Oscars: Oppenheimer tops all nominees with 13, Barbie snags 8

Both Martin Scorsese’s Osage epic Killers of the Flower Moon and Yorgos Lanthimos’ Frankenstein riff Poor Things were also widely celebrated. Poor Things landed 11 nods, while Killers of the Moon was nominated for 10 Oscars.

Cillian Murphy starring in Oppenheimer. Photo: Universal Pictures Handout

Lily Gladstone, star of Killers of the Flower Moon, became the first Native American nominated for best actress. For the 10th time, Scorsese was nominated for best director. Leonardo DiCaprio, though, was left out of best actor.

Those four contenders made for a maximalist quartet of Oscar heavyweights. Nolan’s sprawling biopic. Gerwig’s near-musical. Scorsese’s pitch-black Western. Lanthimos’ sumptuously designed fantasy.

Each utilised a wide spectrum of cinematic tools to tell big, often disturbing big-screen stories. And each – even Apple’s biggest-budgeted movie yet, Killers of the Flower Moon – had robust theatrical releases that saved streaming for months later.

Selected categories

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

Barbie, the highest grossing movie over the past year has been nominated for best picture at the Oscars. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures via AP

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 actor

  • Bradley Cooper, Maestro

  • Colman Domingo, Rustin

  • Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

  • Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer

  • Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

Cillian Murphy has been nominated for best actor for his role in Oppenheimer. Photo: Universal Pictures via AP

Best actress

  • Annette Bening, Nyad

  • Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon

  • Sandra Huller, Anatomy of a Fall

  • Carey Mulligan, Maestro

  • Emma Stone, Poor Things

Best supporting actor

  • Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction

  • Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon

  • Robert Downey Jnr, Oppenheimer

  • Ryan Gosling, Barbie

  • Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

Ryan Gosling was nominated as best supporting actor for his portrayal of Ken in Barbie. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures via AP

Best supporting actress

  • Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer

  • Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple

  • America Ferrera, Barbie

  • Jodie Foster, Nyad

  • Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

Two-time Oscar winner, Jodie Foster was nominated for best supporting actress for Nyad. Photo: Netflix via AP
Among the nominated films is the Ukraine war documentary 20 Days in Mariupol which is a joint production between Associated Press and PBS’ Frontline and will compete in the best documentary category.

Oscar season has reunited Oppenheimer with its summer box-office partner, Barbie. Greta Gerwig’s feminist blockbuster, easily the biggest hit of the year with more than US$1.4 billion in ticket sales, shouldn’t be far behind Oppenheimer.

Historically, blockbusters have helped fuel Oscar ratings. Though the pile-up of award shows (an after-effect of last year’s strikes) could be detrimental to the Academy Awards, the Barbenheimer presence could help lift the March 10 telecast on ABC.

Jimmy Kimmel is returning as host, with the ceremony moved up an hour, to 7pm. Eastern.