2024 Oscar nominations: Oppenheimer, Barbie, Killers of the Flower Moon among front-runners

The Oscar nominations were announced this morning, with Oppenheimer, Poor Things, Killers of the Flower Moon and Barbie emerging as the early leaders.

Oppenheimer leads the pack with 13 nominations, including for best picture, best directing and lead and supporting actor nods for Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr. It's an impressive showing for a film already dominating the awards circuit, having pulled in eight wins at the Critics Choice Awards last week.

Trailing only slightly behind are Poor Things and Killers of the Flower Moon, with 11 and 10 nominations respectively. Those films will go head-to-head with Oppenheimer in most of the categories it's nominated in, including best picture.

Lily Gladstone's best actress nomination for Killers of the Flower Moon represents the first time an Indigenous American woman is nominated in that category. Her historic achievement comes alongside a surprising nod for American Fiction's Sterling K. Brown, who received a nomination for best actor and is one of three Black men nominated for acting awards. As well, the best supporting actress category sees Da'Vine Joy Randolph from The Holdovers and Barbie's America Ferrera leading a list comprised mainly of women of colour.

Barbie, the undisputed box-office leader of 2023, pulled in eight nominations but was snubbed for best director and best lead actress for Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, respectively. Justine Triet is the sole woman nominated in the directing category, up for Anatomy of a Fall, following a year that saw no women competing for that award. 

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Her film is also up for best picture, in the first year that the Academy's representation and inclusion standards are in effect. Those rules require best picture nominees to have a minimum number of cast, crew and members of its  marketing, publicity or distribution teams be from "underrepresented racial or ethnic groups," and/or provide apprenticeship opportunities to underrepresented groups. 

Those standards meant that of the 321 films that qualified for the Academy Awards this year, only 265 were eligible for best picture consideration. Some films that were immediately put out of the running were Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, The Creator, Dumb Money, The Marvels and Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.

Sessa, Saltburn and other snubs

Along with Gerwig and Robbie, other snubs include Leo DiCaprio for his lead performance in Killers of the Flower Moon, breakthrough actors Dominic Sessa of The Holdovers and Charles Melton of May December in the best supporting actor category (along with Melton's costar Julianne Moore, who was snubbed for best supporting actress) and a complete shut-out for the divisive Saltburn.

As well, Origin, Ava DuVernay's late-season release, didn't earn a single nomination, despite a public relations blitz by everyone from Angelina Jolie to Regina King. That continues a disappointing showing for the film, which has failed to earn nominations or wins at most major awards shows.

Another end-of-year release, The Iron Claw, also saw no recognition despite critically acclaimed performances by stars Jeremy Allen White and Zac Efron. Dark horse hopeful Glenn Howerton was left off the list despite an impressive (and terrifying) showing in Canada's Blackberry.

Canadians up for awards

Along with the leading international nominees, a number of Canadians saw nods this year — including both best original screenplay and best picture for Celine Song's Past Lives, a posthumous nomination for Robbie Robertson's score for Killers of the Flower Moon and Ryan Gosling up for his performance in Barbie. 

To Kill a Tiger, the documentary from Toronto's Nisha Pahuja that dominated the Canadian Screen Awards last year, also earned a nod for best documentary.  

Halifax's Ben Proudfoot, who was nominated in the past for the short documentary A Concerto Is a Conversation and won in 2022 for The Queen of Basketball, picked up another nomination this year for The Last Repair Shop.

As well, Montreal's Vincent René-Lortie received a nomination for his live-action short Invincible, competing against Wes Anderson's The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. 

"It's totally surreal," René-Lortie said about the nomination in an interview with CBC News. "It's been the craziest morning of my life."

The short itself was a labour of love. René-Lortie said it took nearly five years to make, and was inspired by the story of a childhood friend who struggled with mental health issues and died at 14.

He said seeing Invincible, his first narrative short film, on the road to the Oscars is more than he ever expected.

"For me, the win was really to be nominated," he said. "To think about winning this — I don't want to think about that. For me [the goal] is to really enjoy the next few weeks." 

The 96th Academy Awards will take place on March 10, broadcasting on ABC. This year's ceremonies will start an hour earlier than previous years, with the show beginning at 7 p.m. ET.  They will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, in his second consecutive year and fourth time total. 

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Full list of nominees:

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

Performance by an actor in a leading role

• Bradley Cooper, Maestro
• Colman Domingo, Rustin
• Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
• Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
• Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

Performance by an actress in a leading role

• Annette Bening, Nyad
• Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
• Sandra Huller, Anatomy of a Fall
• Carey Mulligan, Maestro
• Emma Stone, Poor Things

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Performance by an actor in a supporting role

• Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
• Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
• Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
• Ryan Gosling, Barbie
• Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

• Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
• Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
• America Ferrera, Barbie
• Jodie Foster, Nyad
• Da'Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

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Directing

• Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall
• Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
• Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
• Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things
• Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest

Achievement in costume design

• Barbie
• Killers of the Flower Moon
• Napoleon
• Oppenheimer
• Poor Things

Makeup and hairstyling

• Golda
• Maestro
• Oppenheimer
• Poor Things
• Society of the Snow

Live-action short film

• The After
• Invincible
• Knight of Fortune
• Red, White and Blue
• The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

Best animated short film

• Letter to a Pig
• Ninety-Five Senses
• Our Uniform
• Pachyderme
• War Is Over! Inspired By the Music of John and Yoko

Adapted screenplay

• American Fiction
• Barbie
• Oppenheimer
• Poor Things
• The Zone of Interest

Original screenplay

• Anatomy of a Fall
• The Holdovers
• Maestro
• May December
• Past Lives

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Original song

• The Fire Inside from Flamin' Hot
• I'm Just Ken from Barbie
• It Never Went Away from American Symphony
• Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People) from Killers of the Flower Moon
• What Was I Made For from Barbie

Original score

• American Fiction
• Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
• Killers of the Flower Moon
• Oppenheimer
• Poor Things

Best documentary feature film

• Bobi Wine: The People's President
• The Eternal Memory
• Four Daughters
• To Kill a Tiger
• 20 Days in Mariupol

Documentary short film

• The ABCs of Book Banning
• The Barber of Little Rock
• Island In Between
• The Last Repair Shop
• Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó

International feature film

• Io Capitano
• Perfect Days
• Society of the Snow
• The Teachers' Lounge
• The Zone of Interest

Best animated feature film

• The Boy and the Heron
• Elemental
• Nimona
• Robot Dreams
• Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Achievement in production design

• Barbie
• Killers of the Flower Moon
• Napoleon
• Oppenheimer
• Poor Things

Achievement in film editing

• Anatomy of a Fall
• The Holdovers
• Killers of the Flower Moon
• Oppenheimer
• Poor Things

Achievement in sound

• The Creator
• Maestro
• Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One
• Oppenheimer
• The Zone of Interest

Achievement in visual effects

• The Creator
• Godzilla Minus One
• Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
• Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One
• Napoleon

Achievement in cinematography

• El Conde
• Killers of the Flower Moon
• Maestro
• Oppenheimer
• Poor Things