The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, are recognized as the highest honor in the movie industry. The 2024 ceremony, set for 7 p.m. March 10 at its usual venue, the Dolby Theater, in Los Angeles, will feature Jimmy Kimmel as its host, once again.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this year’s nominations Jan. 22 and, as usual, many began immediately updating their prediction charts, doing their best to guess who will emerge victorious at the upcoming event. So, what surprises or long-deserved wins will come to fruition?
The ceremony is often unable to enrapture audiences — in 2023, only 18.7 million people tuned in, making it the third-lowest seen in the show’s history. This year could be different, due in part to nominations afforded to both halves of the cultural phenomenon “Barbenheimer,” which revitalized the movie industry this past summer.
But will the ceremony repeat itself from last year with one movie — in that case, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” — prevailing in almost every major category?
The chances of a sweep are high, with “Oppenheimer” having just triumphed at the Critics’ Choice Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTAs in multiple categories — including Christopher Nolan in Best Director. Nolan is the frontrunner to take home the gold in the same category at the Oscars, having also won at the Director’s Guild of America Awards. This win would be not just for the remarkable success of “Oppenheimer,” which set world box office records for a biopic, but also for filming in the ever-challenging 70mm IMAX format.
Yet, the competition across the board is fierce.
If people thought Martin Scorsese was too old to deliver a new acclaimed movie, they would have to revise their judgment, as he just became the most nominated living director in Oscar history for helming “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which offers a devastating true story about a plot to murder an Osage woman and her family for their oil money. Beyond being up for Best Picture, Lily Gladstone, one of its stars, is contending in the Best Actress category.
Gladstone is the first Native American woman ever nominated for an Academy Award for acting. As she just won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama and the SAG Award in the same category, she will likely make history one more time by winning at the Oscars. The only other main contender is Emma Stone, who won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, the Critics’ Choice Award and the BAFTA for “Poor Things.”
Both Margot Robbie and Greta Gerwig may have been left out of the Best Actress and Best Director lineup, respectively, for “Barbie,” but Ryan Gosling earned a nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his out-of-the-box portrayal of Ken. Though he has a chance to bring the award home for his charismatic, fan-favorite turn, Robert Downey Jr. is almost sure to be the one celebrated.
He swept all of the major precursor ceremonies — Golden Globes, Critics’ Choice, BAFTA and SAG — for his “unrecognizably subtle” portrayal of Lewis Strauss, a former Atomic Energy Commission member tasked with nuclear weapons development in “Oppenheimer.” Downey Jr. was previously nominated for “Chaplin” and “Tropic Thunder,” and, as recently proven, the Academy is determined to try to right the wrongs of previous years by finally awarding long-overdue legends, such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Will Smith, so the wait may finally be over for the “Iron Man” star.
“Oppenheimer” received the most nominations with 13, including one for Cillian Murphy in the Best Actor category. He transformed himself through a rigid diet and learned Dutch to bring the character to life.
Though Murphy is among the favorites, having just won the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama in addition to a BAFTA and a SAG statue, Paul Giamatti is a fierce adversary. He’s collected the Critics’ Choice Award and the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for his depiction of Paul Hunnam, a morose teacher in “The Holdovers.” Bradley Cooper also managed to get a nomination for Best Actor for his work as conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein in “Maestro,” marking his 12th nomination overall, which makes him a serious candidate, too.
Best Picture is one of the easiest categories to call, fortunately. Nolan’s three-hour-long biopic grabbed most major awards, winning Best Picture at the Golden Globes, BAFTAs and Producer’s Guild of America Awards. Given its win in the Best Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture category at SAG, too, the way has been paved for “Oppenheimer” to be named the year’s best film at the Oscars.
“Poor Things” may also end the night with several wins, likely for its weird and outlandish costumes and production design, having won both categories at the BAFTAs. “Barbie,” though, poses a major threat; it took them at the Critics’ Choice Awards.
Meanwhile, “Anatomy of a Fall,” the French legal drama that won the prestigious Palme d’Or last year, could prevail in the Best Original Screenplay category, having triumphed there at the Golden Globes and BAFTAs. Similarly, “American Fiction” took home Best Adapted Screenplay at the BAFTAs and Critics’ Choice Awards, making it a likely victor.
Ultimately, people will have to tune in to see what will happen — outcomes at other ceremonies only reveal so much.
