Oppenheimer and Poor Things lead the pack of the 96th Academy Award nominees, with both features earning 13 and 11 nominations apiece including best picture.
The Universal drama earned 13 nods for Christopher Nolan (for best director and adapted screenplay), lead actor Cillian Murphy, supporting performers Emily Blunt and Robert Downey Jr., plus original score, cinematography, production design, editing, costume design, hair and makeup and sound.
Focus Features’ Poor Things earned Emma Stone a best actress nom (and, as a producer, a best picture nom). The Yorgos Lanthimos-helmed film also earned a nod for best director, supporting actor (Mark Ruffalo), adapted screenplay, original score, cinematography, production design, editing, costume design, and hair and makeup.
American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Past Lives and The Zone of Interest were also nominated for best picture.
Apple’s Killers of the Flower Moon scored 10 nominations, including a much-anticipated nod for Lily Gladstone, who became the first Native American to earn a nom for best actress. Co-star Robert De Niro also earned a nomination for supporting actor, while the film was also nominated for best director (Martin Scorsese), cinematography, original score (a posthumous nod for Robbie Robertson), original song, production design, editing and costume design.
Warner Bros.’ Barbie also collected seven nominations, including best supporting actor for Ryan Gosling and supporting actress for America Ferrera. While Margot Robbie missed a best actress nom, she did receive a best picture nomination as the film’s producer. Director Greta Gerwig was also passed over in the best director category, but earned a nom for the film’s screenplay with co-writer Noah Baumbach. The film did score two nods for original song for “I’m Just Ken” (which gives hope for a Gosling musical performance at the March 10 ceremony) and Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?” The film also earned nominations for best costume design and production design.
Ten performers were nominated for the first time. In addition to Blunt, Ferrera, Gladstone and Murphy, those include best actor nominees Colman Domingo (Rustin) and Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction); best actress nominee Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall); supporting actor nominee Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction); and supporting actress nominees Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple) and Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers).
Bradley Cooper is now the fourth person to direct himself to an Oscar nomination with Netflix’s Maestro. While he did not earn a directing nom, he was nominated for co-writing the film’s screenplay. Best actress nominee Annette Bening earned her fifth nom for Netflix’s Nyad, while Carey Mulligan earned her third nom for in the category for Netflix’s Maestro. The Holdovers‘ Paul Giamatti, previously nominated for best supporting actor, earned his first nomination for a leading role.
With the exception of Japan’s Perfect Days (directed by German auteur Wim Wenders), all of the international feature nominees are European features: Italy’s Io Capitano, Spain’s Society of the Snow, Germany’s The Teachers’ Lounge and the United Kingdom’s The Zone of Interest. The latter film — which also earned nominations for best director, adapted screenplay and sound — marks the U.K.’s first nomination in the category and the ninth film to be nominated for both best picture and international feature.
There were still some surprises in the mix this year, including Anatomy of a Fall‘s Justine Triet being the sole female nominee in the best director category. Netflix’s El Conde, a dark horror comedy about former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, scored a nom for best cinematography for Edward Lachman (previously nominated for Far From Heaven and Carol).
Zazie Beetz and Jack Quaid (a member of the crowded Oppenheimer ensemble) announced the nominations from the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills on Tuesday morning.
The 96th Oscars will air live on ABC coast to coast on Sunday, March 10 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in a new earlier time slot (7-10:30 p.m. ET/4-7:30 p.m. PT). A 30-minute pre-show will lead into the live show (6:30-7 p.m. ET/3:30-4 p.m. PT). The telecast will also be rebroadcast in the Pacific time zone in primetime after the live presentation. Jimmy Kimmel will return to host the Oscars for a fourth time.
