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With a whopping 13 nominations, impressive box office credentials and an impeccable awards season track record, Christopher Nolan’s sprawling biopic “Oppenheimer” looks almost certain to not only take best picture but also defy history. of the Oscars, with the record for the most victories. 11, in the hands of “Ben-Hur”, “Titanic” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”, not out of the question.
Whatever happens, this time more viewers should be awake to see how it all unfolds: The 96th Academy Awards will begin an hour earlier than in recent years, with the ABC broadcast scheduled for 7 p.m. from the east, on Sunday.
Will earlier start boost lagging grades? Can “Oppenheimer” cap off its sweeping awards season with a coronation at the Oscars? Or could an underdog like “Barbie,” “Poor Things” or “Killers of the Flower Moon” swoop in for an unthinkable surprise? While we ponder those questions, here’s a summary of what we know about the 2024 Academy Awards.
When and where will the Oscars be held?
Although the last four Oscar ceremonies have started at 8 p.m., after years of starting at 8:30 p.m., this year’s show will begin at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles and will give way to a new episode of “Abbott Elementary.” around 10:30 pm (at least, that’s the plan for a typically long-running awards show).
The ceremony will be broadcast on ABC and broadcast on ABC.com, the ABC app, Hulu Live TV, YouTube TV, AT&T TV and FuboTV. And the Oscars will again take place at the Dolby Theatre, which has hosted every ceremony since 2002 (with the exception of the scaled-down 2021 show, which was held at Union Station in Los Angeles due to the pandemic).
ABC once again had a steady pair of hands with Jimmy Kimmel, who was chosen as host for the second year in a row and fourth time since 2017. Kimmel’s smooth banter and common enthusiasm have made him a solid yet confident emcee on the recent years, during which the Academy also opted for presenter-less broadcasts from 2019 to 2021 and the trio of Wanda Sykes, Amy Schumer and Regina Hall in 2022.
Kimmel will join Whoopi Goldberg and Jack Lemmon as the only four-time presenters of the Academy Awards. It’s rarefied company: Only Johnny Carson (five), Billy Crystal (nine) and Bob Hope (19) have hosted more ceremonies.
Talking with him Los Angeles Times, Kimmel said he had no intention of returning as host after his first two rounds. But the popularity of best picture nominee “Top Gun: Maverick” convinced him to return last year before another blockbuster with awards pedigree hit theaters last summer.
“I knew there was a movie that people had seen and that makes the job easier,” he said of “Maverick.” “Then this year, I’m sitting in a movie theater watching ‘Barbie’ and thinking, ‘Well, maybe I’ll do this again, because at least I have a point of reference with everyone.’”
How are the nominees chosen? Who votes?
Oscar nominations are mostly chosen by members of the corresponding branch of the Academy for each category. Actors nominate actors, directors nominate directors, etc. The most notable exception is best picture, whose nominees are decided by all voting members of the academy.
The full members (around 11,000 people) decide the winners in the 23 categories. (In 2026, that number will increase to 24 with the introduction of best cast.) In 22 of those awards, the nominee with the most votes wins. But best picture is once again the exception: the night’s top prize is decided by preferential voting in which voters rank the nominees. If no film gets more than 50 percent of the first-place votes, the last-place film is eliminated. The number 2 film on any ballot that includes the eliminated film at number 1 gets that ballot’s vote. The process is repeated, eliminating the film with the fewest votes, until one film has the majority.
What movies are the favorites for best picture?
“Oppenheimer,” Nolan’s sinister portrait of the architect of the atomic bomb, has grossed nearly $1 billion at the global box office and won the top prize at all the Oscars’ notable precursors: the Golden Globes, the Critics Choice Awards , the British Academy Film Awards, the Screen Actors Guild Awards, Directors Guild of America Awards and Producers Guild of America Awards. The four films that have completed that sweep since the SAG and Critics Choice Awards were presented in the mid-1990s: 1999’s “American Beauty,” 2003’s “The Return of the King,” 2008’s “Slumdog Millionaire” and “Argo” from 2012. It later won the Oscar for best picture. (Nolan, who has never won an Academy Award, also appears to be a contender for best director.)
On paper, “Poor Things” has the best chance of pulling off an unprecedented upset: Yorgos Lanthimos’ fantastical story of a Frankensteinian woman’s sexual awakening finished second with 11 Oscar nominations and won best picture. (musical or comedy) at the Golden Globes. “Anatomy of a Fall” also looks like a dark horse contender after scoring nominations in the director, editing, lead actress and original screenplay categories.
Although nomination morning was kind to “Killers of the Flower Moon” (10 nominations), Martin Scorsese’s fact-based depiction of the Osage murders, a snub in the adapted screenplay category doesn’t bode well for its chances of be the best movie. A similar perception surrounds “Barbie” (eight nominations), after the patriarchy-shattering phenomenon failed to nominate Greta Gerwig in the director category and Margot Robbie in the lead actress category. And the same goes for the 1970s-set dramedy “The Holdovers” (five nominations), which also earned nominations for original screenplay, lead actor, supporting actress and editing, but none for director Alexander Payne. However, in a boost to its campaign, “The Holdovers” beat out “Poor Things” and “Barbie” in the best-edited comedy category at the American Cinema Editors Eddie Awards last weekend.
Who are the favorites for the acting award?
The supporting actor and actress races appear to be done and dusted: Robert Downey Jr. has won all the major awards for playing “Oppenheimer’s” duplicitous bureaucrat Lewis Strauss, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph has done the same for her heartbreaking performance. of a grieving mother in “The Holdovers.”
Lead actor, on the other hand, looked like a compelling career choice after Paul Giamati won the Critics Choice Award for his role as a cantankerous academic in “The Holdovers,” Cillian Murphy took the BAFTA for playing the titular physicist in “Oppenheimer.” and both actors won Golden Globes (Giamatti for musical or comedy, Murphy for drama). But Murphy’s best actor win at the SAG Awards cemented his favorite status.
That brings us to the most exciting matchup of the Oscars: the lead actress. Emma Stone’s virtuoso turn in “Poor Things,” as a woman who rediscovers life after being resurrected from the dead, earned her a Critics Choice Award and a BAFTA. As Mollie Burkhart, an Osage woman torn apart by an unspeakable betrayal, “Killers of the Flower Moon” star Lily Gladstone bested Stone at the SAG Awards. And, like Giamatti and Murphy, both actresses won Golden Globes.
While most major Oscar categories seem predetermined, best actress seems like a real toss-up. If Gladstone were successful, she would be the first Indigenous person to win an acting Oscar.
What are the other careers to pursue?
Wins at the Golden Globes and BAFTAs have positioned “Anatomy of a Fall” as the favorite for the original screenplay, while “American Fiction” appears to be on the verge of receiving an adapted screenplay following wins at the Critics Choice Awards. Awards, the BAFTAs and the Film Independent Spirit Awards. But the writers’ strike postponed the Writers Guild Awards until April, taking a telling precursor off the table. And then there’s the “Barbie” factor: Gerwig and her husband Noah Baumbach’s highly praised screenplay was nominated in the Oscars’ adapted screenplay category despite competing for original screenplay the rest of awards season, making both races are more difficult to predict.
The animated film also offers a coin-flip contest: Hayao Miyazaki’s idiosyncratic send-off “The Boy and the Heron” (which won the Golden Globes and BAFTAs) versus the stylish sequel “Spider-Man: Across the Spider.” See yourself.” ” (which emerged victorious at the Critics Choice Awards, Annie Awards and Producers Guild Awards). There’s also a compelling narrative surrounding the live-action short film category, where beloved auteur Wes Anderson could win his first Oscar for the Roald Dahl adaptation “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.”
Where can I see the best film nominees?
Most of the best picture nominees are already included on subscription streaming services: “Oppenheimer” and “The Holdovers” are on Peacock, “Barbie” is on Max, “Killers of the Flower Moon” is on Apple TV Plus, “Past Lives” is on Paramount Plus, “Poor Things” is on Hulu and “Maestro” is on Netflix.
The rest – “American Fiction,” “Anatomy of a Fall” and “The Zone of Interest” – are in theaters or available to rent through services such as YouTube, Vudu, Apple TV, Google Play and Prime Video.
Will there be musical performances?
The academy confirmed that the public will see live performances of the five nominees for best song: Jon Batiste will perform “It Never Went Away” from “American Symphony”; Becky G will perform “The Fire Inside” from “Flamin’ Hot”; Scott George and the Osage Singers will perform “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)” from “Killers of the Flower Moon”; Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell will perform “What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie”; and Mark Ronson and Ryan Gosling will perform “I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie.”
Actresses Vanessa Hudgens and Julianne Hough will host “The Oscars Red Carpet Show,” which begins at 6:30 p.m. ET on ABC. Hudgens will host ABC’s official pre-show for the third year in a row, while Hough will make her debut in the role (although she co-hosted the Tony Awards pre-show the past two years). Previously, ABC News anchors Linsey Davis and Whit Johnson will host “Countdown to Oscars: On the Red Carpet Live!” from 1 to 4 p.m.
On E!, the network’s “Brunch at the Oscars” will begin at 2 p.m. before the red carpet show at 4 p.m.