Golden Globes 2024: Barbie domination, Succession v The Crown, and other possible record-breakers
With a reputation as the more irreverent counterpart to the Oscars, the Golden Globes was always the fun ceremony that kicked off awards season with caustic humour, a recognition for comedy and TV, and a lot more booze and bad behaviour.
After several years of controversy over a lack of diversity and allegations of inappropriate “freebies”, the ceremony was held in private and boycotted by celebs in 2022 and didn’t quite fully bounce back in 2023. The hope now is that it can return to its former status as the second most high-profile show of awards season – and, arguably, the funniest.
The Golden Globes has been reinvented all shiny and new, with a fresh organising body and a membership revamp increasing numbers to a more diverse group of more than 300 people from around the world.
Following the actors’ and writers’ strikes, the timing is perfect. Hollywood is ready for some fun again – and thanks to the marketing phenomenon that was Barbenheimer, there are blockbuster films in the mix. Ahead of the ceremony, here are a few potential record-breakers and interesting facts about the nominees.
Come on Barbie, let’s go win all the awards
It topped $1bn in box office sales around the world and, some might say, was largely responsible for a chunk of Oppenheimer’s success too – with nine nominations, it seems inevitable that Barbie will dominate the Golden Globes this year.
It seems a dead cert for best comedy or musical film, as well as the new award for cinematic and box office achievement (you can’t argue with those stats). Stars Margot Robbie and Ryan “Kenergy” Gosling are also up for acting awards, while Greta Gerwig is in the running for best director.
However, three of its nods are in the same category, for best original song – Dance The Night, I’m Just Ken and What Was I Made For? – meaning it can only win a total of seven awards, as could Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon.
Oppenheimer is nominated for eight and could win all of them, which would break La La Land’s record of seven in 2016.
With the new membership this year, voting is harder to predict – but all that said, Barbie is still probably the one to put your money on for the biggest haul.
Bradley Cooper: Best director and best actor?
Pic: Netflix
In Maestro, Bradley Cooper stars as music legend Leonard Bernstein in an intimate portrait chronicling the conductor and composer’s complicated relationship with his wife, Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein, played by Carey Mulligan. Cooper directed, co-wrote and co-produced the film.
Cooper’s nods for best actor (drama) and best director become his fifth and sixth in total, but he is yet to take a Golden Globe home.
Fans of the actor might also remember he was up for the same two gongs for A Star Is Born in 2019, but lost out to Alfonso Cuaron (Roma) in the directing category and Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody) in the acting category.
So could the star’s first win also be part of a double?
He’s certainly a favourite in the acting category, despite facing tough competition from nominees including Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer), Leonardo DiCaprio (Killers Of The Flower Moon) and Andrew Scott (All Of Us Strangers).
The directing category sees him up against Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer, as well as Scorsese for Killers Of The Flower Moon.
Emma Stone nominated for film and TV
Pic: Atsushi Nishijima/Searchlight Pictures
Also up for two gongs is Emma Stone, a now eight-time nominee who won the best actress (musical or comedy) award for her performance in La La Land in 2017.
This year, she’s up for the same prize for her critically acclaimed performance in Poor Things – “utterly filthy and a true original” is Empire’s review, while Stone’s portrayal of Bella Baxter, a young woman having a sexual awakening after being brought back to life by an unorthodox scientist in the film, is described as “entirely astounding” in the Los Angeles Times.
Stone is also nominated for best actress in a TV drama for her role in the black comedy series The Curse.
In the film category, Stone is definitely a best actress favourite for Poor Things – although the sheer power of Robbie’s Barbie may be hard to beat.
The TV category is even tougher, with Bella Ramsey (The Last Of Us) and Sarah Snook (Succession) also among those in the running for best actress.
The double would be a tricky feat to pull off, only previously achieved by Joan Plowright (Stalin and Enchanted April in 1993); Sigourney Weaver (Gorillas In The Mist and Working Girl in 1989); Helen Mirren (Elizabeth I and The Queen in 2007); and Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road and The Reader in 2009).
Steve Martin has never won before
Pic: Disney +
Surprisingly for an awards ceremony that celebrates comedy right up there alongside the serious stuff, Steve Martin has never won a Golden Globe. From 1982 to 1996, he had five film nominations – Pennies From Heaven, All Of Me, Roxanne, Parenthood, Father Of The Bride Part II – but no trophy.
Since 2022, his performance as an amateur sleuth in comedy series Only Murders In The Building, in which he stars alongside Martin Short and Selena Gomez, has landed him a nod every single year.
Could 2024 be eighth time lucky? He’s up against co-star Short, a three-time nominee, as well as other stars including Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso) and Jeremy Allen White (The Bear).
Meryl Streep for Number 10?
Pic: Disney +
Having joined the cast of Only Murders In The Building in 2023, Meryl Streep earns her 34th Golden Globe nomination for her performance as an actress who never got her big break. It broke her own record for all-time nods and a win in the best supporting performance category could see her gain her 10th overall.
Unsurprisingly for one of the most decorated stars of all time, she’s a favourite to take home the prize, but faces competition from stars including Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso) and Elizabeth Debicki (The Crown).
Succession v The Crown
Pic: HBO/Sky UK
In Golden Globes history, Mad Men and The X-Files tie for most wins in the best drama series category, with three each – but a win for either Succession or The Crown would equal their record.
The Last Of Us, The Morning Show, The Diplomat and 1923 are also in the running, but this seems like Succession’s year once again.
The series leads the TV field with nine nods, and stars Brian Cox and Jeremy Strong are also in the running to win a second acting gong for their performances in the series – Cox previously won in 2020, while Strong won in 2022.
Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook, Matthew Macfadyen, Alan Ruck, J Smith Cameron and Alexander Skarsgard are also up for awards in the acting categories.
Should The Crown’s Imelda Staunton beat Snook in the best actress category, she would become the series’ fourth actress to take home the prize, following in the regal footsteps of Claire Foy and Olivia Colman, who also played the Queen, and Emma Corrin, who played Princess Diana in her younger years.
Winners will be announced at the 81st Golden Globe Awards, hosted by comedian Jo Koy on Sunday – starting at 1am on Monday UK time.
Coach tickets to Glastonbury 2025 were sold out in half an hour, organisers have said, as they roll out a new booking system for festivalgoers.
They were the first group of tickets to be sold for the world-famous festival in Somerset, which is set to take place between 25 and 29 June.
This year, fans navigated a new system to buy the tickets as they were “randomly assigned a place in a queue” instead of having to refresh the holding page once they went live.
The organisers said in a post on X: “The Glastonbury 2025 tickets + coach travel which were on sale this evening have now all been sold.
“Our thanks to everyone who bought one.”
They added that National Express services would be available to bring festivalgoers from across the country to Glastonbury.
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Standard tickets will go on sale on Sunday at 9am. Last year they were sold out within an hour.
See Tickets said in a post on X that “confirmation emails are going out now to everyone who got @Glastonbury coach tickets this evening”.
Tickets for the annual event at Worthy Farm in Somerset cost £373.50 plus a £5 booking fee, and are sold exclusively through the See Tickets website, with no third-party sellers involved.
The new ticket system has changed the way people join the booking system.
Organisers previously warned hopefuls to log in “at least a few minutes” before the sale opened today and to avoid refreshing the page.
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Festivalgoers were also told not to attempt to game the system by using multiple devices.
The sale follows chaos earlier this year when tickets for the Oasis reunion went on sale, seeing a multitude of disappointed fans as well as those who felt cheated after being charged hundreds of pounds more for their tickets than was originally advertised.
Anyone wishing to buy tickets for Glastonbury must have registered by 11 November, a rule in place to avoid touting.
Entertainment
Christmas adverts – the 10 most-anticipated ads as the festive battle for customers commences
With just under six weeks to go to Christmas Day, the countdown has officially begun, with all the big brands rolling out their seasonal adverts.
Becoming something of an institution over recent years, many see the festive ads as the starting pistol for their Christmas preparation/panic, despite us only being halfway through November.
And with an estimated £10.5bn spent on this year’s Xmas ads, it’s not just about inducing a fuzzy warm feeling in viewers, but also about encouraging them to put their hand in their pocket.
As we brace ourselves for festive fun, we take a swift look at this year’s bevvy of commercial offerings, as the annual battle of the Christmas adverts begins.
John Lewis
A girl called Sally falls into a clothes rack reminiscent of CS Lewis’s The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, but instead of finding Narnia, she ends up in John Lewis.
Pic: PA
Through family flashbacks we lean how much she loves her older sister, whose gift she has carelessly left it to the last minute to buy. Spoiler alert – as one would expect in an advert for a retailer, she finds a pressie.
With the retailer famous for its use of cover versions in their Christmas ads, this one is the origin story for a new cover, with a concurrent competition on TikTok to find an aspiring artist to rerecord a version, which will be featured on the Christmas Day airing and released by record label BMG too.
Waitrose
Marketed as a whodunnit – this big-budget production has a host of celebrity cameos, an intricate storyline and not one but two parts.
Pic: Waitrose
Comedian Joe Wilkinson, Fleabag star Sian Clifford and Succession’s Matthew Macfadyen all have a role in the ensemble, revolving around hunting down the thief of a “chilled desert”.
Being Christmas, when tensions are traditionally high, everyone has reason to have scoffed it. The culprit won’t be revealed until the second part of the ad is released, but in the meantime, activity at Kings Cross Station, in stores and on social media is set to keep the investigation very much alive.
Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s goes big for its advert, calling on a beloved Roald Dahl character – the BFG, or Big Friendly Giant – to travel the country with a supermarket worker called Sophie (who pleasingly is a real store employee) in the search for the perfect festive treats.
Pic: Sainsbury’s
A CGI BFG procures salmon, sprouts and cheese before a bit of magic helps him whip it all up into a feast, which he then gifts to an unsuspecting family through the window.
The first ones to release their ad earlier this month, the dulcet tones of national treasure Stephen Fry wrap the action, with a call to arms to stock up in readiness for Christmas.
M&S
Another national treasure – Dawn French – is back for this one, playing both herself and a festive fairy, who gives both French and her home a make-over ready for a Christmas soiree.
Pic: PA
French, whose multi-Christmas-dinner eating antics on The Vicar Of Dibley put her into the Xmas annals, is transformed into “the quintessential hostess” with a bit of help from her little friend.
Banking on the idea that you can never have enough of a good thing, there are six instalments of the advert running between now and the New Year. Who doesn’t like a second – or sixth – helping.
Lidl
This one pulls on the heartstrings, with a little girl inspired to give a gift to a boy who appears not to have any, after an old lady gives her some magic bells.
Pic: Lidl
Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Tom Hooper (he directed The King’s Speech), a CGI racoon and giant gingerbread man add a little action to events around the dinner table.
But the take home message is to think about giving as well as receiving, with the return of the retailer’s toy banks scheme set up at supermarkets with the aim of donating over 100,000 toys, to ensure no child experiences a giftless Christmas.
Aldi
Kevin the Carrot is back for a ninth year running, this time trying to save the Christmas spirit from a bunch of hard-boiled humbug villains.
Pic: Aldi
With the ad narrated by actor Jim Broadbent, our plucky hero braves an oven, a Mission Impossible-inspired ventilation system and Bond-esque snow jet-ski dash across the mountains, all to save Christmas.
Helped by his wife Katie, he of course pulls it off. A fan favourite, soft toys of the root vegetable are sold in stores, and this year cuddly humbugs are on sale too.
Morrisons
It’s a song and dance number from Morrisons, courtesy of their singing oven gloves performing Bugsy Malone’s You Give A Little Love.
Pic: Morrisons
A choir of 26 Morrisons employees gave voice to the gloves, recording their rendition of the song at the iconic Abbey Road Studios in London.
Like Lidl, the retailer pulled out the directing big guns, hiring The Greatest Showman director Michael Gracey to oversee proceedings.
Asda
Bagging the prize for the most gnome puns in one advert, Asda sees a flash mob of gnomes preparing the store for Christmas.
Pic: Asda
The resulting advert isn’t as irritating as it sounds on paper, thanks to nice performances by the two human characters in the ad – Maggie and Bill.
And as we know, Christmas is all about the merchandise, so the supermarkets are of course selling special Xmas versions of their garden gnomes to accompany their already 50-strong gnome range. Who knew?
Tesco
Tesco reminds us of those members of the family who are no longer here to join us on the big day, with a man carrying on his late grandmother’s festive tradition of baking gingerbread.
Pic: Tesco
He becomes obsessed with the spicy treat, as it infiltrates every part of his day from his haircut to a trip to see the Christmas lights.
He eventually gets together with his grandad to bake a gingerbread house, revealing it to the family at lunch, thus keeping the tradition alive.
Greggs
And in the most unlikely festive cameo of the year, Greggs has enlisted Nigella Lawson to star in its first Christmas ad.
Pic: PA
Rapturously endorsing their festive bakes, Lawson has her hands full of pasties, and her table full of take-away coffees, as she promotes the bakery’s festive-themed fare.
Whether or not you believe the 64-year-old TV chef really tucks into their sausage rolls in real life – the attention-grabbing collaboration looks like a wise move for the chain, whose sales have jumped in recent weeks as it continues its UK expansion.
Entertainment
Paul Mescal says being the star of Gladiator II as it premieres in London is ‘absolutely, wildly overwhelming’
Gladiator II star Paul Mescal has said bringing Sir Ridley Scott’s legacy sequel to the big screen has been a “wildly… overwhelming” experience.
The star was speaking to Sky News on the red carpet at the film’s royal premiere which was attended by His Majesty the King, who had earlier hosted members of the film and TV industry at a Buckingham Palace reception.
When asked about making the move from indie films, like All Of Us Strangers and Aftersun, into one of the most eagerly anticipated films this year, Mescal said: “I’m excited to play with what the audience is expecting of me.”
“The royal audience is one thing… I think we’ve seen how an audience responded to the film, royal or not, and I think we’re excited for people to see it.”
A whole 24 years after Sir Ridley Scott’s Roman blockbuster starring Russell Crowe, Mescal plays Lucius who, much like the original, finds himself trying to win back his freedom after powerful emperors of Rome conquer his home.
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The King greets stars at film and TV event
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With an actual-scale model of the Colosseum built for the production, the film comes with high costs and a lot of hype.
“I’m struggling with words at the moment,” Mescal admitted, taking in the occasion, having come from the champagne reception at Buckingham Palace.
“This has been an absolutely, wildly – I keep using the word overwhelming – but I think if this isn’t slightly overwhelming then I don’t know what the hell is. I’m having a great time.”
Sir Ridley explained his reason for casting Mescal was that he saw aspects of “a young Albert Finney” in him.
While the pressure is on for the sequel to do well at the box office, the director said he’s learnt how to deal with the weight of expectations over the years.
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“Any film of [this] scale, it doesn’t matter how we play it down, it’s colossally stressful. You better embrace stress or don’t do the job.”
Before heading to the premiere, the King welcomed directors, actors, TV presenters, stunt performers and costume designers at the palace to mark the centenary of the Film and TV Charity, of which Charles has become patron.
Sir Ridley, actor Joseph Fiennes, actress India Amarteifio from the hit Netflix show Queen Charlotte, and TV presenter Claudia Winkleman were among the celebrities who attended the event.
Gladiator II is in cinemas on 15 November.
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