Oppenheimer leads Oscar nominations – with big nods for Barbie too

Oppenheimer leads the nominations for this year’s Oscars – with big nods also for box-office rival Barbie.

Christopher Nolan’s epic exploring the true story of the first atomic bomb is up for 13 Oscars, including best director and best picture, while Greta Gerwig’s feminist take on Barbie has eight nods, including best picture.

The two polar opposite films sparked the Barbenheimer phenomenon when they were both released on the same day in July last year, with many viewers watching them back-to-back. While both were huge hits, it was Barbie that won the box office battle, going on to bring in more than $1bn – and fans have this year been following their progress throughout awards season.

In the best picture category, they are up against American Fiction, Anatomy Of A Fall, The Holdovers, Killers Of The Flower Moon, Maestro, Past Lives, Poor Things and The Zone Of Interest.

Oppenheimer stars Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr and Emily Blunt are all up for acting awards, with Barbie’s Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera are also in the running – but Margot Robbie did not make the best actress shortlist.

Stars including Emma Stone, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro are also up for acting prizes, with Carey Mulligan and Blunt representing the British hopefuls.

The big nominees:

• Oppenheimer – 13
• Poor Things – 11
• Killers Of The Flower Moon – 10
• Barbie – 8
• Maestro – 7

With Hollywood back on track after a tricky period that saw both actors and writers’ striking in 2023, the Oscars ceremony in March will celebrate the best films of the year.

Oppenheimer’s success in the Oscars race comes just days after it dominated the shortlists for the BAFTAs, and following big wins at the Golden Globes at the beginning of January.

For Irish actor Murphy, who plays J Robert Oppenheimer, it is his first Academy Award nod. Nolan has previously received nominations for Inception, Memento and Dunkirk, but a triumph in 2024 would be his first Oscar. He will go head-to-head with another British director, Jonathan Glazer, for his film The Zone Of Interest, about a German family who live next to the Auschwitz concentration camp.

Oppenheimer’s 13 nods also include recognition for its costume design, make-up and hair, and music.

Barbie’s eight nominations include two in the best song category – for Billie Eilish’s What Was I Made For and Gosling’s I’m Just Ken, as well as for costume design and adapted screenplay.

Its inclusion in the best picture category, along with Justine Triet’s Anatomy Of A Fall and Celine Song’s Past Lives, means the group contains three films written and directed by women for the first time – although only Triet made the best director shortlist.

Read more:
When Barbie took over the world
‘The destroyer of worlds’ who built the atomic bomb
Poor Things to Saltburn: Get ready for sex on screen

Both Yorgos Lanthimos’ Frankenstein riff Poor Things an Martin Scorsese’s Osage epic Killers Of The Flower Moon were also widely celebrated, landing 11 and 10 nominations respectively.

Killers Of The Flower Moon star Lily Gladstone is the first Native American to be nominated for best actress, while Scorsese is nominated for best director for the 10th time. While De Niro is shortlisted for his supporting role, star Leonardo DiCaprio did not make the final five for best actor.

Movies that missed out include British film Saltburn, which went viral thanks to its graphic sexual scenes, and the critically acclaimed All Of Us Strangers, starring Irish actors Andrew Scott and Paul Mescal.

The Academy Awards ceremony will air from midnight on March 11 in the UK.

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