2024 Oscar nominations: surprises and silver screen milestones.
The anticipation surrounding the 2024 Oscar nominations has reached its climax, and this year's lineup is nothing short of intriguing. While the glamorous Barbie remains a strong contender, Christopher Nolan's ambitious Oppenheimer and Yorgos Lanthimos' compelling Poor Things have emerged as frontrunners, each boasting an impressive number of nominations.
Oppenheimer is leading the pack with a staggering 13 nominations, coming close to the record for the most nominations held by a film. All About Eve, Titanic, and La La Land share the record with 14 nominations each. Meanwhile, Poor Things is not far behind Oppenheimer in the race, securing nominations in 11 categories.
The future is female.
2024 is shaping up to be a historical year for film, with three female-directed films receiving nominations in the Best Picture category for the first time ever. Justine Triet's Anatomy of a Fall, Greta Gerwig's Barbie, and Celine Song's Past Lives have paved the way for female directors, marking a significant milestone for the 96th Academy Awards.
Come on Barbie, let’s go party!
America Ferrera and Ryan Gosling, who delivered impeccable performances in their supporting roles, have both secured nominations for Best Supporting Actress and Actor.
While lead actress Margot Robbie wasn’t recognised in the Best Actress category, she is up for Best Picture as a producer of the film, alongside David Heyman, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner. Meanwhile director Greta Gerwig, has been nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay alongside writer Noah Baumbach.
Despite the nomination controversies, it’s important to note that Barbie sits in the top 5 for the highest nominated films of this year’s Academy Awards, with 8 nominations sitting firmly under its belt. If Barbie is able to maintain its momentum gained after the recent Golden Globes, it is more than likely for the film to take out the win for Best Original Song, meaning a potential back-to-back victory for Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell with their song “What Was I Made For?”. Barbie is also pitched to be a strong contender in the Costume Design and Production Design categories for its exceptional efforts in bringing the vibrant, pink-drenched Barbieland to life on the big screen.
Past Lives pulls through.
It’s an exciting time for Celine Song whose wildly impressive debut, Past Lives, has received two nominations, for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. Better yet, Past Lives alongside The Zone of Interest and Anatomy of a Fall have already made history, with this being the first year that more than one non-English language film has been nominated for Best Picture.
The Color Purple hits a high note.
Danielle Brooks gave a powerhouse performance in Blitz Bazawule's musical remake of The Color Purple and to the delight of many, managed to land a nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Whilst a bittersweet nomination for Brooks as the solo nominee of the film, Brooks says taking home the Oscar for telling Sofia’s powerful story would signal something important and profound to those watching, “It would mean honouring all of the Sofias that have ever lived, it would be a win for them.”
Killers of the Flower Moon blooms big records.
If securing 10 nominations wasn’t groundbreaking enough, Lily Gladstone has made Oscars history as the first Native American Best Actress nominee for Killers of the Flower Moon. The film also secured a Best Director nomination for Martin Scorsese, making this a record-breaking nomination for him as he surpasses previous record holder Steven Spielberg with his 10th nomination in this category.
Godzilla’s roaring recognition.
The Oscars' seven decade-long snubbing of a certain giant lizard is over. Godzilla has received its first ever Academy Award nomination with the surprise hit Godzilla Minus One. The film’s director and VFX supervisor Takashi Yamazki said in a statement, "I had not set my sights on being nominated, but I am very happy to have been brought to this place... I think it is a wonderful day for Godzilla!” Godzilla Minus One is up for nomination in the category of Best Visual Effects alongside The Creator, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One, and Napoleon.
Read the full list of nominees below:
Best Picture
American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest
Best Director
Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest
Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall
Best Actress
Annette Bening, Nyad
Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan, Maestro
Emma Stone, Poor Things
Best Actor
Bradley Cooper, Maestro
Colman Domingo, Rustin
Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction
Best Supporting Actress
Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
America Ferrera, Barbie
Jodie Foster, Nyad
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
Best Supporting Actor
Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things
Best Original Screenplay
Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, Anatomy of a Fall
David Hemingson, The Holdovers
Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer, Maestro
Samy Burch, May December
Celine Song, Past Lives
Best Adapted Screenplay
Cord Jefferson, American Fiction
Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach, Barbie
Tony McNamara, Poor Things
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest
Best International Feature
Io Capitano, Italy
Perfect Days, Japan
Society of the Snow, Spain
The Teacher’s Lounge, Germany
The Zone of Interest, United Kingdom
Best Animated Feature
The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Best Documentary Feature
Bobi Wine: The People’s President
The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
To Kill a Tiger
20 Days in Mariupol
Best Cinematography
El Conde
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Best Editing
Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Best Costume Design
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Best Hair and Makeup
Golda
Maestro
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Society of the Snow
Best Sound
The Creator
Maestro
Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
The Zone of Interest
Best Visual Effects
The Creator
Godzilla Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Mission: Impossible—Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon
Best Production Design
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Best Original Song
“What Was I Made For?”, Billie Eilish and Finneas, Barbie
“I’m Just Ken,” Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt, Barbie
“The Fire Inside,” Diane Warren, Flamin’ Hot
“It Never Went Away,” Jon Batiste, American Symphony
“Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People),” Osage Tribal Singers, Killers of the Flower Moon
Best Original Score
American Fiction
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Best Live-Action Short
The After
Invincible
Knight of Fortune
Red, White and Blue
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Best Animated Short
Letter to a Pig
Ninety-Five Senses
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko
Best Documentary Short
The ABCs of Book Banning
The Barber of Little Rock
Island in Between
The Last Repair Shop
Nai Nai & Wai Po