‘The Boy and the Heron,’ ‘Elemental,’ ‘Nimona,’ ‘Robot Dreams,’ and ‘Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse’ nab noms for best animated feature, while ‘The Creator,’ ‘Godzilla Minus One,’ ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,’ ‘Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,’ and ‘Napoleon’ take the top spots for best visual effects.
Let the celebration and grumbling begin… The nail biting ceases… at least for the moment. Nominations for the 96th Academy Awards were announced this morning via a livestream by the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater hosted by Zazie Beetz and Jack Quaid. Voting for the winners by active Academy members runs February 22-27; The 96th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 10, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live on ABC and in more than 200 territories worldwide.
First things first - maybe this writer is not “in the know,” but isn’t Joaquim dos Santos one of the three directors of Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse? What am I missing? And why is his name missing alongside his film’s nomination? Feels like one of those Academy "number of names allowed" rules issues, though Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse saw all three directors get nominated (and take home Oscar gold) back in 2019. A bunch of hooey if you ask me...
OK, let’s continue…
Oppenheimer and Poor Things lead all nominees with 13 and 11, respectively, including Best Picture.
Nominees for Best Animated Feature are The Boy and the Heron, directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Toshio Suzuki; Elemental, directed by Peter Sohn and produced by Denise Ream; Nimona, directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane and produced by Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary; Robot Dreams, directed by Pablo Berger and produced by Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé and Sandra Tapia Díaz; and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, directed by Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson and produced by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal.
Nominees for Best Animated Short Film are Letter to a Pig, directed by Tal Kantor and produced by Amit R. Gicelter; Ninety-Five Senses, directed by Jerusha Hess and Jared Hess; Our Uniform, directed by Yegane Moghaddam; Pachyderme, directed by Stéphanie Clément and produced by Marc Rius; and War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko, directed by Dave Mullins and produced by Brad Booker.
Over in the VFX category, Neil Corbould’s household must be flabbergasted as he gets the nod for three films! The nominees for Achievement in Visual Effects are Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts and Neil Corbould for The Creator; Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima for Godzilla Minus One; Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams and Theo Bialek for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3; Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland and Neil Corbould for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One; and Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet, Simone Coco and Neil Corbould for Napoleon.
Congratulations to all the nominees!
See the full list of nominations for the 96th Academy Awards below:
Performance by an actor in a leading role
- Bradley Cooper in Maestro
- Colman Domingo in Rustin
- Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers
- Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer
- Jeffrey Wright in American Fiction
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
- Sterling K. Brown in American Fiction
- Robert De Niro in Killers of the Flower Moon
- Robert Downey Jr. in Oppenheimer
- Ryan Gosling in Barbie
- Mark Ruffalo in Poor Things
Performance by an actress in a leading role
- Annette Bening in Nyad
- Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon
- Sandra Hüller in Anatomy of a Fall
- Carey Mulligan in Maestro
- Emma Stone in Poor Things
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
- Emily Blunt in Oppenheimer
- Danielle Brooks in The Color Purple
- America Ferrera in Barbie
- Jodie Foster in Nyad
- Da'Vine Joy Randolph in The Holdovers
Best animated feature film of the year
- The Boy and the Heron - Hayao Miyazaki and Toshio Suzuki
- Elemental - Peter Sohn and Denise Ream
- Nimona - Nick Bruno, Troy Quane, Karen Ryan and Julie Zackary
- Robot Dreams - Pablo Berger, Ibon Cormenzana, Ignasi Estapé and Sandra Tapia Díaz
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - Kemp Powers, Justin K. Thompson, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Amy Pascal
Achievement in cinematography
- El Conde - Edward Lachman
- Killers of the Flower Moon - Rodrigo Prieto
- Maestro - Matthew Libatique
- Oppenheimer - Hoyte van Hoytema
- Poor Things - Robbie Ryan
Achievement in costume design
- Barbie - Jacqueline Durran
- Killers of the Flower Moon - Jacqueline West
- Napoleon - Janty Yates and Dave Crossman
- Oppenheimer - Ellen Mirojnick
- Poor Things - Holly Waddington
Achievement in directing
- Anatomy of a Fall - Justine Triet
- Killers of the Flower Moon - Martin Scorsese
- Oppenheimer - Christopher Nolan
- Poor Things - Yorgos Lanthimos
- The Zone of Interest - Jonathan Glazer
Best documentary feature film
- Bobi Wine: The People's President - Moses Bwayo, Christopher Sharp and John Battsek
- The Eternal Memory - Nominees to be determined
- Four Daughters - Kaouther Ben Hania and Nadim Cheikhrouha
- To Kill a Tiger - Nisha Pahuja, Cornelia Principe and David Oppenheim
- 20 Days in Mariupol - Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner and Raney Aronson-Rath
Best documentary short film
- The ABCs of Book Banning - Sheila Nevins and Trish Adlesic
- The Barber of Little Rock - John Hoffman and Christine Turner
- Island in Between - S. Leo Chiang and Jean Tsien
- The Last Repair Shop - Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers
- Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó - Sean Wang and Sam Davis
Achievement in film editing
- Anatomy of a Fall - Laurent Sénéchal
- The Holdovers - Kevin Tent
- Killers of the Flower Moon - Thelma Schoonmaker
- Oppenheimer - Jennifer Lame
- Poor Things - Yorgos Mavropsaridis
Best international feature film of the year
- Io Capitano - Italy
- Perfect Days - Japan
- Society of the Snow - Spain
- The Teachers' Lounge - Germany
- The Zone of Interest - United Kingdom
Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
- Golda - Karen Hartley Thomas, Suzi Battersby and Ashra Kelly-Blue
- Maestro - Kazu Hiro, Kay Georgiou and Lori McCoy-Bell
- Oppenheimer - Luisa Abel
- Poor Things - Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier and Josh Weston
- Society of the Snow - Ana López-Puigcerver, David Martí and Montse Ribé
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
- American Fiction - Laura Karpman
- Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny - John Williams
- Killers of the Flower Moon - Robbie Robertson
- Oppenheimer - Ludwig Göransson
- Poor Things - Jerskin Fendrix
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
- “The Fire Inside” from Flamin' Hot - Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
- “I'm Just Ken” from Barbie - Music and Lyric by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt
- “It Never Went Away” from American Symphony - Music and Lyric by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson
- “Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)” from Killers of the Flower Moon - Music and Lyric by Scott George
- “What Was I Made For?” from Barbie - Music and Lyric by Billie Eilish and Finneas O'Connell
Best motion picture of the year
- American Fiction - Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson and Jermaine Johnson, Producers
- Anatomy of a Fall - Marie-Ange Luciani and David Thion, Producers
- Barbie - David Heyman, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Robbie Brenner, Producers
- The Holdovers - Mark Johnson, Producer
- Killers of the Flower Moon - Dan Friedkin, Bradley Thomas, Martin Scorsese and Daniel Lupi, Producers
- Maestro - Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg, Fred Berner, Amy Durning and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers
- Oppenheimer - Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan, Producers
- Past Lives - David Hinojosa, Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, Producers
- Poor Things - Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone, Producers
- The Zone of Interest - James Wilson, Producer
Achievement in production design
- Barbie - Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
- Killers of the Flower Moon - Production Design: Jack Fisk; Set Decoration: Adam Willis
- Napoleon - Production Design: Arthur Max; Set Decoration: Elli Griff
- Oppenheimer - Production Design: Ruth De Jong; Set Decoration: Claire Kaufman
- Poor Things - Production Design: James Price and Shona Heath; Set Decoration: Zsuzsa Mihalek
Best animated short film
- Letter to a Pig - Tal Kantor and Amit R. Gicelter
- Ninety-Five Senses - Jerusha Hess and Jared Hess
- Our Uniform - Yegane Moghaddam
- Pachyderme - Stéphanie Clément and Marc Rius
- WAR IS OVER! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko - Dave Mullins and Brad Booker
Best live action short film
- The After - Misan Harriman and Nicky Bentham
- Invincible - Vincent René-Lortie and Samuel Caron
- Knight of Fortune - Lasse Lyskjær Noer and Christian Norlyk
- Red, White and Blue - Nazrin Choudhury and Sara McFarlane
- The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar - Wes Anderson and Steven Rales
Achievement in sound
- The Creator - Ian Voigt, Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic
- Maestro - Steven A. Morrow, Richard King, Jason Ruder, Tom Ozanich and Dean Zupancic
- Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One - Chris Munro, James H. Mather, Chris Burdon and Mark Taylor
- Oppenheimer - Willie Burton, Richard King, Gary A. Rizzo and Kevin O'Connell
- The Zone of Interest - Tarn Willers and Johnnie Burn
Achievement in visual effects
- The Creator - Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts and Neil Corbould
- Godzilla Minus One - Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi and Tatsuji Nojima
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams and Theo Bialek
- Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One - Alex Wuttke, Simone Coco, Jeff Sutherland and Neil Corbould
- Napoleon - Charley Henley, Luc-Ewen Martin-Fenouillet, Simone Coco and Neil Corbould
Adapted screenplay
- American Fiction - Written for the screen by Cord Jefferson
- Barbie - Written by Greta Gerwig & Noah Baumbach
- Oppenheimer - Written for the screen by Christopher Nolan
- Poor Things - Screenplay by Tony McNamara
- The Zone of Interest - Written by Jonathan Glazer
Original screenplay
- Anatomy of a Fall - Screenplay - Justine Triet and Arthur Harari
- The Holdovers - Written by David Hemingson
- Maestro - Written by Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer
- May December - Screenplay by Samy Burch; Story by Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik
- Past Lives - Written by Celine Song
Source: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Dan Sarto is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network.
