Wave Wire Services
BEVERLY HILLS — “Emilia Pérez” made Oscar history Jan. 23, capturing 13 nominations for the 97th Academy Awards — with “The Brutalist” and “Wicked” picking up 10 nominations each.
“Conclave” and “A Complete Unknown” received eight nominations apiece, while “Anora” received six and “Dune: Part 2” received five.
Among the historic haul of nominations for “Emilia Pérez” was a nomination for best picture — joining “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Conclave,” “Dune: Part Two,” “I’m Still Here,” “Nickel Boys,” “The Substance” and “Wicked.”
“Emilia Pérez” — the gender-bending Spanish-language, French-produced crime musical — also became the most-nominated non-English-language film in Academy Awards history, topping 2000’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and 2018’s “Roma,” which each received 10 nominations.
“Emilia Pérez,” which tells the story of a drug cartel leader played by Karla Sofía Gascón who hires a lawyer to help Gascón fake her death so she can transition to being a woman and live as her real self, also garnered Gascón a nomination for best actress — making her the first openly transgender woman nominated for an Academy Award.
Joining Gascón in the best actress category were Cynthia Erivo in “Wicked,” Mikey Madison in “Anora” and Golden Globe winners Demi Moore in “The Substance” and Fernanda Torres in “I’m Still Here.”
Best actor nominations went to Globe winner Adrien Brody in “The Brutalist,” a 3 1/2-hour, post-World War II epic, Timothée Chalamet in “A Complete Unknown,” Colman Domingo in “Sing Sing,” Ralph Fiennes in “Conclave” and Sebastian Stan in “The Apprentice.”
Zoe Saldaña picked up a best supporting actress nomination for her role in “Emilia Pérez” after capturing a Golden Globe in that category earlier this month. Joining her for Oscar nominations were Monica Barbaro in “A Complete Unknown,” Ariana Grande in “Wicked,” Felicity Jones in “The Brutalist” and Isabella Rossellini in “Conclave.”
Best supporting actor nominations went to Yura Borisov in “Anora,” Kieran Culkin in “A Real Pain,” Edward Norton in “A Complete Unknown,” Guy Pearce in “The Brutalist” and Jeremy Strong in “The Apprentice.”
The Oscars’ other glamour category — best director — brought nominations to Jacques Audiard for “Emilia Pérez,” Sean Baker for “Anora,” Brady Corbet for “The Brutalist,” James Mangold for “A Complete Unknown” and Coralie Fargeat for “The Substance.”
Among companies releasing films in 2024, Netflix garnered the most Oscar nominations with 16, followed by A24 with 14, Universal with 13, Focus Features with 12 and Searchlight with 10.
In addition to its nominations for best picture, actress, supporting actress and director, the Netflix-produced “Emilia Pérez” also took nominations for cinematography; film editing; international feature film; makeup and hairstyling; original score; original song both “El Mal” and “Mi Camino”; sound; and adapted screenplay.
Noteworthy snubs abounded in the best actress category, including for A-Listers Angelina Jolie in “Maria,” Nicole Kidman” in “Babygirl,” Tilda Swinton in “The Room Next Door,” Kate Winslet in “Lee” and Pamela Anderson in “The Last Showgirl.”
Other snubs included Denzel Washington for his role in “Gladiator II,” along with Margaret Qualley, who played Moore’s younger body double in “The Substance,” about an aging actress who discovers a black-market drug that restores youth — but with all manner of side-effects and complications.
Edward Berger, who directed the papal thriller “Conclave,” was also shut out in the director category.
Notable absences on the best picture nomination list were “A Real Pain,” the Jesse Eisenberg vehicle, and “September 5,” about the murder of members of the Israeli Olympic team in Munich in 1972 — both pictures having been among the nominees for the Producers Guild of America Award, an honor that traditionally foretells success on Oscar night.
Each category got five nominees, except best picture, which got 10.
A total of 323 feature films were eligible for consideration, including 207 that met the criteria for consideration for best picture. More than 9,900 Academy voters were eligible to cast ballots for nominations across the 23 categories. Final voting for the Oscars will take place from Feb. 11-18.
The nominations for Hollywood’s biggest night were announced by actor/writer/comedians Rachel Sennott and Bowen Yang during a livestream event from the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Beverly Hills.
The Oscar nominations ceremony, originally set for Jan. 17, was first postponed to Jan. 19 due to the Los Angeles-area wildfires, and later rescheduled again to Jan. 23. In addition, the nomination voting period was extended to Jan. 17.
“We are all devastated by the impact of the fires and the profound losses experienced by so many in our community,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang said in a statement. “The Academy has always been a unifying force within the film industry, and we are committed to standing together in the face of hardship.”
The statement went on to say, “Our members always share how important it is for us to come together as a community, and we are determined to use this opportunity to celebrate our resilient and compassionate industry. We also look forward to honoring our frontline workers who have aided with the fires, recognizing those impacted, and encouraging people to join the Academy in supporting the relief efforts.”
The 97th Oscars are set for March 2 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live at 4 p.m. on ABC and streamed live on Hulu. Conan O’Brien is set to host the show, making his debut in the role.
