Martin Scorsese, Bradley Cooper and Greta Gerwig Among A-Listers Competing in Oscars Directing Race
Lights, camera, Oscars.
When you chat with someone about filmmakers and mention Steven Spielberg, even the most oblivious Hollywood consumer knows who you’re talking about. Yet the helmers of the year’s most critically acclaimed and top-grossing movies aren’t typically household names. Just ask your neighbor if they know who Michel Hazanavicius is. No, Spielberg doesn’t have a film in the awards race this year. However, with plenty of multi-hyphenate artists and cinema masters in the mix, more well-known directors are hunting for Oscar glory this season than in almost any in recent memory.
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Actors-turned-directors who have been snubbed before will once again bring the A-list power. Those include Bradley Cooper, whose Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro” follows 2018’s “A Star Is Born,” and Ben Affleck, whose Nike sports drama “Air” comes after 2012’s “Argo” nabbed best picture but not a nomination for its director.
Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Oscars predictions in all categories.
Greta Gerwig is behind the highest-grossing film of the year, “Barbie,” surpassing “The Dark Knight” (2008) as Warner Bros.’ most financially successful film. One studio executive and Academy voter tells Variety, “I don’t want it to be true, but she already won the Oscar.”
Well, it’s wildly premature to make such a call, but Gerwig is undoubtedly in the conversation.
Speaking of “The Dark Knight,” its director, Christopher Nolan, has enjoyed an unparalleled string of box office success with his superhero trilogy as well as “Inception” and “Dunkirk.” But he’s only scored a single directing Oscar nom, for “Dunkirk.” “Oppenheimer,” his look at the creation of the atomic bomb, is an early favorite by many pundits to nab him a second nomination.
With the added benefit of “Dune: Part Two” moving out of this calendar year, Nolan will be a social media favorite, as will his stars Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt. The narrative that Nolan is overdue for a win will get eyes glued to the TV screens when the 96th awards ceremony airs in March.
With a body of work that includes “Taxi Driver” and “Goodfellas,” Martin Scorsese resonates with cinephiles the world over. For “Killers of the Flower Moon” — a devastating look at the way a few greedy men systematically murdered a community of Indigenous people in the 1930s for their oil rights — the filmmaker brings together frequent collaborators Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro, along with Lily Gladstone in a star-making turn. At 80, Scorsese, who won an Oscar for “The Departed” (2006), would be the oldest directing nominee in Academy history, surpassing then-79-year-old John Huston for “Prizzi’s Honor” (1985).
Scorsese isn’t the only octogenarian in the race.
Michael Mann, 80, has built a résumé of stylized dramas like “Heat” and “The Insider.” He’s back with the period biopic “Ferrari,” starring Adam Driver and Penélope Cruz, which bowed at the Venice Film Festival. Mann has only a single Oscar nom to his name, so the “overdue” narrative will be front and center of his campaign, with distributor Neon making it one of its main pushes. Neon is also steering “Origin” from writer and director Ava DuVernay, who became the first and only Black woman to helm a best picture-nominated movie with “Selma” (2014). And with “Origin,” DuVernay became the first Black woman to compete at Venice. Adapting Isabel Wilkerson’s bestselling book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” with Oscar-nominated Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor in a starring role, DuVernay could be an early-going favorite.
Oscar-nominated directors Yorgos Lanthimos (“Poor Things”), Alexander Payne (“The Holdovers”), Emerald Fennell (“Saltburn”) and David Fincher (“The Killer”) will also lend some hype to the race. All have their pockets of popularity in the film community. So odds are that you won’t need to Google the name when the best director is named on Oscar night.
Current Oscars Tracking
(Sept. 14, 2023)
Best Picture
“Barbie” (Warner Bros.)
“The Holdovers” (Focus Features)
“Killers of the Flower Moon” (Apple Original Films/Paramount Pictures)
“Maestro” (Netflix)
“Oppenheimer” (Universal Pictures)
“Origin” (Neon)
“Past Lives” (A24)
“Poor Things” (Searchlight Pictures)
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” (Sony Pictures)
“The Zone of Interest” (A24)
Director
Ava DuVernay, “Origin”
Greta Gerwig, “Barbie”
Yorgos Lanthimos, “Poor Things”
Christopher Nolan, “Oppenheimer”
Martin Scorsese, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Colman Domingo, “Rustin”
Paul Giamatti, “The Holdovers”
Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer”
Jeffrey Wright, “American Fiction”
Actress
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, “Origin”
Sandra Hüller, “Anatomy of a Fall”
Carey Mulligan, “Maestro”
Natalie Portman, “May December”
Emma Stone, “Poor Things”
Supporting Actor
Willem Dafoe, “Poor Things”
Robert DeNiro, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Robert Downey Jr., “Oppenheimer”
Ryan Gosling, “Barbie”
Mark Ruffalo, “Poor Things”
Supporting Actress
Emily Blunt, “Oppenheimer”
America Ferrera, “Barbie”
Lily Gladstone, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
Julianne Moore, “May December”
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, “The Holdovers”
Original Screenplay
“Barbie”
“The Holdovers”
“Maestro”
“May December”
“Past Lives”
Adapted Screenplay
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Oppenheimer”
“Origin”
“Poor Things”
“The Zone of Interest”
Animated Feature
“The Boy and the Heron”
“Elemental”
“Nimona”
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”
“Trolls Band Together”
Production Design
“Barbie”
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Maestro”
“Oppenheimer”
“Poor Things”
Cinematography
“The Killer”
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Oppenheimer”
“Saltburn”
“The Zone of Interest”
Costume Design
“Barbie”
“The Color Purple”
“Ferrari”
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Poor Things”
Film Editing
“Barbie”
“The Holdovers”
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Oppenheimer”
“Poor Things”
Makeup and Hairstyling
“Barbie”
“The Color Purple”
“Maestro”
“Poor Things”
“Rustin”
Sound
“The Bikeriders”
“Killers of the Flower Moon”
“Oppenheimer”
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”
“The Zone of Interest”
Visual Effects
“Blue Beetle”
“The Creator”
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3”
“The Little Mermaid”
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”
Original Score
“Oppenheimer”
“Origin”
“Past Lives”
“Poor Things”
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”
Original Song
“I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie”
“What Was I Made For?” from “Barbie”
“Road to Freedom” from “Rustin”
“Am I Dreaming” from “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”
“Better Place” from “Trolls Band Together”
Documentary Feature
“32 Sounds”
“American Symphony”
“Little Richard: I Am Everything”
“The Pigeon Tunnel”
“Stamped From the Beginning”
International Feature
“Anatomy of a Fall” (France)
“La Chimera” (Italy)
“Perfect Days” (Japan)
“The Teachers Lounge” (Germany)
“The Zone of Interest” (United Kingdom)
Top 2 Nomination Leaders Tracking (Film)
“Barbie” / “Killers of the Flower Moon” / “Oppenheimer” / “Poor Things”– 11
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” – 6
Top 2 Nomination Leaders Tracking (Studios)
Netflix and Warner Bros. — 14
Apple Original Films — 12
Oscars Predictions Categories
BEST PICTURE | DIRECTOR | BEST ACTOR | BEST ACTRESS | SUPPORTING ACTOR | SUPPORTING ACTRESS | ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY | ADAPTED SCREENPLAY | ANIMATED FEATURE | PRODUCTION DESIGN | CINEMATOGRAPHY | COSTUME DESIGN | FILM EDITING | MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING | SOUND | VISUAL EFFECTS | ORIGINAL SCORE | ORIGINAL SONG | DOCUMENTARY FEATURE | INTERNATIONAL FEATURE | ANIMATED SHORT | DOCUMENTARY SHORT | LIVE ACTION SHORT
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