Expect big day for ‘Barbie,’ ‘Oppenheimer’ during Oscar nominations

This combination of images shows Margot Robbie in a scene from “Barbie,” left, and Cillian Murphy in a scene from “Oppenheimer.” (Warner Bros Pictures/Universal Pictures via AP)

It’s Oscar nominations morning, which means it’s time for the year’s best movies and performers to find out if they’re headed to the Academy Awards or if they’re just Kenough.

Nominations to the 96th Academy Awards will be announced Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. (Wednesday, January 24 in the Philippines) from the academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by Zazie Beetz and Jack Quaid. They’ll be livestreamed on Oscars.com, Oscars.org and the academy’s social media platforms, and carried live on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”

“Oppenheimer,”“Barbie” and “Killers of the Flower Moon” are expected to be the most dominant forces on Tuesday, with each poised to collect double-digit nominations. “Poor Things” could also rack up ten or more nods. Eligible voters from a record 93 countries submitted ballots to this year’s nominations, the academy said. And several international films – including “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest” — could make the best picture field of 10 movies, too.

Christopher Nolan’s three-hour opus “Oppenheimer” comes in the favorite for best picture, best director and a host of other awards. Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt are expected to land acting nods, while the film’s crafts should be richly rewarded in the technical categories. Though Nolan is regarded as the big-budget auteur of his era, he’s never won an Academy Award, nor have any of his films won best picture. This could be his year.

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 $1.4 billion in ticket sales, shouldn’t be far behind “Oppenheimer.” It stands to win nominations for best picture, best director, acting nods for Ryan Gosling and potentially Margot Robbie and likely two best-song candidates in “What Was I Made For” and “I’m Just Ken.” Though the script by Gerwig and Noah Baumbach was campaigned for as original, the academy is counting it in the adapted category.

The academy’s best picture field may duplicate the 10 films nominated by the Producer Guild: “Oppenheimer,” “Barbie,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Poor Things,” “The Holdovers,” “Maestro,” “American Fiction,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Past Lives” and “The Zone of Interest.”

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If the Oscars’ top category feels locked, many of the other categories have plenty of wiggle room. In the competitive best actor field, several deserving candidates are bound to be snubbed. Murphy, Paul Giamatti (“The Holdovers”), Jeffrey Wright (“American Fiction”) and Bradley Cooper (“Maestro”) are narrowly favorites, but that leaves one spot for Leonardo DiCaprio (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), Colman Domingo (“Rustin”) and Andrew Scott (“All of Us Strangers”).

Lily Gladstone is widely expected to be the first Native American nominated for best actress, for her performance in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Her stiffest competition is likely Emma Stone, whose performance in Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things” is expected to land her her fourth Oscar nod. Also in the mix: Carey Mulligan (“Maestro”), Sandra Hüller (“Anatomy of a Fall”), Margot Robbie (“Barbie”) and Annette Bening (“Nyad”).

This image released by Apple TV+ shows, from left, JaNae Collins, Lily Gladstone, and Cara Jade Myers in a scene from “Killers of the Flower Moon.” (Melinda Sue Gordon/Apple TV+ via AP)

One of the morning’s biggest locks belongs to Da’Vine Joy Randolph. The “Holdovers” co-star is considered the clear favorite in supporting actress. She might be joined by some combination of Blunt, Danielle Brooks (“The Color Purple”), Jodie Foster (“Nyad”), Julianne Moore (“May December”) or Penélope Cruz (“Ferrari”).

One of the most prominent Barbenheimer battles is in the supporting actor race. There, Downey Jr. and Gosling are likely to face off, while other nominees might pull from Robert De Niro (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), Willem Dafoe (“Poor Things”), Mark Ruffalo (“Poor Things”) and Charles Melton (“May December”).

Two releases from streaming companies — Apple’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Netflix’s “Maestro” — are in the best-picture mix. But the category should be mostly stocked with box-office hits in “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” along with independent films from A24 (“The Zone of Interest,” “Past Lives”) and Neon (“Anatomy of a Fall”).

Historically, blockbusters have helped fueled 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 7 p.m. Eastern. JE