Ryan Coogler鈥檚 led all films with 16 nominations to the 98th Academy Awards on Thursday, setting a record for the most in Oscar history.
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters showered 鈥淪inners鈥� with more nominations than they had ever bestowed before, breaking the 14-nomination mark set by 鈥淎ll About Eve,鈥� 鈥淭itanic鈥� and 鈥淟a La Land.鈥� Along with best picture, Coogler was nominated for best director and best screenplay, and double-duty star Michael B. Jordan was rewarded with his first Oscar nomination, for best actor.
Paul Thomas Anderson鈥檚 father-daughter revolutionary saga the favorite coming into nominations, trailed in second with 13 of its own. Four of its actors 鈥� Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn 鈥� were nominated, though newcomer Chase Infiniti was left out in best actress.
In those two top nominees, the film academy put its full force behind a pair of visceral and bracingly original American epics that each connected with a fraught national moment. Coogler鈥檚 Jim Crow-era film 鈥� the rare horror movie to win the academy鈥檚 favor 鈥� conjures a mythical allegory of Black life. In 鈥淥ne Battle After Another,鈥� a dormant spirit of rebellion is revived in an out-of-control police state.
Both are also Warner Bros. titles. In the midst of a contentious sale to Netflix, the 102-year-old studio had its best Oscar nominations mornings ever, with 33 total nods. In a memo to Warner Bros. Discovery employees, David Zaslav, chief executive, called it 鈥渁 golden moment for our company.鈥� As the fate of Warner Bros., which Netflix is buying for $72 billion, hangs in the balance amid a challenge from Paramount Skydance, Hollywood is bracing for potentially the largest realignment in the film industry鈥檚 history.
A coronation for Coogler
For Coogler, the 39-year-old filmmaker of 鈥淔ruitvale Station鈥� and 鈥淏lack Panther,鈥� it was a crowning moment. One of Hollywood’s most esteemed yet humble filmmakers, Coogler has called 鈥淪inners鈥� 鈥� a film that he will own outright 25 years after its release 鈥� his most personal movie.
鈥淚 wrote this script for my uncle who passed away 11 years ago,鈥� Coogler said in an interview Thursday morning. 鈥淚 got to imagine that he鈥檚 listening to some blues music right now to celebrate.鈥�
Reached by phone an hour after the nominations were read, Coogler 鈥� speaking alongside his wife and producer Zinzi Coogler and producer Sev Ohanian 鈥� was still trying to process the movie’s record-breaking haul.
鈥淚 love making movies. I鈥檓 honored to wake up every day and do it. I was writing last night. That鈥檚 why I didn鈥檛 get too much sleep,鈥� said Coogler, chuckling. 鈥淗onestly, bro, I still feel a little bit asleep right now.鈥�
The other top nominees
The for best picture are 鈥淏ugonia,鈥� 鈥淔1,鈥� 鈥淔谤补苍办别苍蝉迟别颈苍,鈥� 鈥淗amnet,鈥� 鈥淢arty Supreme,鈥� 鈥淥ne Battle After Another,鈥� 鈥淭he Secret Agent,鈥� 鈥淪entimental Value,鈥� 鈥淪inners鈥� and 鈥淭rain Dreams.鈥�
Guillermo del Toro鈥檚 lush Mary Shelley adaptation Josh Safdie鈥檚 period ping-pong odyssey 鈥淢arty Supreme鈥� and Joachim Trier鈥檚 family drama 鈥淪entimental Value鈥� all scored nine nominations. Chlo茅 Zhao’s speculative Shakespeare drama collected eight nods. With the notable exception of del Toro, those filmmakers filled up a best director category of Anderson, Coogler, Safdie, Trier and Zhao, who in 2021 became the first woman of color
The nine nods for 鈥淢arty Supreme鈥� included a third best actor nod for 30-year-old , the favorite in the category he narrowly missed winning last year for 鈥淎 Complete Unknown.鈥� With Jordan and Chalamet, the nominees are Ethan Hawke for 鈥淏lue Moon,鈥� Wagner Moura for 鈥淭he Secret Agent鈥� and DiCaprio for 鈥淥ne Battle After Another.鈥�
Reached by phone Thursday, DiCaprio said the nominations for 鈥淥ne Battle After Another鈥� and 鈥淪inners鈥� signaled a sea change in an industry where studios have largely shied away from big-budget original stories.
鈥淭o me, what matters is great ideas and original filmmaking,鈥� said DiCaprio. 鈥淚 think there鈥檚 this tide of change that is going to happen no matter how we feel about it.鈥�
Nominated for best actress was the category favorite, Jessie Buckley (鈥淗补尘苍别迟鈥�), along with Rose Byrne (鈥淚f I Had Legs I鈥檇 Kick You鈥�), Kate Hudson (鈥淪ong Sung Blue鈥�), Renate Reinsve (鈥淪entimental Value鈥�) and two-time winner Emma Stone, who landed her seventh nomination, for 鈥淏ugonia.鈥�
鈥楰Pop鈥� leads a field light on big hits
The year鈥檚 most-watched movie, with more than half a billion views on Netflix, 鈥淜Pop Demon Hunters,鈥� scored nominations for both best song (鈥淕olden鈥�) and best animated feature. Sony Pictures developed and produced the film, but, after selling it to Netflix, watched it
Blockbusters otherwise had a difficult morning. Universal Pictures鈥� was shut out entirely. While notched nominations for costume design and visual effects, it became the first 鈥淎vatar鈥� film not nominated for best picture. The biggest box-office hit nominated for Hollywood’s top award instead was 鈥淔1,鈥� an Apple production that landed four nominations. The streamer partnered with Warner Bros. to distribute the racing drama, which collected $631.7 million worldwide.
This year, the Oscars are introducing . The added award helped 鈥淪inners鈥� and 鈥淥ne Battle After Another鈥� pad their already impressive stats. Along with those two films, the nominees are 鈥淗amnet,鈥� 鈥淢arty Supreme鈥� and 鈥淭he Secret Agent.鈥�
An international shift continues
The academy, which has expanded its overseas membership in recent years, also continued its tilt toward international films. Every category included one international nominee. For the eighth year in the row, a non-English-language film was nominated for best picture. More non-English performances were nominated than ever before.
The top nominee of them all was Trier’s Norwegian drama It cleaned up in the supporting actor categories, with nods for Stellan Skarsg氓rd, Inga Ibsdotter LilIeaas and Elle Fanning. Also nominated for best supporting actress, in addition to Taylor: Amy Madigan for 鈥淲eapons鈥� and Wunmi Mosaku for 鈥淪inners.鈥� In supporting actor, the nominees included Jacob Elordi for 鈥淔rankenstein鈥� and, in a surprise that likely dislodged Paul Mescal of 鈥淗amnet,鈥� Delroy Lindo for 鈥淪inners.鈥�
A competitive best international feature category mirrored the turbulent state of the world. That included the Iranian revenge drama and Palme d’Or winner 鈥淚t Was Just an Accident,鈥� by the He’s spoken passionately against the ongoing crackdown of demonstrators in his home country. France nominated the film.
Also nominated: the Tunisian entry about volunteers at the Palestine Red Crescent Society; the timely Brazilian political thriller ; the apocalyptic Spanish road movie and 鈥淪entimental Value.鈥� Four of those nominees came from one independent distributor: Neon. The company, which has had an enviable streak of Palme d’Or wins, was second only to Warner Bros. with a collective 18 nominations.
The 98th Academy Awards will take place on March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and will be televised live on ABC and Hulu. YouTube’s new deal won’t take effect until 2029. This year, Conan O鈥橞rien will return as host.
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This story has been corrected to report that this is Emma Stone’s seventh nomination, not sixth.
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AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr in Park City, Utah, contributed to this report.
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