'Oppenheimer' wins Best Picture at the 2024 Oscars

The Christopher Nolan atomic bomb epic won the top gong, with 'Poor Things' taking home a slew of awards.

By Cayle Reid

Published: Mar 11, 2024

2023 WAS ONE of the biggest years for film in recent memory. In the wake of the Covid pandemic and dwindling box office numbers, audiences returned to theatres in droves as the Barbenheimer phenomenon took hold of the cultural zeitgeist and didn’t let go. The latter half of 2023 also saw celebrated directors Martin Scorsese, David Fincher, Wes Anderson and Ridley Scott release long-awaited films. But amid Hollywood’s return to glory, the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes temporarily brought film production grinding to a halt. In such an eventful year, it’s no surprise that the announcement of Oscar nominations has drawn even greater anticipation.

Overnight, the Academy finally released the nominations for 2024. It’s safe to say that they have given both casual fans and veritable cinephiles something to talk about, with a number of surprise inclusions and even more surprising omissions. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer tallied more nominations than any other film, with 13. The film’s honours included a nod for Best Picture, and individual nods for Christopher Nolan as Best Director, Cillian Murphy as Best Actor, and Robert Downey Jr and Emily Blunt for Best Supporting Actor and Actress.

Oppenheimer’s box office rival and cultural competitor, Barbie, also received a slew of nominations for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. Individually, Ryan Gosling and America Ferrera were each nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Actress. The film also garnered a pair of nominations for Best Original Song, with Ryan Gosling’s legacy-defining hit “I’m Just Ken” and Billie Eilish’s sombre “What Was I Made For?”.

Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things was a close second behind Oppenheimer for total nominations, with 11. Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon followed with 10.

Read on to find the full list of 2024 Academy Award nominations, as well as everything else you need to know about the 2024 Oscars.

2024 Oscar nominations

Best Picture
American Fiction
Anatomy of a Fall
Barbie
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
WINNER: Oppenheimer
Past Lives
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest

Best Director
Justine Triet, Anatomy of a Fall
Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
WINNER: Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Yorgos Lanthimos, Poor Things
Jonathan Glazer, The Zone of Interest

Best Actor
Bradley Cooper, Maestro
Colman Domingo, Rustin
Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
WINNER: Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction

Best Actress
Annette Bening, NYAD
Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Huller, Anatomy of a Fall
Carey Mulligan, Maestro
WINNER: Emma Stone, Poor Things

Best Supporting Actor
Sterling K. Brown, American Fiction
WINNER: Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
WINNER: Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things

Best Supporting Actress
Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
America Ferrera, Barbie
Jodie Foster, NYAD
WINNER: Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

Best Original Screenplay
WINNER: Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Maestro
May December
Past Lives

Best Adapted Screenplay
WINNER: American Fiction
Barbie
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
The Zone of Interest

Best Animated Picture
WINNER: The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Robot Dreams
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Best International Feature Film
Io Capitano (Italy)
Perfect Days (Japan)
Society of the Snow (Spain)
The Teachers’ Lounge (Germany)
WINNER: The Zone of Interest (UK)

Best Documentary Feature Film
Bobi Wine: The People’s President
The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
To Kill a Tiger
WINNER: 20 Days in Mariupol

Best Original Score
American Fiction
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Killers of the Flower Moon
WINNER: Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Best Original Song
“The Fire Inside,” Flamin’ Hot
“I’m Just Ken”, Barbie
“It Never Went Away”, American Symphony
“Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People)”, Killers of the Flower Moon
WINNER: “What Was I Made For?”, Barbie

Best Cinematography
El Conde
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
WINNER: Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Best Film Editing
Anatomy of a Fall
The Holdovers
Killers of the Flower Moon
WINNER: Oppenheimer
Poor Things

Best Sound
The Creator
Maestro
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Oppenheimer
WINNER: The Zone of Interest

Best Production Design
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
WINNER: Poor Things

Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Golda
Maestro
Oppenheimer
WINNER: Poor Things
Society of the Snow

Best Costume Design
Barbie
Killers of the Flower Moon
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
WINNER: Poor Things

Best Visual Effects
The Creator
WINNER: Godzilla Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon

Best Documentary Short Film
The ABCs of Book Banning
The Barber of Little Rock
Island In Between
WINNER: The Last Repair Shop
Nai Nai & Wai Po

Best Live Action Short Film
The After
Invincible
Knight of Fortune
Red, White and Blue
WINNER: The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar

Best Animated Short Film
Letter to a Pig
Ninety-Five Senses
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
WINNER: War is Over: Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko

What were the biggest Oscars snubs?

As is the case almost every year, the announcement of Oscar nominations has been fraught with controversy. The Academy has once again had a difference in opinion with the general public, resulting in a number of high-profile snubs. Namely, former Best Actor winner and multiple time nominee Leonardo DiCaprio was left off the Best Actor ballot this year. His role as Ernest Burkhart in Killers of the Flower Moon clearly didn’t resonate as strongly with the Academy as it did with audiences. Elsewhere, Charles Melton was not nominated for his role in May December, despite garnering plenty of Oscar buzz. Past Lives’ Greta Lee also had no luck in the Best Actress category.

Barbie was the subject of several brutal snubbings. The box office success and cultural significance of 2023’s highest grossing film was not enough to earn Greta Gerwig a Best Director nomination. Margot Robbie was similarly overlooked for Best Actress. It wasn’t all bad news for the Barbie team, however. By securing a Best Picture nomination, Greta Gerwig has become the first woman to land three Best Picture nominations throughout her career, following nods for Ladybird in 2018 and Little Women in 2019.

Why have some Oscar snubs caused controversy?

Not everyone has been pleased with how the Oscar nominations have gone down. Despite easily being the most commercially successful film of the year, Barbie missed out on nominations in several key categories, including Best Director and Best Actress, for which Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie were eligible. While the film’s male lead, Ryan Gosling, did manage to secure two nominations for Best Supporting Actor and Best Original Song.

Voicing his displeasure at the snubbing of his female co-star and director, Gosling has released a statement addressing the nominations. “I am extremely honoured to be nominated by my colleagues alongside such remarkable artists in a year of so many great films. And I never thought I’d be saying this, but I’m also incredibly honoured and proud that it’s for portraying a plastic doll named Ken,” Gosling wrote in his statement.

“But there is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, the two people most responsible for this history-making, globally celebrated film.” Gosling continued. “No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius. To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement.”

“Against all odds with nothing but a couple of soulless, scantily clad, and thankfully crotchless dolls, they made us laugh, they broke our hearts, they pushed the culture and they made history. Their work should be recognised along with the other very deserving nominees.”

What are the biggest Oscars storylines?

The debate over which film should win Best Picture will rage on in the coming months, with both leading contenders, Oppenheimer and Poor Things, boasting legions of fans and significant Academy support. The Best Actor battle will get similar treatment, with Cillian Murphy and Bradley Cooper both more than deserving winners for their performances in Oppenheimer and Maestro.

Outside of the race for awards, Lily Gladstone has already made history. By securing a Best Actress nomination for her role as Mollie Burkhart in Killers of the Flower Moon, Gladstone became the first-ever Native American actor to be nominated in the category. What’s more, she’s a good chance of taking home the coveted trophy.