best Picture nominees).
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Considering that Roth, Scorsese and DiCaprio completely overhauled the Killers of the Flower Moon narrative structure and turned the actor from playing good-guy FBI man Tom White to playing Ernest Burkhart, the man who slow-poisoned the Osage woman he loved (played by Oscar nominee Lily Gladstone), one would have thought Academy voters might have factored all this into their choices. They did not, though the Academy did recognize Robert De Niro in the Best Supporting Actor category, and made Gladstone the first major nominee for a Native American actress in her breakthrough role.
Another record today: three female directors saw their movies nab Best Picture nominations — Celine Song with Past Lives, Great Gerwig with Barbie and Justine Triet with Anatomy of a Fall — the first time that’s ever happened.
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Elsewhere, surprises abounded, including both Annette Bening and Jodie Foster being nominated for Nyad, the Netflix film that ran mostly under the radar. Both are superb with Bening playing distance swimmer Diana Nyad who in her 60s swam from Cuba to Florida, braving fatigue, strong tides, vicious jellyfish and natural elements. Foster plays Bonnie Stoll, her coach and friend.
Colman Domingo got a Best Actor nomination for the George C. Wolfe-directed Rustin for a tour de force performance as the gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, who led the charge to organize the March on Washington where Martin Luther King Jr gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech that was a galvanizing moment in the drive for civil rights. Jeffrey Wright also got a nomination for American Fiction, which has established itself as a film with a puncher’s chance. While first-time director Cord Jefferson did not crack the stacked Best Director nominees, he did make the grade in the Best Adapted Screenplay category to go with a Best Picture nomination.
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In the Best Actor category, it is shaping up as a real race between Oppenheimer’s Cillian Murphy and Paul Giamatti for The Holdovers, but Wright, Bradley Cooper and Domingo also turned in career performances.
While Cooper was snubbed in the Best Director category, his Leonard Bernstein film Maestro scored well this morning, with a Best Picture nomination, one for Carey Mulligan for Best Actress and another for Cooper in the Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay categories for the script he wrote with Josh Singer.
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Oppenheimer was represented in all major categories, with Christopher Nolan up for Best Director, and Robert Downey Jr for Best Supporting Actor, Murphy in Best Actor and Emily Blunt in Best Supporting Actress. Nolan also scored a nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay in bringing to the screen the life of the man considered the father of the atom bomb.
Poor Things, easily the most fully realized and well executed vision of an out-there premise since last year’s Best Picture winner Everything Everywhere All at Once, was represented in all major categories and is a clear dark horse contender in a reinvention of the Frankenstein story. While Willem Dafoe’s freaky turn as the twisted father/creator of Emma Stone’s Bella character didn’t make the Oscar cut, Stone was nominated for Best Actress, Mark Ruffalo for Best Supporting Actor, and Yorgos Lanthimos in the Best Director category. Watch out for this one.
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The Best Actress category carries as much intrigue as any other. Gladstone surprised some by going in that category. She hovers over Killers of the Flower Moon like the conscience of the movie as the Osage tribe is being decimated by greedy white men, but there is also much to say for Stone and the braveness and reckless abandon she displayed in playing a reanimated figure, with the brain of a child implanted in the body of an adult. Her development and awakening is something to behold. Throw in Mulligan’s turn in Maestro, Sandra Hüller’s work in Anatomy of a Fall and Bening’s dogged distance swimmer in Nyad, and there is much to like her with performances that could have been winners in down years. But there can be only one.
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Another outlier to watch is Jonathan Glazer’s haunting The Zone of Interest. Aside from Best Picture, the film got Glazer nominations for Best Director and for adapting the Martin Amis novel about the commandant of Auschwitz and his attempt to raise his family next door to the house of horrors concentration camp.
Barbie had an interesting morning. The biggest blockbuster of 2023 got a Best Picture nod, as well as one for Best Adapted Screenplay; the late Academy decision to put the script in that category even though it was a wholly original take by Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach probably knocked out Killers of the Flower Moon. But Gerwig got snubbed as Best Director and title character Margot Robbie also didn’t make the cut, though she’s in the Best Picture category as one of the film’s producers. Ryan Gosling did crack the Best Supporting Actor category.
That will be a fascinating one to watch. Sterling K. Brown’s American Fiction turn, De Niro, Gosling and Ruffalo all turned in strong work, but then there is Downey, in which might be the best performance of his career in Oppenheimer.
Downey is a great Hollywood story. He began as a prodigy actor nominated early for playing Charlie Chaplin, to a fallen figure, to a rebound as Iron Man that was the catalyst for unprecedented success in the Kevin Feige-orchestrated Marvel dynasty that made Downey Hollywood’s highest-paid actor for a time. And now, this performance as Lewis Strauss. No nominee has a more touching and compelling personal narrative, and a reminder of why not giving up on talent is worthwhile. He proved there can be light at the end of the tunnel if one puts in the work to stop the nosedive.
Anatomy of a Fall also turned in a Best Picture nomination, as well as nominations for star Hüller, and Justine Triet for Best Director. Both Zone and Anatomy got their buzz started with big splashes at the Cannes Film Festival, where Anatomy won the Palme d’Or.
The Best Supporting Actress category also bears watching. The frontrunner is Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who grounds The Holdovers as the boarding-school cook grieving the death of her student son in Vietnam; Danielle Brooks in The Color Purple, America Ferrara in Barbie, Blunt in Oppenheimer and Nyad‘s Foster make this a competitive field.
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The nominations unveiled this morning by Jack Quaid and Zazie Beetz were clean. Both are the kind of young actors Hollywood should celebrate. Beetz is a shot of life in every movie she graces, and her exuberance at 5:30 a.m. was most appreciated. Under the steering of Academy head Bill Kramer, this is yet another time that Oscar showed no missteps, the kind that were all too commonplace under previous management. It makes one hopeful that the Jimmy Kimmel-hosted Oscarcast will go as smoothly, hopefully like the Emmycast did.
After today’s noms, Academy members will cast their final votes from February 22-27.
See the full list of nominees and scorecards below.
2024 Oscar Nominations List
Best Picture
American Fiction
Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson and Jermaine Johnson, Producers
Anatomy of a Fall
Marie-Ange Luciani and David Thion, Producers
Barbie
David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, Producers
The Holdovers
Mark Johnson, Producer
Killers of the Flower Moon
Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, Martin Scorsese and Daniel Lupi, Producers
Maestro
Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers
Oppenheimer
Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan, Producers
Past Lives
David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, Producers
Poor Things
Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone, Producers
The Zone of Interest
James Wilson, Producer
Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper
Maestro
Colman Domingo
Rustin
Paul Giamatti
The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy
Oppenheimer
Jeffrey Wright
American Fiction
Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening
Nyad
Lily Gladstone
Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Hüller
Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan
Maestro
Emma Stone
Poor Things
Actor in a Supporting Role
Sterling K. Brown
American Fiction
Robert De Niro
Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr.
Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling
Barbie
Mark Ruffalo
Poor Things
Actress in a Supporting Role
Emily Blunt
Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks
The Color Purple
America Ferrera
Barbie
Jodie Foster
Nyad
Da’Vine Joy Randolph
The Holdovers
Directing
Anatomy of a Fall
Justine Triet
Killers of the Flower Moon
Martin Scorsese
Oppenheimer
Christopher Nolan
Poor Things
Yorgos Lanthimos
The Zone of Interest
Jonathan Glazer
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
American Fiction
Written for the screen by Cord Jefferson
Barbie
Written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach
Oppenheimer
Written for the screen by Christopher Nolan
Poor Things
Screenplay by Tony McNamara
The Zone of Interest
Written by Jonathan Glazer
Writing (Original Screenplay)
Anatomy of a Fall
Screenplay – Justine Triet and Arthur Harari
The Holdovers
Written by David Hemingson
Maestro
Written by Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer
May December
Screenplay by Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik
Past Lives
Written by Celine Song
International Feature Film
Io Capitano (Italy)
Perfect Days (Japan)
Society of the Snow (Spain)
The Teachers’ Lounge (Germany)
The Zone of Interest (UK)
Animated Feature Film
The Boy and the Heron
Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki
Elemental
Peter Sohn and Denise Ream
Nimona
Nick Bruno, Troy Quane, Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary
Robot Dreams
Pablo Berger, Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé and Sandra Tapia Díaz
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal
Documentary Feature Film
Bobi Wine: The People’s President
Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp and John Battsek
The Eternal Memory
Nominees to be determined
Four Daughters
Kaouther Ben Hania and Nadim Cheikhrouha
To Kill a Tiger
Nisha Pahuja, Cornelia Principe and David Oppenheim
20 Days in Mariupol
Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath
Live Action Short Film
The After
Misan Harriman and Nicky Bentham
Invincible
Vincent René-Lortie and Samuel Caron
Knight of Fortune
Lasse Lyskjær Noer and Christian Norlyk
Red, White and Blue
Nazrin Choudhury and Sara McFarlane
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Wes Anderson and Steven Rales
Documentary Short Film
The ABCs of Book Banning
Sheila Nevins and Trish Adlesic
The Barber of Little Rock
John Hoffman and Christine Turner
Island in Between
S. Leo Chiang and Jean Tsien
The Last Repair Shop
Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers
Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó
Sean Wang and Sam Davis
Animated Short Film
Letter to a Pig
Tal Kantor and Amit R. Gicelter
Ninety-Five Senses
Jerusha Hess and Jared Hess
Our Uniform
Yegane Moghaddam
Pachyderme
Stéphanie Clément and Marc Rius
War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko
Dave Mullins and Brad Booker
Film Editing
Anatomy of a Fall
Laurent Sénéchal
The Holdovers
Kevin Tent
Killers of the Flower Moon
Thelma Schoonmaker
Oppenheimer
Jennifer Lame
Poor Things
Yorgos Mavropsaridis
Cinematography
El Conde
Edward Lachman
Killers of the Flower Moon
Rodrigo Prieto
Maestro
Matthew Libatique
Oppenheimer
Hoyte van Hoytema
Poor Things
Robbie Ryan
Production Design
Barbie
Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
Killers of the Flower Moon
Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis
Napoleon
Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Elli Griff
Oppenheimer
Production Design: Ruth De Jong; Set Decoration: Claire Kaufman
Poor Things
Production Design: James Price and Shona Heath; Set Decoration: Zsuzsa Mihalek
Costume Design
Barbie
Jacqueline Durran
Killers of the Flower Moon
Jacqueline West
Napoleon
Janty Yates and Dave Crossman
Oppenheimer
Ellen Mirojnick
Poor Things
Holly Waddington
Music (Original Score)
American Fiction
Laura Karpman
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
John Williams
Killers of the Flower Moon
Robbie Robertson
Oppenheimer
Ludwig Göransson
Poor Things
Jerskin Fendrix
Music (Original Song)
“The Fire Inside” from Flamin’ Hot
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“I’m Just Ken” from Barbie
Music and Lyric by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt
It Never Went Away” from American Symphony
Music and Lyric by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson
“Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)” from Killers of the Flower Moon
Music and Lyric by Scott George
“What Was I Made For?” from Barbie
Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell
Makeup and Hairstyling
Golda
Karen Hartley Thomas, Suzi Battersby and Ashra Kelly-Blue
Maestro
Kazu Hiro, Kay Georgiou and Lori McCoy-Bell
Oppenheimer
Luisa Abel
Poor Things
Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston
Society of the Snow
Ana López-Puigcerver, David Martí and Montse Ribé
Sound
The Creator
Ian Voigt, Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic
Maestro
Steven A. Morrow, Richard King, Jason Ruder, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Chris Munro, James H. Mather, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor
Oppenheimer
Willie Burton, Richard King, Gary A. Rizzo and Kevin O’Connell
The Zone of Interest
Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burn
Visual Effects
The Creator
Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts and Neil Corbould
Godzilla Minus One
Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams and Theo Bialek
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland and Neil Corbould
Napoleon
Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet, Simone Coco and Neil Corbould
Nominations by Film
(2 or more)
Oppenheimer – 13
Poor Things – 11
Killers of the Flower Moon – 10
Barbie – 8
Maestro – 7
American Fiction – 5
Anatomy of a Fall – 5
The Holdovers – 5
The Zone of Interest – 5
Napoleon – 3
The Creator – 2
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One – 2
Nyad – 2
Past Lives – 2
Society of the Snow – 2
Nominations by Distributor
Netflix – 18
Apple Original Films – 13
Searchlight – 13
Universal – 13
Warner Bros – 9
A24 – 7
Neon – 7
Walt Disney – 5
Focus Features – 5
Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios – 5
Miyu Distribution – 2
MTV Documentary Films – 2
The New Yorker – 2
Paramount – 2
Bleecker Street – 1
Cohen Media Group – 1
Disney+ – 1
Documentary+ 1
Gkids – 1
H264 Distribution – 1
Kino Lorber – 1
L.A. Times Studios – 1
National Geographic – 1
New York Times Op-Docs – 1
PBS Distribution – 1
Sony Pictures Classics – 1
Sony Pictures Releasing – 1
Toho International – 1
Oscar Nominations 2024
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January 23, 2024
Deadline’s Reviews Of All The Oscar Best Picture Nominees
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