Well, are you ready to settle for “Dunked,” the significantly less mellifluous mashup of this year’s two biggest hits among the Best Picture nominees, “Dune: Part Two” and “Wicked?”  

Or are you ready for a year in which a French-made, Spanish-language musical about a transgender Mexican drug lord is by far the dominant film? Let’s face it, “Emilia Pérez” might be Donald Trump’s nightmare, but it’s Oscar’s favorite — and its 13 nominations could make Oscar night uncomfortable in the White House even without Sebastian Stan and Jeremy Strong also receiving nominations for playing Trump and his sleazy mentor Roy Cohn, respectively, in “The Apprentice.”

“Emilia Pérez”is not just the most-nominated film of the year, it’s the most-nominated non-English language film in Oscar history, handily topping the previous record of 10 by “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Roma.”

The film, directed by Jacques Audiard and acquired by Netflix out of the Cannes Film Festival, has been a lightning rod for controversy since its Cannes debut, drawing complaints about its French writer-director’s use of offensive Mexican stereotypes and its treatment of the lead character’s gender transition. But it’s also acquired supporters including Mexican director Guillermo del Toro, and its haul of nominations is another sign that Oscar voters either don’t pay attention to the many controversies that rage on what used to be called Film Twitter, or don’t care about them.

While “Emilia” racked up the nominations in all the expected categories and then some, most of the other major contenders had some slight (or not-so-slight) moments of weakness: “Conclave” not being nominated for director or cinematography, “Wicked” missing out on screenplay, “A Complete Unknown” and “Dune” being bypassed for film editing …

The 10 nominations for Brady Corbet’s three-and-a-half hour drama “The Brutalist,” meanwhile, were another sign of strength for that film, while “Anora” and “The Substance” did about what was expected of them.

Like last year, the Best Picture nominees include two giant hits and a lot of other movies that aren’t giant hits. But let’s face it, “Dune: Part Two” and “Wicked” don’t have quite the pizzazz (or the cool nickname) that “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” did last year. And that could be a problem for the Academy, which would love to capitalize on the ratings boost it got from the 2024 show but is already reeling from voting delays and event cancellations caused by the Los Angeles wildfires.

But Oscar voters aren’t supposed to be thinking about ratings or off-screen disasters when they cast their ballots for the films they think are the year’s best. Thursday’s nominations weren’t designed to do anything other than show us the favorites of however many of the almost 9,905 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences cast ballots this month.

As usual, those favorites are all over the map – and as usual, there were a couple of surprises, including the omission of two American indie films that were expected to be nominated for Best Picture, Jesse Eisenberg’s “A Real Pain” and Greg Kwedar’s “Sing Sing.” Those films were apparently nudged out by RaMell Ross’ lyrical and challenging “Nickel Boys” and the biggest single surprise of the nominations, Walter Salles’ Brazilian drama “I’m Still Here.”

The success of “I’m Still Here,” which got an expected nod for Best International Feature Film and longshot ones for Best Actress (Fernanda Torres) and Best Picture, could be a sign of the increasingly international makeup of the Academy membership – but it could also simply mean that when voters saw the movie, which Sony Pictures Classics worked vigorously in the homestretch, they recognized how good it was.

The nomination for Torres, in particular, made it easier to accept the sad fact that Marianne Jean-Baptiste wasn’t nominated for “Hard Truths” and Angelina Jolie was bypassed for “Maria”; the Best Actress category simply had far more worthy contenders than it had nomination slots, so you can’t really use the word snub to describe what happened to those eminently worthy actresses.  

The nominations leave us with a race that has a frontrunner but is still wide open. That may change over the next few weeks, particularly in early February when Friday the 7th will bring the Critics Choice Awards (which has predicted the Best Picture Oscar nine times in the last 15 years) and Saturday the 8th will bring both the Directors Guild Awards (also 9-for-15) and the all-important Producers Guild Awards (12-for-15, and the best of all the Oscar tea leaves).

Until then, the Academy will get to figure out how to draw viewers to a show that’s missing the “Barbie”/“Oppenheimer” magic. It’s not that there aren’t hit films in the running this year: “Dune” and “Wicked” have both topped $700 million, while “The Substance,” “Conclave” and “Anora” have earned back four or five times as much as their budgets in worldwide grosses.  

But “Wicked” is really the only Best Picture nominee that has made an impact on pop culture to the extent that people might tune in to the Oscars to see how it does. And if the Academy and the producers want to leverage box office success into Oscar ratings, that puts a heavy burden on the shoulders of the only real sensation of any kind in this year’s lineup.

Such a heavy burden, in fact, that it’s out of the question to think that one of the reasons the Academy decided to “move away” from the performances of the nominated songs. Is it crazy to think that that’ll make room for some key “Wicked”  cast members to get up on that stage and performing something other than nominated songs, of which their musical has none? (Cynthia and Ariana doing “Over the Rainbow,” anyone?) Maybe it is crazy, but this is a year for conspiracy theories.

Or maybe the Academy should just lean into the slate they’ve been given by their voters, and play up just how singular a batch of movies this is. Even when it made a big splash in Cannes, there was no reason to expect that a crime drama/musical/love story/transgender character study like “Emilia Pérez” could end up as the year’s most-nominated film, much less shatter the record for international nominations set by “Crouching Tiger” and “Roma.”

Its fellow Cannes title “The Substance,” meanwhile, is a weird, graphic, gooey body-horror flick that cost less than $20 million and has grossed almost $80 million worldwide and won Demi Moore the first acting award of her career at the Golden Globes. That’s a miracle of sorts.

Then there’s “The Brutalist,” a three-and-a-half-hour epic, expansive and indulgent and gorgeously mounted and made for less than $10 million when it looks several times that expensive; there’s another remarkable feat.

And even “Wicked,” the giant musical riff on “The Wizard of Oz,” managed to slip a pretty p0inted critique of intolerance and the demonization of others in between all those pretty colors and perky tunes.

Out of those weird little miracles, Oscar voters fashioned an interesting, quirky slate of nominations. And if it’s no “Barbenheimer,” it could make for a provocative night in Donald Trump’s America.

The post Oscar Nominations: Love for ‘Emilia Pérez’ and ‘The Apprentice’ Could Make Oscar Night Donald Trump’s Nightmare appeared first on TheWrap.

In a letter to the membership, Academy CEO Bill Kramer and President Janet Yang said that the presentation would “move away  from live performances” and instead celebrate the nominated songwriters through “personal reflections.”

That decision would do away with performances that could include Zoe Saldana and Selena Gomez performing the “Emilia Perez” songs “El Mal” and “Mi Camino,” respectively, as well as performances of new songs from Elton John, Maren Morris, H.E.R. and Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

The move comes a year after an Oscar show whose most talked-about moment was Ryan Gosling’s performance of the nominated song “I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie.”

The email does promise “powerful musical moments that connect film’s rich history to its bold and inspiring future.” It also says that this year’s show will be “a celebration of connection and collaboration – honoring the unifying spirit and creative synergy of moviemaking.” It promises a return to what it calls “Fab 5” moments, apparently the acting presentations in which five past winners each celebrate one of the nominees.

And it will pay special attention to Los Angeles, “showcasing its beauty and resilience.”

Oscar nominations will be announced on Thursday morning, with the show taking place on Sunday, March 2.

Read the email in full below:

Dear Academy members,

Our deepest thanks to all of you for your compassion and support over the last few weeks. Our thoughts remain with those who were impacted by the recent Los Angeles-area wildfires. If you would like to join the Academy in supporting the ongoing relief efforts, please click here for a list of aid resources.

After continued consultation with ABC, our board, and other key stakeholders in the Los Angeles and film communities, planning continues for the 97th Oscars ceremony on Sunday, March 2. This year’s Oscars will celebrate the work that unites us as a global film community and acknowledge those who fought so bravely against the wildfires.

As a reminder, our 97th Oscars Nominations will be announced tomorrow, January 23, at 5:30am PT via global live stream on Oscar.com, Oscars.org, the Academy’s digital platforms (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook), ABC’s Good Morning America, and ABC News Live, Disney+ and Hulu. American Sign Language (ASL) services will be available on YouTube.

As a precursor to tomorrow’s announcement, we wanted to share a little bit about this year’s show. Hosted by the incredible Conan O’Brien, our 97th Oscars will be a celebration of connection and collaboration – honoring the unifying spirit and creative synergy of moviemaking. We will highlight the transformative power of the teamwork that brings cinematic visions to life.

As part of this, we are thrilled to bring back our “Fab 5” moments, where individual film artists recognize nominees. Also, this year the Best Original Song category presentation will move away from live performances and will be focused on the songwriters. We will celebrate their artistry through personal reflections from the teams who bring these songs to life. All of this, and more, will uncover the stories and inspiration behind this year’s nominees.

And we will honor Los Angeles as the city of dreams, showcasing its beauty and resilience, as well as its role as a beacon for filmmakers and creative visionaries for over a century. We will reflect on the recent events while highlighting the strength, creativity, and optimism that defines Los Angeles and our industry.

There is so much more in store, including powerful musical moments that connect film’s rich history to its bold and inspiring future. We hope you will tune in tomorrow morning to watch the Nominations Announcement, and we greatly appreciate your ongoing commitment to the Academy and our film community. We are stronger together.

Bill Kramer and Janet Yang

The post 2025 Oscars Will Skip Performances of Nominated Songs appeared first on TheWrap.

The Scripters have been given out since 1988 and are awarded to the writers of adapted screenplays and the authors of the works that were adapted. The unusual decision to reward original authors means that “A Complete Unknown” writers James Mangold and Jay Cocks share their nomination with Elijah Wald, who wrote the book “Dylan Goes Electric!”; “Conclave” screenwriter Peter Straughan is joined as a nominee by novelist Robert Harris; “Nickel Boys” writers RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes are nominated alongside author Colson Whitehead; “Sing Sing” writers Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin and John “Divine G” Whitfield are nominated with Esquire magazine journalist John H. Richardson; and “The Wild Robot” writer Chris Sanders shares his nomination with novelist Peter Brown.

In the Scripters television category, the finalists are “Baby Reindeer” (Richard Gadd), “Ripley” (Steven Zaillian and the late novelist Patricia Highsmith), “Say Nothing” (Joshua Zetumer and nonfiction author Patrick Radden Keefe), “Shōgun” (Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks and the late novelist James Clavell) and “Slow Horses” (Will Smith and novelist Mick Herron).

Gadd is the only finalist in either category who is nominated for adapting his own work. “Slow Horses” will be looking for its third straight win in the episodic series category, where no other program has been nominated more than once.

Over the past 15 years, about 70% of Scripter finalists have gone on to receive Oscar nominations in the Best Adapted Screenplay category. In the 36 years of the Scripters’ existence, the two groups have matched exactly only once, in 2016.

This year’s Scripter finalists are all considered strong candidates for the adapted-screenplay Oscar, alongside other films that include “Emilia Pérez,” “Dune: Part Two,” “I’m Still Here” and “Wicked.”

Scripter finalists were chosen by a selection committee chaired by screenwriter and USC professor Howard Rodman and made up of screenwriters, authors, entertainment industry executives and USC faculty. The committee made its selections from among 42 films and 66 episodic series.

Winners will be announced at a ceremony on the USC campus on Saturday, Feb. 22, which will be a very busy day for awards: The Film Independent Spirit Awards, Cinema Audio Society Awards and NAACP Image Awards are also scheduled to take place that day.

Film finalists:

“A Complete Unknown” – screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks, based on the nonfiction book “Dylan Goes Electric! Newport, Seeger, Dylan, and the Night That Split the Sixties” by Elijah Wald

“Conclave” – screenplay by Peter Straughan, based on the novel by Robert Harris

“Nickel Boys” – screenplay by RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes, based on the book “The Nickel Boys” by Colson Whitehead

“Sing Sing” – screenplay and story by Clint Bentley and Greg Kwedar, story by Clarence Maclin and John “Divine G” Whitfield, based on the Esquire magazine article “The Sing Sing Follies” by John H. Richardson

“The Wild Robot” – screenplay by Chris Sanders, based on “The Wild Robot” by novelist Peter Brown

Episodic series finalists:

“Baby Reindeer” – written by Richard Gadd, based on his stage play of the same name

“Ripley,” episode “V Lucio,” written by Steven Zaillian, based on “The Talented Mr. Ripley” by Patricia Highsmith

“Say Nothing,” episode “The People in the Dirt” – written by Joshua Zetumer, based on the nonfiction book “Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland” by Patrick Radden Keefe

“Shōgun,” episode “Anjin” – written by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, based on the novel by James Clavell

“Slow Horses,” episode “Hello Goodbye” – written by Will Smith, based on the novel “Spook Street” by Mick Herron

The post ‘A Complete Unknown,’ ‘Conclave’ Named Scripter Awards Finalists appeared first on TheWrap.

But if you’re talking about what’s going to be nominated, things aren’t quite so unpredictable. A consensus has formed around eight of the 10 Best Picture nominees, four of the five Best Actor ones, four of the five for Best Director …

And yet, who really knows? The Academy is much bigger than it was a decade ago, with 9,905 voting members as of December, and it’s far more international. And while the majority of members are still based in Los Angeles, how many of them made the effort to watch the movies and vote during a month when the city was in flames?

This, after all, is a year in which nominations voting was extended twice, the date of the nomination announcement was pushed back twice and the Nominations Luncheon was canceled. It’s a year with a lot of distractions and without a “Barbenheimer” to get voters and viewers engaged.

With those uncertainties hanging over Oscar season, here are our best guesses as to what films will come out on top when nominations are announced on Thursday morning. We’re betting (not literally, mind you) that “Emilia Pérez” winds up with the most nominations, followed by “The Brutalist” and “Conclave.”

Note: As we’ve explained many times before, the Academy uses ranked-choice voting in the nominations round, which requires voters to rank their favorites in order of preference. Each person’s vote goes only to the film ranked first on the ballot unless that film already has enough votes or has been eliminated from contention, in which case the vote shifts to the highest-ranked choice that’s still in the running on the ballot. The bottom line: It’s better to be ranked first on a third of the ballots than to be ranked third or fourth on almost all of them.  

Best Picture

The sure-thing nominees in this category, and the ones that could possibly win, seem to be “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Conclave,” “Emilia Pérez” and “Wicked.” Beyond that, “Dune: Part Two” will have huge below-the-line support, while “The Substance” will likely benefit from the way ranked-choice voting rewards films with passionate support, even if they’re too bold and too weird to have mass appeal.

For the last two spots, “A Real Pain” and “Sing Sing” have the advantage of having almost certain acting nominees in Kieran Culkin and Colman Domingo, respectively. That may give them a slight edge over “Nickel Boys,” “September 5” and the real wild card, “All We Imagine as Light.”

Predicted nominees: “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Conclave,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Emilia Pérez,” “A Real Pain,” “Sing Sing,” “The Substance,” “Wicked”

Watch out for: “All We Imagine as Light,” “Nickel Boys,” “September 5”

Best Director

This is the category where major contenders have often been bypassed in recent years, mostly in favor of international directors: Justine Triet for “Anatomy of a Fall” over Greta Gerwig for “Barbie,” Ruben Östlund for “Triangle of Sadness” over James Cameron for “Avatar: The Way of Water,” Ryusuke Hamaguchi for “Drive My Car” over Denis Villeneuve for “Dune,” Thomas Vinterberg for “Another Round” over Aaron Sorkin for “The Trial of the Chicago 7” … Two of the most obvious candidates are from France (Jacques Audiard for “Emilia Pérez”) and Germany (Edward Berger for “Conclave”), with Sean Baker (“Anora”) and Brady Corbet (“The Brutalist”) edging out Jon M. Chu (“Wicked”) as the U.S. directors with the best shot at a nomination.

Chu could squeeze in as well, as could Directors Guild Award nominee James Mangold for “A Complete Unknown.” But it seems highly characteristic of the Directors Branch to go instead for Coralie Fargeat, the French auteur behind “The Substance.” And it wouldn’t be unlike them to bypass another big name in favor of Indian director Payal Kapadia for “All We Imagine as Light” or exiled Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof for “The Seed of the Sacred Fig.”

Predicted nominees: Jacques Audiard, “Emilia Pérez” ; Sean Baker, “Anora”; Edward Berger, “Conclave”; Brady Corbet, “The Brutalist”; Coralie Fargeat, “The Substance”

Watch out for: Jon M. Chu, “Wicked”; Payal Kapadia, “All We Imagine as Light”; Denis Villeneuve, “Dune: Part Two”

Best Actor

The weaker of the two lead acting categories feels as if it has four clear favorites in Adrien Brody for “The Brutalist,” Timothee Chalamet for “A Complete Unknown,” Colman Domingo for “Sing Sing” and Ralph Fiennes for “Conclave.” The question is who else will join them – and barring a shocking nom for Hugh Grant in “Heretic” or a slightly less shocking one for Jesse Eisenberg in “A Real Pain,” the strongest candidates seem to be Daniel Craig for “Queer” and Sebastian Stan for “The Apprentice.”

Will Donald Trump’s victory drive people toward or away from Stan, who plays him in “The Apprentice?” That’s a tough call, but Craig seems like a safer call. (And no, the online furor over the use of AI for Adrien Brody’s Hungarian-language scenes wouldn’t have really hurt his chances even if it had happened during the voting window; for the most part, Oscar voters don’t follow the discourse on what used to be called Film Twitter.)

Predicted nominees: Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist”; Timothee Chalamet, “A Complete Unknown”; Daniel Craig, “Queer”; Colman Domingo, “Sing Sing”; Ralph Fiennes, “Conclave”

Watch out for: Jesse Eisenberg, “A Real Pain”; Hugh Grant, “Heretic”; Sebastian Stan, “The Apprentice”

Best Actress

This is the most fiercely competitive of all the acting categories, with at least eight women who feel as if it’d be crazy for them not to be included – Cynthia Erivo for “Wicked,” Marianne Jean-Baptiste for “Hard Truths,” Angelina Jolie for “Maria,” Nicole Kidman for “Babygirl,” Mikey Madison for “Anora,” Demi Moore for “The Substance,” Karla Sofía Gascón for “Emilia Pérez” and Fernanda Torres for “I’m Still Here” – and a couple of other potential surprises in Pamela Anderson for “The Last Showgirl” and Kate Winslet for “Lee.”

Really, you can flip a coin to narrow that group down, though Madison and Moore seem safe with Erivo close behind. Beyond that, Gascón will probably be representing the film with the most nominations, while I refuse to believe that voters won’t recognize Jean-Baptiste’s fearsome performance. And even if things break the way I expect, I’ll be mourning the absence of Torres and Jolie.

Predicted nominees: Cynthia Erivo, “Wicked”; Marianne Jean-Baptiste, “Hard Truths”; Mikey Madison, “Anora”; Demi Moore, “The Substance”; Karla Sofía Gascón, “Emilia Pérez”

Watch out for: Angelina Jolie, “Maria”; Nicole Kidman, “Babygirl”; Fernanda Torres, “I’m Still Here”

Best Supporting Actor

Kieran Culkin is the obvious frontrunner for portraying the real pain in “A Real Pain,” with Edward Norton for “A Complete Unknown” and Yura Borisov for “Anora” strong as well. Guy Pearce was overlooked by SAG Awards voters for “The Brutalist,” but he seems a likelier Oscar nominee than, say, SAG nominee Jonathan Bailey for “Wicked.” The fifth spot could go to Jeremy Strong for “The Apprentice” or Clarence Maclin for “Sing Sing,” though once upon a time Denzel Washington seemed to have a firm grasp on a nom for the relish with which he tackled “Gladiator II.”   

Predicted nominees: Yura Borisov, “Anora”; Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain”; Edward Norton, “A Complete Unknown”; Guy Pearce, “The Brutalist”; Jeremy Strong, “The Apprentice”

Watch out for: Clarence Maclin, “Sing Sing”; Stanley Tucci, “Conclave”; Denzel Washington, “Gladiator II”

Best Supporting Actress

This is another category where SAG voters picked a couple of likely Oscar nominees – Ariana Grande for “Wicked” and Zoe Saldaña for “Emilia Pérez” – while overlooking others, notably Isabella Rossellini for her short but potent performance in “Conclave.” Beyond those three, “The Substance” seems to be picking up enough support to boost Margaret Qualley.

Other contenders include Felicity Jones for “The Brutalist” (where she has the disadvantage of appearing in the second half of the long film, which most people don’t like as much as the first half), Selena Gomez for “Emilia Pérez,” Danielle Deadwyler for “The Piano Lesson,” Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor for “Nickel Boys” and two late-surging SAG nominees, Monica Barbaro for “A Complete Unknown” and Jamie Lee Curtis for “The Last Showgirl.”

Predicted nominees: Ariana Grande, “Wicked”; Felicity Jones, “The Brutalist”; Margaret Qualley, “The Substance”; Isabella Rossellini, “Conclave”; Zoe Saldana, “Emilia Pérez”

Watch out for: Monica Barbaro, “A Complete Unknown”; Jamie Lee Curtis, “The Last Showgirl”; Selena Gomez, “Emilia Pérez”

Best Original Screenplay

This category has a solid consensus in favor of four likely Best Picture nominees – “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “A Real Pain” and “The Substance” – plus the tense Munich Olympics drama “September 5.” But that doesn’t mean that “All We Imagine as Light” couldn’t sneak in, or even Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths,” with the director’s unique method of workshopping a screenplay into existence over a period of months.

Predicted nominees: “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “A Real Pain,” “September 5,” “The Substance”

Watch out for: “All We Imagine as Light,” “Challengers,” “Hard Truths”

Best Adapted Screenplay

The Academy’s Writers Branch likes to sprinkle in some indies along with bigger films, which is why “Sing Sing” and “Nickel Boys” could well end up in the mix alongside larger productions like “Conclave,” “A Complete Unknown” and maybe even “Dune: Part Two” and “Wicked.” “Emilia Pérez” will likely grab a spot for a non-English screenplay, but don’t rule out the Brazilian film “I’m Still Here.”

Predicted nominees: “A Complete Unknown,” Conclave,” “Emilia Pérez,” “Nickel Boys,” “Sing Sing”

Watch out for: “Dune: Part Two,” “I’m Still Here,” “Wicked”

Best Cinematography

The American Society of Cinematographers nominations are usually a solid predictor of four out of the five Oscar nominees – but with the ASC supersizing its category to seven nominees this year, it lost its ability to do anything other than narrow the field to “The Brutalist,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Conclave,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Maria,” “Nosferatu” and “Wicked.” And it didn’t even do that, really, because the groundbreaking POV film “Nickel Boys,” nominated by the ASC in a special category for smaller productions, is a clear Oscar contender as well.

Predicted nominees: “The Brutalist,” “Conclave,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Nickel Boys,” “Nosferatu”

Watch out for: “A Complete Unknown,” “Maria,” “Wicked”

Best Film Editing

It used to be a hard-and-fast rule that no film could win Best Picture without at least being nominated for editing – and while “Birdman” and “CODA” punctured that certainty, it’s still a pretty good guideline, with only one film in the last six years getting a nom in this category without getting one for best pic. That means the top contenders for picture are also the top contenders here.

Predicted nominees: “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “Conclave,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Emilia Pérez”

Watch out for: “A Complete Unknown,” “September 5,” “Wicked”

Best Costume Design

“Wicked” is a lock, of course. But what else? There are spooky designs (“Nosferatu” for serious spooky, “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” for silly spooky), period re-creations (“Blitz” for the 1940s, “A Complete Unknown” for the ’60s) and even a movie that dresses all the men in matching black, white and red gowns and all the women in black ones (“Conclave”).

Predicted nominees: “Blitz,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Conclave,” “Nosferatu,” “Wicked”

Watch out for: “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Maria”

Best Production Design

A lot of the top contenders are pretty monumental, creating everything from an acclaimed architect’s masterwork to a couple of planets to the land of Oz to the Vatican to a vampire’s castle. Greenwich Village in the 1960s, Maria Callas’ Paris apartment and a creepy fantasy version of Hollywood glam ‘n’ grime were pretty cool, too.

Predicted nominees: “The Brutalist,” “Conclave,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Nosferatu,” “Wicked”

Watch out for: “A Complete Unknown,” “Maria,” “The Substance”

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

This category has a habit of nominating films that don’t show up in any other category, including “Norbit,” “Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa,” “House of Gucci” and last year’s “Golda.” Will “Waltzing With Brando” (Billy Zane looking amazingly like Marlon Brando at several different points in his career) fulfill that function this year? It just might, though the competition includes a sequel to a past nominee (“Dune: Part Two”), a couple of horrifying tour de forces (“The Substance” and “Nosferatu”), two different jobs of transforming Sebastian Stan (“A Different Man” and “The Apprentice”) and a movie that paints Cynthia Erivo green (“Wicked”).

Predicted nominees: “A Different Man,” “Emilia Pérez,” “Nosferatu,” “The Substance,” “Waltzing With Brando”

Watch out for: “The Apprentice,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Wicked”

Best Original Score

The newly-expanded 20-film shortlist in this category, up from its usual 15, found room for a lot of smaller films scored by female composers – but the nominations are likely to go largely to men, albeit ones who mostly haven’t been nominated before. Top contenders include Daniel Blumberg, Robin Carolan and the French team of Clément Ducol and Camille, who bring the drama to “The Brutalist,” “Nosferatu” and “Emilia Pérez,” respectively.

Volker Bertelmann is definitely not in the first-timers club, winning for “All Quiet on the Western Front” two years ago and a strong contender for the less assaultive “Conclave” this year, while Kris Bowers’ lavish score to “The Wild Robot” has the potential to make him the first person to win (or even be nominated) in Best Documentary Short one year and Best Original Score the next.

Predicted nominees: “The Brutalist,” Daniel Blumberg; “Conclave,” Volker Bertelmann; “Emilia Pérez,” Clément Ducol and Camille; “Nosferatu,” Robin Carolan; “The Wild Robot,” Kris Bowers

Watch out for: “Challengers,” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross; “The Room Next Door,” Alberto Iglesias; “Wicked,” John Powell and Stephen Schwartz

Best Original Song

Rule No. 1: Until further notice, never pick against Diane Warren getting nominated. This year, precedent suggests that “The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight” will be her eighth consecutive nomination and her 16th overall.  Rule No. 2: Songs performed on screen have an advantage, which is good news for “El Mal” and “Mi Camino” from “Emilia Pérez,” and maybe for Kristen Wiig’s charming “Harper and Will Go West” from “Will & Harper” and the thumping rap track “Sick in the Head” from “Kneecap.”

But that list leaves out the marvelously retro Elton John/Brandi Carlile collaboration “Never Too Late,” Maren Morris’ rousing “Kiss the Sky” from “The Wild Robot” and Trent Reznor and Atticus’ Ross techno workout “Compress/Repress” from “Challengers,” among others.

Predicted nominees: “Never Too Late” from “Elton John: Never Too Late”; “El Mal” from “Emilia Pérez”; “Mi Camino” from “Emilia Pérez”; “The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight”; “Harper and Will Go West” from “Will & Harper”

Watch out for: “Compress/Repress” from “Challengers”; “Sick in the Head” from “Kneecap”; “Kiss the Sky” from “The Wild Robot”

Best Sound

With the old sound editing and sound mixing categories combined into a single award, the slate of nominees is typically a mixture of big, loud movies and music-oriented ones. “A Complete Unknown,” “Emilia Pérez,” “Wicked” and “Joker: Folie a Deux” are all on the 10-film shortlist, which means that music films should have a strong showing this year, but theater-shaking flicks like “Blitz,” “Dune” and “Gladiator II” won’t allow music to hog too many slots.

Predicted nominees: “Blitz,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Emilia Pérez,” “Wicked”

Watch out for: “Gladiator II,” “The Wild Robot,” “Deadpool & Wolverine”

Best Visual Effects

“Dune” won three years ago, and its sequel is every bit as formidable. The latest string of “Planet of the Apes” movies were all nominated – and if voters love how Wētā FX created a world full of apes, they should also appreciate how the same company plopped a single ape in the middle of a music biopic in “Better Man.” Then there’s “Mufasa: The Lion King,” a movie that was essentially created in the computer. “Wicked” is in the running, too, though voters could also reward Ridley Scott’s emphasis on in-camera effects in “Gladiator II” or the skillful supporting effects of the lower-key “Civil War.”

Predicted nominees: “Better Man,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” “Mufasa: The Lion King,” “Wicked”

Watch out for: “Civil War,” “Gladiator II,” “Twisters”

Best International Feature Film

For months, the big three in this category have been “Emilia Pérez,” “I’m Still Here” and “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” the submissions from France, Brazil and Germany, respectively. All three of them seem to be locks for nomination, and the animated Latvian film “Flow” is likely to be included both here and in the animated feature category. The Academy’s love for Italian films could fill the fifth spot with “Vermiglio,” though Ireland’s brash rap movie “Kneecap” or one of the Scandinavian entries, Norway’s “Armand” or Denmark’s “The Girl With the Needle,” could break into the lineup instead. If there’s a dark horse, it may be Palestine’s “From Ground Zero,” which is made up of 22 short films made by directors in Gaza over the past year.  

Predicted nominees: Brazil, “I’m Still Here”; France, “Emilia Pérez”; Germany, “The Seed of the Sacred Fig”; Italy, “Vermiglio”; Latvia, “Flow”

Watch out for: Denmark, “The Girl With the Needle”; Ireland, “Kneecap”; Palestine, “From Ground Zero”

Best Documentary Feature

The Israeli/Palestinian doc “No Other Land” and the chronicle of the abuse of indigenous children, “Sugarcane,” have won the most awards for nonfiction films this season, and they should both appeal to Documentary Branch voters. The adventurous approach of “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat” and the emotional punch of the Ukraine-set “Porcelain War” could prove irresistible as well, though you can’t discount the equally adventurous “Dahomey” or the emotional “Daughters.”

The big question: Will the branch nominate the Will Ferrell/Harper Steele road movie “Will & Harper,” a wildly enjoyable doc that deals with Steele’s coming out as transgender – or will voters continue their reluctance to nominate enjoyable movies, apparently out of fear that those films will overshadow weightier nominees once the ballots are in the hands of the entire membership?

Predicted nominees: “No Other Land,” “Porcelain War,” “Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat,” “Sugarcane,” “Union”

Watch out for: “Dahomey,” “Daughters,” “Will & Harper”

Best Documentary Short

The shortlist in the doc short category is filled with dark stories from significant filmmakers, including ones with previous Oscar nominations (Skye Fitzgerald for the eye-opening story of kangaroo hunting, “Chasing Roo,” Smriti Mundhra for the death row story “I Am Ready, Warden,” Betsy West for the heartbreaking story of children in a war zone, “Once Upon a Time in Ukraine”). Other strong entries include Peabody winner Kim A Snyder’s “Death by Numbers,” a story from the aftermath of the Parkland school shooting, and the immersive, formally adventurous “Incident” from celebrated artist and filmmaker Bill Morrison.

Predicted nominees: “Chasing Roo,” “Death by Numbers,” “I Am Ready, Warden,” “Incident,” “Once Upon a Time in Ukraine”

Watch out for: “Makayla’s Voice: A Letter to the World,” “Planetwalker,” “A Swim Lesson”

Best Animated Feature

The three biggest contenders are clearly Pixar’s “Inside Out 2,” the top-grossing animated film of all time and the entry from the company that has dominated this category; “The Wild Robot,” the best shot in years for DreamWorks Animation to win the award it hasn’t held since “Shrek” won the first animated-feature Oscar back in 2002; and “Flow,” the Latvian indie that became a critics’ darling and won the Golden Globe.

Beyond that, voters in the Animation Branch love stop-motion and they love Aardman, which bodes well for that company’s “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.” In the past, the film with the best shot at landing the last spot might well have been the imaginative, dour indie “Memoir of a Snail” – but ever since the Academy allowed volunteers from all branches of the Academy to vote for this category in the nomination round, big-studio films have done better and indies have done worse. That could potentially help Disney’s “Moana 2.”

Predicted nominees: “Flow,” “Inside Out 2,” “Memoir of a Snail,” “Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,” “The Wild Robot”

Watch out for: “Chicken for Linda!,” “Moana 2,” “That Christmas”

Best Animated Short

The best of this year’s shortlisted animated films are wildly varied and range from the surreal line drawings of animation pioneer Don Hertzfeld’s “ME” to the Coptic imagery of the sobering “The 21” to the imaginative “The Wild-Tempered Clavier,” in which each frame was hand-painted on a sheet of toilet paper. The shorts categories are fiendishly difficult to predict in the nomination phase, but these are the animated films we think have the best chance.

Predicted nominees: “In the Shadow of the Cypress,” “Maybe Elephants,” “ME,” “The 21,” “The Wild-Tempered Clavier”

Watch out for: “A Bear Named Wojtek,” “Beautiful Men,” “Wander to Wonder”

Best Live Action Short

If you liked “Conclave,” the short “Clodagh” is another story from the Catholic Church. If you liked “Emilia Pérez,” “Dovecote” is another film starring Zoe Saldaña. They’re both among the live-action shorts that made the strongest impression.

Predicted nominees: “Clodagh,” “Dovecote,” “I’m Not a Robot,” “The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent,” “The Masterpiece”

Watch out for: “Anuja,” “The Ice Cream Man,” “An Orange From Jaffa”

The post 2025 Oscar Nomination Predictions: What Will the Distracted Voters Do? appeared first on TheWrap.

Other nominees in the category are “Dune: Part Two,” “A Real Pain,” “September 5” and “The Substance.”

While last year’s PGA nominations included a record three films directed by women and three predominantly not in English,”The Substance” was this year’s only female-directed nominee and “Emilia Perez” its only non-English one.

The nominations include most of the top contenders for the Oscar for Best Picture, with the indies “Nickel Boys” and “Sing Sing” being the highest-profile films that were left out. “September 5,” the European-made film about the terrorist attacks at the Munich Olympics in 1972, is the biggest surprise among the nominees after receiving little awards attention from other guilds.

In the television categories, the nominees included “Bad Sisters,” “The Diplomat,” “Shogun,” “Abbott Elementary,” “The Bear,” “Hacks,” “Baby Reindeer” and “The Penguin.”

Since the Academy and the Producers Guild both expanded to 10 Best Picture nominees in 2009, almost 90% of the Oscar nominees have first been nominated by the PGA. With the Academy moving to a variable number of nominees for 10 of those years, there has only been one instance of the two groups matching exactly — and that came last year, when the 10 PGA nominees all went on to receive Oscar nods.

Since the Producers Guild began announcing a slate of nominees in 1991, “Braveheart” is the only film to win Best Picture at the Oscars without first being nominated by the guild.

The nomination announcement had been delayed for six days by the L.A. wildfires. The delay made the PGA the last of the four major guilds to announce its nominations.

The results made “Anora” and “A Complete Unknown” the only films to be nominated by the Directors Guild, Producers Guild and Writers Guild and to receive an ensemble-cast nomination from the Screen Actors Guild. “Conclave” and “Emilia Perez” received nominations from SAG, DGA and PGA and were ineligible for WGA noms, while “The Brutalist” received an individual acting nomination at SAG, nods from the DGA and PGA and was ineligible for WGA.

The Producers Guild Awards will take place on Feb. 8 in Los Angeles.

The nominations:

Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures
Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
A Real Pain
September 5
The Substance
Wicked

Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures
Flow
Inside Out 2
Moana 2
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot

Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Drama
Bad Sisters
The Diplomat
Fallout
Shōgun
Slow Horses

Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Comedy
Abbott Elementary
The Bear
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Hacks
Only Murders in the Building

David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Limited or Anthology Series Television
Baby Reindeer
FEUD: Capote Vs. The Swans
The Penguin
Ripley
True Detective: Night Country

Award for Outstanding Producer of Televised or Streamed Motion Pictures
Carry On
The Greatest Night in Pop
The Killer
Rebel Ridge
Unfrosted

Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television
30 for 30
Conan O’Brien Must Go
The Jinx – Part Two
STEVE! (martin) a documentary in 2 pieces
Welcome to Wrexham

Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment, Variety, Sketch, Standup & Talk Television
Ali Wong: Single Lady
The Daily Show
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Saturday Night Live

Award for Outstanding Producer of Game & Competition Television
The Amazing Race
RuPaul’s Drag Race
Top Chef
The Traitors
The Voice

The following nominees were previously announced.

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Picture
Gaucho Gaucho
Mediha 
Mountain Queen: The Summits of Lhakpa Sherpa
Porcelain War
Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story 
We Will Dance Again 

The Award for Outstanding Children’s Program
Avatar: The Last Airbender 
Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock 
Percy Jackson and the Olympians 
Sesame Street 
SpongeBob SquarePants 

The Award for Outstanding Short-Form Program
The Crown: Farewell To A Royal Epic 
Hacks: Bit By Bit
The Penguin: Inside Gotham
Real Time with Bill Maher: Overtime 
Shōgun – The Making of Shōgun 

The Award for Outstanding Sports Program
Formula 1: Drive to Survive 
Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants 
Messi’s World Cup: The Rise of a Legend
Simone Biles Rising 
Triumph: Jesse Owens and the Berlin Olympics 

The PGA Innovation Award
Critterz
Emperor
Impulse: Playing with Reality
Orbital
The Pirate Queen with Lucy Liu
What If…? – An Immersive Story

The post ‘Wicked,’ ‘Emilia Pérez,’ ‘Anora’ Land Nominations for Producers Guild Awards appeared first on TheWrap.

The nominated cinematographers were Jarin Blaschke for “Nosferatu,” Alice Brooks for “Wicked,” Lol Crawley for “The Brutalist,” Stéphane Fontaine for “Conclave,” Greig Fraser for “Dune: Part Two,” Edward Lachman for “Maria” and Phedon Papamichael for “A Complete Unknown.”

The nominations were the fourth for Fraser, Lachman and Papamichael. Brooks became only the fourth woman ever nominated in the feature-film category by the ASC, following Rachel Morrison for “Mudbound,” Ari Wegner for “The Power of the Dog” and Mandy Walker for “Elvis.” Walker is the only woman to win.

The category was expanded to seven nominees rather than the usual five, but it still did not include “Nickel Boys” cinematographer Jomo Fray, who is considered a strong contender for a nomination for the cinematography Oscar. Fray was nominated by the ASC in the Spotlight category, which goes to smaller international and film-festival releases. Other nominees in that category are Michal Dymek for “The Girl With the Needle” and Klaus Kneist and Renata Mwende for “Nawi.”  

According to the ASC, the number of nominees in the feature-film category can be any number between five and 10, depending on the percentage of votes a film receives. In practice, the category has consisted of five nominees 36 times in the 39 years the ASC Awards have existed. It had seven nominees in 2014 and six in 1996 and ’97.

The expanded category makes the ASC Award less reliable as an Oscar predictor. Over the last decade, the ASC and the Academy agreed on all five nominees three times, on four out of five six times and on three out of five once. Overall, more than 80% of ASC nominees typically go on to receive Oscar nominations.

Documentary nominees were “Gaucho Gaucho,” “Porcelain War” and “Photographer: Dan Winters: Life Is Once. Forever.”

Television nominees included “Hacks,” “The Franchise,” “Sugar,” “Emily in Paris” and “Only Murders in the Building” for half-hour series; “The Crown,” “Silo” and two episodes each of “House of the Dragon” and “Shōgun” for one-hour series; and “Masters of the Air,” “Interior Chinatown,” “Ripley,” “The Penguin,” “Disclaimer” and “Hold Your Breath” for limited series or TV movies.

Rodrigo Prieto, who was nominated in the feature-film category last year for “Killers of the Flower Moon,” was nominated this year for his music video for “Fortnight” by Taylor Swift featuring Post Malone.

The winners will be announced at the 39th annual ASC Awards, which will take place on Feb. 23 at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills.

Here is the list of nominees:

Theatrical Feature Film
Jarin Blaschke for “Nosferatu” (Focus Features)
Alice Brooks, ASC for “Wicked” (Universal Pictures)
Lol Crawley, BSC for “The Brutalist” (A24)
Stéphane Fontaine, AFC for “Conclave” (Focus Features)
Greig Fraser, ASC, ACS for “Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Edward Lachman, ASC for “Maria” (Netflix)
Phedon Papamichael, ASC, GSC, GCA for “A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight Pictures)

Episode of a Half Hour Series
Adam Bricker, ASC for “Hacks” – Episode “Just for Laughs” (Max)
Carl Herse for “The Franchise”- Episode “Sc 31A: Tecto Meets Eye” (HBO)
Richard Rutkowski, ASC for “Sugar” – Episode “Starry-Eyed” (Apple TV+)
Seamus Tierney for “Emily in Paris” – Episode “Masquerade” (Netflix)
Kyle Wullschleger for “Only Murders in the Building”- Episode  “Once Upon a Time in the West” (Hulu)

Limited or Anthology Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Adam Arkapaw, ACS for “Masters of the Air” – Episode “Part Three” (Apple TV+)
Michael Berlucchi for “Interior Chinatown” – Episode “Generic Asian Man” (Hulu)
Robert Elswit, ASC for “Ripley” – Episode “Lucio” (Netflix)
Jonathan Freeman, ASC for “The Penguin” – Episode “Homecoming” (HBO)
Emmanuel Lubezki, ASC, AMC & Bruno Delbonnel, AFC, ASC for “Disclaimer” – “Episode I” (Apple TV+)
Zoë White, ACS for “Hold Your Breath” (Hulu)

Episode of a One-Hour Regular Series
Adriano Goldman, ASC, ABC, BSC for “The Crown” – Episode “Sleep, Dearie Sleep” (Netflix)
Catherine Goldschmidt, BSC for “House of the Dragon” – Episode “The Queen Who Ever Was” (HBO)
Baz Irvine, BSC, ISC for “Silo” – Episode “The Engineer” (Apple TV+)
Alejandro Martinez, AMC for “House of Dragon” – Episode “Rhaenyra the Cruel” (HBO)
Sam Mccurdy, ASC, BSC for “Shōgun” – Episode “Crimson Sky” (FX)
Christopher Ross, BSC for “Shōgun” – Episode “Anjin” (FX)

Spotlight Award
Michal Dymek for “The Girl with the Needle” (MUBI)
Jomo Fray for “Nickel Boys” (Amazon MGM Studios)
Klaus Kneist and Renata Mwende for “Nawi” (MUBI and Baobab Pictures)

Documentary Award
Michael Crommett for “Photographer: Dan Winters Life is Once. Forever.” (National Geographic)
Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw for “Gaucho Gaucho” (Jolt)
Andrey Stefanov for “Porcelain War” (Picturehouse)

ASC Music Video Award
Pepe Avila del Pino, AMC for “313” (Performed by Residente, Sílvia Pérez Cruz and Penelope Cruz)
Scott Cunningham, ASC for “Rebound” (Performed by Jennifer Lopez)
Rodrigo Prieto, ASC, AMC for “Fortnight” (Performed by Taylor Swift featuring Post Malone)

The post ‘Nosferatu,’ ‘The Brutalist,’ ‘Maria’ Receive Nominations From American Society of Cinematographers appeared first on TheWrap.

In the Original Screenplay category, “Anora” and “A Real Pain” were nominated alongside “Challengers,” “Civil War” and “My Old Ass.” In Adapted Screenplay, “A Complete Unknown,” “Nickel Boys” and “Wicked” will be up against “Dune: Part Two” and “Hit Man.”

Eligibility for the Writers Guild Awards is restricted to screenplays that were written under the guild’s Minimum Basic Agreement or under related agreements from affiliated international guilds. That rule made many of the year’s likeliest Oscar nominees ineligible for Writers Guild nominations, including the original scripts “The Brutalist,” “The Substance,” “Hard Truths,” “September 5” and “All We Imagine as Light,” as well as the adaptations “Conclave,” “Sing Sing,”“Emilia Pérez” and “I’m Still Here.”

These eligibility restrictions also opened the door for screenplays like “Civil War,” “My Old Ass” and “Hit Man,” which are considered longshots in the Oscar screenplay races.

Meanwhile, documentary nominations went to the screenplays for “Jim Henson: Idea Man,” “Kiss the Future,” “Martha” and “War Game.”

In the television categories, “Fallout,” “Mr. & Mrs. Smith” and “Shōgun” led with three nominations each, followed by “The Bear” and “Hacks” with two.

The announcement was originally scheduled to take place on Thursday, Jan. 9, but was delayed for almost a week because of the L.A. wildfires.

Over the last decade, about two-thirds of the WGA nominees went on to receive Oscar nominations, a lower rate than the other major guilds. Recent films that were recognized by the Academy after being ineligible for the guild’s awards include “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Poor Things,” “The Zone of Interest,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Triangle of Sadness,” “Living,” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Belfast,” “The Power of the Dog” and “The Lost Daughter.”

The Writers Guild Awards will take place on Feb. 15.

Here is the list of nominees:

SCREENPLAY NOMINEES

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

A Real Pain, Written by Jesse Eisenberg; Searchlight Pictures      

Anora, Written by Sean Baker; NEON

Challengers, Written by Justin Kuritzkes; Amazon MGM Studios  

Civil War, Written by Alex Garland; A24                                                                                            

My Old Ass, Written by Megan Park; Amazon MGM Studios

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

A Complete Unknown, Screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks, Based on the Book Dylan Goes Electric! by Elijah Wald; Searchlight Pictures                       

Dune: Part 2, Screenplay by Denis Villeneuve and Jon Spaihts, Based on the Novel Dune by Frank Herbert; Warner Bros. Pictures                                                                                 

Hit Man, Screenplay by Richard Linklater & Glen Powell, Based on the Texas Monthly Article by Skip Hollandsworth; Netflix                                                                                   

Nickel Boys, Screenplay by RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes, Based on the Book The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead; Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios                           

Wicked, Screenplay by Winnie Holzman and Winnie Holzman & Dana Fox, Based on the musical stage play with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and book by Winnie Holzman, From the Novel by Gregory Maguire; Universal Pictures

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

Jim Henson: Idea Man, Written by Mark Monroe; Imagine Documentaries

Kiss the Future, Screenplay by Bill S. Carter, Story by Bill S. Carter and Nenad Cicin-Sain; Fifth Season

Martha, Written by R.J. Cutler; Netflix

War Game, Written by Tony Gerber & Jesse Moss; Submarine Deluxe

TELEVISION, STREAMING, AND NEWS NOMINEES

DRAMA SERIES

The Boys, Written by Geoff Aull, Jessica Chou, Paul Grellong, Eric Kripke, Ellie Monahan, Judalina Neira, David Reed, Anslem Richardson; Prime Video      

The Diplomat, Written by Peter Ackerman, Eli Attie, Debora Cahn, Anna Hagen, Julianna Dudley Meagher, Peter Noah; Netflix            

Fallout, Written by Jake Bender, Karey Dornetto, Zach Dunn, Kieran Fitzgerald, Chaz Hawkins, Lisa Joy, Carson Mell, Jonathan Nolan, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Gursimran Sandhu, Graham Wagner; Prime Video

Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Written by Carla Ching, Adamma Ebo, Adanne Ebo, Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Schuyler Pappas, Francesca Sloane, Yvonne Hana Yi; Prime Video

Shōgun, Written by Shannon Goss, Maegan Houang, Rachel Kondo, Matt Lambert, Justin Marks, Caillin Puente, Nigel Williams, Emily Yoshida; FX/Hulu

COMEDY SERIES

Abbott Elementary, Written by Quinta Brunson, Ava Coleman, Riley Dufurrena, Justin Halpern, Joya McCrory, Chad Morton, Morgan Murphy, Brittani Nichols, Rebekka Pesqueira, Kate Peterman, Brian Rubenstein, Patrick Schumacker, Justin Tan, Jordan Temple, Garrett Werner; ABC

The Bear, Written by Karen Joseph Adcock, Joanna Calo, Rene Gube, Will Guidara, Matty Matheson, Alex Russell, Catherine Schetina, Christopher Storer, Courtney Storer; FX/Hulu

Curb Your Enthusiasm, Written by Larry David, Jon Hayman, Justin Hurwitz, Carol Leifer, Stephen Leff, Jeff Schaffer, Nathaniel Stein; HBO | Max

Hacks, Written by Genevieve Aniello, Lucia Aniello, Guy Branum, Jessica Chaffin, Paul W. Downs, Jess Dweck, Ariel Karlin, Andrew Law, Carol Leifer, Carolyn Lipka, Joe Mande, Aisha Muharrar, Pat Regan, Samantha Riley, Jen Statsky; HBO | Max

What We Do in the Shadows, Written by Jake Bender, Max Brockman, Zach Dunn, Shana Gohd, Amelia Haller, Sam Johnson, Jeremy Levick, Chris Marcil, William Meny, Sarah Naftalis, Marika Sawyer, Paul Simms, Rajat Suresh, Lauren Wells; FX/Hulu

NEW SERIES

English Teacher, Written by Brian Jordan Alvarez, Wally Baram, Jake Bender, Emmy Blotnick, Zach Dunn, Dave King, Stephanie Koenig, Jonathan Krisel, Paul Simms, Samantha Shier; FX/Hulu            

Fallout, Written by Jake Bender, Karey Dornetto, Zach Dunn, Kieran Fitzgerald, Chaz Hawkins, Lisa Joy, Carson Mell, Jonathan Nolan, Geneva Robertson-Dworet, Gursimran Sandhu, Graham Wagner; Prime Video

Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Written by Carla Ching, Adamma Ebo, Adanne Ebo, Donald Glover, Stephen Glover, Schuyler Pappas, Francesca Sloane, Yvonne Hana Yi; Prime Video

Nobody Wants This, Written by Barbie Adler, Jane Becker, Jack Burditt, Vali Chandrasekaran, Craig DiGregorio, Erin Foster, Lindsay Golder, Steven Levitan, Pat Regan, Niki Schwartz-Wright, Neel Shah, Noelle Valdivia, Ron Weiner, Ryann Werner; Netflix

Shōgun, Written by Shannon Goss, Maegan Houang, Rachel Kondo, Matt Lambert, Justin Marks, Caillin Puente, Nigel Williams, Emily Yoshida; FX/Hulu

LIMITED SERIES

The Penguin, Written by Vladimir Cvetko, Breannah Gibson, Erika L. Johnson, Lauren LeFranc, Corina Maritescu, Megan Martin, John McCutcheon, Shaye Ogbonna, Nick Towne, Noelle Valdivia, Kira Snyder; HBO | Max

Presumed Innocent, Written by Miki Johnson, David E. Kelley, Sharr White; Apple TV+

Ripley, Written by Steven Zaillian; Netflix

Say Nothing, Written by Clare Barron, Joe Murtagh, Kirsten Sheridan, Joshua Zetumer; FX/Hulu

True Detective: Night Country, Written by Katrina Albright, Alan Page Arriaga, Namsi Khan, Issa López, Chris Mundy, Wenonah Wilms; HBO | Max

TV & STREAMING MOTION PICTURES

The Great Lillian Hall, Written by Elisabeth Seldes Annacone; HBO | Max

Prom Dates, Written by D.J. Mausner; Hulu

Rebel Ridge, Written by Jeremy Saulnier; Netflix

Terry McMillan Presents Forever, Written by Bart Baker; Lifetime

ANIMATION

“Bottle Episode” (The Simpsons), Written by Rob LaZebnik & Johnny LaZebnik; Fox

“Cremains of the Day” (The Simpsons), Written by John Frink; Fox  

“Night of the Living Wage” (The Simpsons), Written by Cesar Mazariegos; Fox

“Saving Favorite Drive-In” (Bob’s Burgers), Written by Katie Crown; Fox

“The Tina Table: The Tables Have Tina-ed” (Bob’s Burgers), Written by Greg Thompson; Fox

“Winter Is Born” (Blood of Zeus), Written by Charles Parlapanides & Vlas Parlapanides; Netflix

EPISODIC DRAMA

“Anjin” (Shōgun), Written for Television by Rachel Kondo & Justin Marks; FX/Hulu

“The Beginning” (Fallout), Written by Gursimran Sandhu; Prime Video

“Fear of the End” (Evil), Written by Rockne S. O’Bannon & Nialla LeBouef; Paramount+

“First Date” (Mr. & Mrs. Smith), Written by Francesca Sloane & Donald Glover; Prime Video 

“Olivia” (Sugar), Written by Mark Protosevich; Apple TV+

“Pilot” (Elsbeth), Written by Robert King & Michelle King; CBS

EPISODIC COMEDY

“AGG” (Somebody Somewhere), Written by Hannah Bos & Paul Thureen and Bridget Everett; HBO | Max

“Bulletproof” (Hacks), Written by Lucia Aniello & Paul W. Downs & Jen Statsky; HBO | Max

“Linda” (English Teacher), Written by Jake Bender & Zach Dunn; FX/Hulu

“Napkins” (The Bear), Written by Catherine Schetina; FX/Hulu     

“Once Upon a Time in the West” (Only Murders in the Building), Written by John Hoffman & Joshua Allen Griffith; Hulu

“Petiole” (The Sticky), Written by Brian Donovan & Ed Herro; Prime Video

COMEDY/VARIETY SERIES – TALK OR SKETCH

The Daily Show, Head Writer Dan Amira Senior Writers Lauren Sarver Means, Daniel Radosh Writers David Angelo, Nicole Conlan, Devin Delliquanti, Zach DiLanzo, Jennifer Flanz, Jason Gilbert, Dina Hashem, Scott Hercman, Josh Johnson, David Kibuuka, Matt Koff, Joe Opio, Randall Otis, Zhubin Parang, Kat Radley, Lanee’ Sanders, Scott Sherman, Jon Stewart, Ashton Womack, Sophie Zucker; Comedy Central          

John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in L.A., Writers Anna Drezen, David Ferguson, Fran Gillespie, Langston Kerman, Jeremy Levick, John Mulaney, Alex Scordelis, Rajat Suresh; Netflix

The Kelly Clarkson Show, Head Writer Jordan Watland Writers Kevin Hurley, Nik Robinson; Syndicated

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Senior Writers Daniel O’Brien, Owen Parsons, Charlie Redd, Joanna Rothkopf, Seena Vali Writers Johnathan Appel, Ali Barthwell, Tim Carvell, Liz Hynes, Ryan Ken, Mark Kramer, Sofia Manfredi, John Oliver, Taylor Kay Phillips, Chrissy Shackelford; HBO | Max

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Head Writers Ariel Dumas, Jay Katsir Writers Delmonte Bent, Michael Brumm, Aaron Cohen, Stephen T. Colbert, Paul Dinello, Glenn Eichler, Gabe Gronli, Barry Julien, Michael Cruz Kayne, Eliana Kwartler, Matt Lappin, Caroline Lazar, Pratima Mani, Felipe Torres Medina, Opus Moreschi, Carley Moseley, Asher Perlman, Michael Pielocik, Tom Purcell, Kate Sidley, Brian Stack, John Thibodeaux, Steve Waltien; CBS

Saturday Night Live, Head Writers Alison Gates, Streeter Seidell, Kent Sublette Writers Rosebud Baker, Dan Bulla, Megan Callahan-Shah, Steven Castillo, Michael Che, Mike DiCenzo, Alex English, Jimmy Fowlie, Martin Herlihy, John Higgins, Steve Higgins, Vannessa Jackson, Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Ben Marshall, Dennis McNicholas,  Lorne Michaels, Jake Nordwind, Ceara O’Sullivan, Josh Patten, Gary Richardson, Pete Schultz, KC Shornima, Will Stephen, Bryan Tucker, Asha Ward, Auguste White, Celeste Yim; NBC

COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS

The 77^th Annual Tony Awards, Written by Dave Boone; CBS

A Closer Look with Seth Meyers: Primetime Live Election Special, Head Writer Alex Baze Writing Supervised by Mike Scollins Closer Look Writing Supervised by Sal Gentile Written by Alex Baze, Bryan Donaldson, Sal Gentile, Matt Goldich, Allison Hord, Mike Scollins, Seth Meyers, Mike Shoemaker; NBC

Nikki Glaser: Someday You’ll Die, Written by Nikki Glaser; HBO | Max

Ramy Youssef: More Feelings, Written by Ramy Youssef; HBO | Max

QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION

Jeopardy!, Writers Marcus Brown, Michael Davies, John Duarte, Mark Gaberman, Debbie Griffin, Michele Loud, Robert McClenaghan, Jim Rhine, Steve Tamerius, Billy Wisse; ABC

Pop Culture Jeopardy!, Writers Marcus Brown, Buzzy Cohen, Michael Davies, Chip Dornell, John Duarte, Mark Gaberman, Debbie Griffin, Michele Loud, Traci Mack, Amy Ozols, Louis Virtel, Billy Wisse; Amazon Prime

DAYTIME DRAMA

Days of Our Lives, Head Writer Ron Carlivati Writers Sonja Alarr, Kirk Doering, Christopher Dunn, Jamey Giddens, David Kreizman, Henry Newman, Ryan Quan, Dave Ryan, Katherine D. Schock; Peacock

General Hospital, Head Writers Elizabeth Korte, Chris Van Etten Writers Nigel Campbell, Ashley Cook, Emily Culliton, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Catherine LePard, Patrick Mulcahey, Dan O’Connor, Shannon Peace, Stacey Pulwer, Anne Schoettle, Scott Sickles, Micah Steinberg; ABC

The Young and the Restless, Head Writer Amanda L. Beall Writers Susan Banks, Jeff Beldner, Marin Gazzaniga, Lindsay Harrison, Marla Kanelos, Rebecca McCarty, Madeleine Phillips, Dave Ryan; CBS/Paramount +

CHILDREN’S EPISODIC, LONG FORM AND SPECIALS

“A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers” (Percy Jackson and the Olympians), Written by Rick Riordan & Jonathan E. Steinberg; Disney+

“I’m Pogey” (Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock), Written by Charley Feldman; Apple TV+

Out of My Mind, Written by Daniel Stiepleman; Disney+

“The Sign Language ABCs” (Sesame Street), Written by Jessica Carleton; HBO | Max

“Welcome to Spiderwick” (The Spiderwick Chronicles), Written by Aron Eli Coleite; Roku Channel

SHORT FORM STREAMING

Die Hart 3: Hart to Kill, Written by Tripper Clancy; Roku Channel

Tiny Time Travel, Written by Annabeth Bondor-Stone, Cynthia Furey, Tim McKeon, Nikki Palumbo, Connor White, Moujan Zolfaghari; PBS Kids

DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT

“The American Vice President” (American Experience), Written by Michelle Ferrari; PBS

“The Cancer Detectives” (American Experience), Written by Gene Tempest; PBS

“Part One: Inferno to Paradise” (Dante), Written by Ric Burns and Riccardo Bruscagli; PBS

“Poisoned Ground: The Tragedy at Love Canal” (American Experience), Written by Jamila Ephron; PBS

The Space Race, Written by Mark Monroe; National Geographic Channel

NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT 

“Alabama IVF Ruling Sends Shockwaves Across America” (CBS Evening News), Written by James Hutton, Rob Rivielle; CBS News

“Assassination Attempt” (CBS Evening News – Special Weekend Edition), Written by Craig Wilson, James Hutton, Claudine Cleophat, Joe Clines, Rob Rivielle; CBS News

“Willie Mays Tribute” (CBS Newspath), Written by Gerald Mazza; CBS News

NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY 

“Finding Cillian Murphy” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young, Kristin Steve; CBS News

“Fine Print: Carl Hiaasen” (CBS Sunday Morning), Written by Richard Buddenhagen, Lesley Stahl; CBS News

“History Repeats Itself in Northern Gaza One Year Later” (Ayman), Written by Rajaa Elidrissi; MSNBC

“The Resistance” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young, Kristin Steve; CBS News

“Understanding Travel Advisories” (ABC NewsOne), Written by Erik Pierorazio; ABC NewsOne

DIGITAL NEWS

“The Food That Makes You Gay” Written by Jaya Saxena; Eater 

“Mise-en-Seine: A Paris Olympics Diary”, Written by Henry Grabar; Slate

“Sent by God”, Written by Molly Olmstead; Slate

“The Unraveling of Nancy Mace”, Written by Jim Newell; Slate       

“What Is Hamas Thinking Now?”, Written by Akbar Shahid Ahmed; HuffPost

RADIO/AUDIO NOMINEES

RADIO/AUDIO DOCUMENTARY

“Art on Trial” (One Year: 1990), Written by Evan Chung; Slate

“Deadly Exes: Domestic Violence Awareness with Annie Elise” (Serial Killers), Written by Maggie Admire; Spotify Studios

“A Hotbed of Homosexuality” (Slow Burn), Written by Christina Cauterucci; Slate

“If You Give a Mouse a Cookie… Will He Want a Welfare Check?” (Decoder Ring), Written by Cheyna Roth and Patrick Fort; Slate

RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT

“6:40am News – Nov 6, 2023”, Written by Philip Pilato; 1010 WINS AM & FM

“12-15-2023, World News This Week”, Written by Joan B. Harris; ABC News Radio

“Inside a Gaza Hospital” (What Next?), Written by Mary Harris and Rob Gunther; Slate

“Passages: Three Women Who Made A Difference”, Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio

“World News This Year 2023”, Written by Robert Hawley; ABC News Radio

RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY

“The Athleticism and Empathy of Horses” (Press Play 2024), Written by Robert Hawley; ABC News Radio

“The bleeding edge” (Unexplainable), Written by Byrd Pinkerton; Vox

“Charles Osgood Remembered”, Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio

PROMOTIONAL WRITING NOMINEES

ON-AIR PROMOTION

“Fortune Favors the Bold. Promotions for Tracker and King & Conqueror”, Written by Molly Neylan; CBS

“LC Voting Ads”, Written by Desireena Almoradie, Angad Bhalla; YouTube

“NCIS: Season 21 Legacy, Launch and Beyond Trailers”, Written by Erial Tompkins; CBS

“NYSNA AMC Campaign”, Written by Adrianna Hernandez Stewart, Angad Bhalla; YouTube
 

The post ‘Anora,’ ‘A Real Pain,’ ‘A Complete Unknown,’ ‘Wicked’ Receive Writers Guild Award Nominations appeared first on TheWrap.

In the Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature category, the category that corresponds most closely to Best Visual Effects at the Oscars, the nominees were “Better Man,” “Dune: Part Two,” “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes,” “Mufasa: The Lion King” and “Twisters.”

All 10 of the films on the Oscars’ Best Visual Effects shortlist received VES nominations. In addition to the five nominees in the VES Outstanding Visual Effects category, “Civil War” and “Gladiator II” received two nominations and “Alien: Romulus,” “Deadpool & Wolverine” and “Wicked” each received one.

The VES Awards have 25 categories that cover photoreal and animated features, episodic work, commercials, games, and real-time, CG and student projects. The record for VES nominations is 14, which was set by “Avatar: The Way of Water” two years ago.

In the animated-feature categories, “The Wild Robot” led with five nominations. In the episodic categories, “Shōgun” and “The Penguin” led with four each.

The nominations were selected by VES members at 49 in-person and virtual panels that took place around the world in a continuous 30-hour period.

The winners will be announced at the VES Awards ceremony on Feb. 11 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Also at that ceremony, “Shōgun” actor-producer Hiroyuki Sanada will receive the VES Award for Creative Excellence; director and visual effects supervisor Takashi Yamazaki will receive the VES Visionary Award; and virtual reality pioneer Dr. Jacquelyn Ford Morie will receive the VES  Georges Méliès Award.

Here is the full list of nominated films and projects. For a list of the nominated visual effects artists and craftsmen in each category, go to www.vesglobal.org.

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATUR
Better Man
Dune: Part Two
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Mufasa: The Lion King
Twisters

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Blitz
Civil War
Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1
Nosferatu
Young Woman and the Sea

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
Inside Out 2
Moana 2
The Wild Robot
Transformers One
Ultraman: Rising

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
Fallout; The Head
House of the Dragon; Season 2; The Red Dragon and the Gold
Shōgun; Anjin
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew; Episode 5
The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power; Season 2; Eldest

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
Expats: Home
Lady in the Lake; It Has to Do With the Search for the Marvelous
Masters of the Air; Part Three; The Regensburg-Schweinfurt Mission
The Penguin; Bliss
The Tattooist of Auschwitz; Pilot

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT
[REDACTED]
Destiny 2: The Final Shape
Star Wars Outlaws
What If…? – An Immersive Story
Until Dawn

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL
YouTube TV NFL Sunday Ticket: The Magic of Sunday
Disney; Holidays 2024
Virgin Media; Walrus Whizzer
Coca-Cola; The Heroes
Six Kings Slam; Call of the Kings

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT
D23; Real-Time Rocket
The Goldau Landslide Experience
MTV Video Music Awards; Slim Shady Live
Tokyo DisneySea; Peter Pan’s Never Land Adventure
Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony; Run

OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Better Man; Robbie Williams
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes; Noa
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes; Raka
Mufasa: The Lion King; Taka

OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
Inside Out 2; Anxiety
The Wild Robot; Roz
Thelma The Unicorn; Vic Diamond
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl; Gromit

OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
Secret Level; Armored Core: Asset Management; Mech Pilo
Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred; Neyrelle
Disney; Holidays 2024; Octopus
Ronja the Robber’s Daughter; Vildvittran the Queen Harpy

OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Civil War; Washington, D.C.
Dune: Part Two; The Arrakeen Basin
Gladiator II; Rome
Wicked; The Emerald City

OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
Kung Fu Panda 4; Juniper City
The Wild Robot; The Forest
Transformers One; Iacon City
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl; Aqueduct

OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
Dune: Prophecy; Pilot; The Imperial Palace
Dune: Prophecy; Two Wolves; Zimia Spaceport
Shōgun; Osaka
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power; Season 2; Doomed to Die; Eregion

OUTSTANDING CG CINEMATOGRAPHY
Better Man
Dune: Part Two; Arrakis
House of the Dragon; Season 2; The Red Dragon and the Gold; Battle at Rook’s Rest
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes ; Egg Climb

OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT
Alien: Romulus; Renaissance Space Station
Deadpool & Wolverine; Ant-Man Arena
Dune: Part Two; The Harkonnen Harvester
Gladiator II; The Colosseum

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Dune: Part Two; Atomic Explosions and Wormriding
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes; Burning Village, Rapids and Floods
Twisters
Venom: The Last Dance; Water, Fire & Symbiote Effects

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
Kung Fu Panda 4
Moana 2
The Wild Robot
Ultraman: Rising

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
Avatar: The Last Airbender; Legends; Koizilla
Shōgun; Broken to the Fist; Landslide
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew; Pilot; Spaceship Hillside Takeoff
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power; Season 2; Shadow and Flame; Balrog Fire and Collapsing Cliff
Three Body Problem; Judgement Day

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE
Better Man
Dune: Part Two; Wormriding, Geidi Prime, and the Final Battle
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
The Wild Robot

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE
Shōgun; Broken to the Fist; Landslide
Star Wars: Skeleton Crew; Episode 6; Jaws
The Boys; Season 4; Life Among the Septics
The Penguin; After Hour

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL
Virgin Media; Walrus Whizzer
Coca-Cola; The Heroes
Corcept; Marionette
Disney; Holidays 2024

OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT
Blitz
Constellation
The Penguin; Safe Guns

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD
Dune: Part Two; Nuke CopyCat
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga; Artist-driven Machine Learning Character
Here; Neural Performance Toolset
Mufasa: The Lion King; Real-Time Interactive Filmmaking, From Stage To Post
The Penguin; Phase Synced Flash-Gun System

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT
Dawn (entry from ESMA – École Supérieure Des Métiers Artistiques)
Student Accomplice (entry from Brigham Young University)
Pittura (entry from ARTFX – Schools of Digital Arts)
Courage (entry from Supinfocom – Rubika)

The post ‘Dune: Part Two’ Leads Visual Effects Society Nominations appeared first on TheWrap.

The March 2 date of the 97th Academy Awards ceremony will not change.

The news followed earlier changes made shortly after the wildfires hit last week.

In a statement, Academy CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang said, “We are all devastated by the impact of the fires and the profound losses experienced by so many in our community. The Academy has always been a unifying force within the film industry, and we are committed to standing together in the face of hardship.”

“Due to the still-active fires in the Los Angeles area, we feel it is necessary to extend our voting period and move the date of our nominations announcement to allow additional time for our members,” they continued. “Additionally, as we want to be sensitive to the infrastructure and lodging needs of the region in these next few weeks, it is imperative that we make some changes to our schedule of events, which we believe will have the support of our industry.”

“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 message concluded. “We will get through this together and bring a sense of healing to our global film community.”

The nominations voting period, which was originally scheduled to end on Sunday, Jan. 12, and was then extended to Tuesday, Jan. 14, has now been extended through Friday, Jan. 17, which was the original date that nominations were scheduled to be announced.

Nominations will now be announced on Thursday, Jan. 23, at 5:30 a.m. PST, with the in-person component of the announcement canceled. Nominees will be revealed in a virtual event with no in-person media coverage.

In addition, the Oscar Nominees Luncheon, originally scheduled for Monday, Feb. 10, has been canceled. The Scientific and Technical Awards, scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 18, will be rescheduled for a later date that has yet to be determined.

The changes will not alter the date of the Oscars show, March 2, or the timetable for final voting, which begins on Feb. 11 and ends on Feb. 18.

The new dates are subject to change, according to the Academy.

AMPAS has also made a $750,000 donation to the Motion Picture and Television Fund for victims of the fires.

The post Oscars Postpone Nominations, Cancel Nominees Luncheon Due to LA Wildfires appeared first on TheWrap.

The award given out by a jury from the international film critics association FIPRESCI was open to 35 of the 85 eligible films in the category, including all 15 of the Oscars shortlisted titles. “I’m Still Here” won in a field that also included Golden Globes winner “Emilia Pérez,” “The Seed of the Sacred Fig,” “Flow,” “Vermiglio,” “Kneecap” and others.

Italy’s “Vermiglio” won the award for screenplay, while acting awards went to Zoe Saldaña for “Emilia Pérez” and the trio of Irish hip-hop musicians Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Provái for “Kneecap.”

The documentary award was open to 10 nonfiction films that screened at the festival. The Palestinian/Israeli film “No Other Land,” was the only eligible film that also made the Oscars Best Documentary Feature shortlist. It has also won the top prize from the International Documentary Association’s IDA Documentary Awards, the Cinema Eye Honors and a number of critics’ groups.

Seven films qualified for the New Voices/New Visions Award, which was open to first or second features from filmmakers judged by the festival programming team to be the most distinctive new directors of the past year. Romanian director Bogdan Mureșanu won the award for “The New Year That Never Came,” with actress-turned-director Embeth Davidtz taking a special mention for “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight.”

In other awards, the Ibero-American Award for the best of 10 festival films from Latin America, Spain or Portugal went to Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez’s “Sujo”; the Desert Views Award, given by a jury of local filmgoers to a film that promotes understanding and acceptance, went to the U.S./Ukraine coproduction “Checkpoint Zoo”; the Young Cineastes jury of high school film fans chose Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Guy Nattiv’s “Tatami” over Reema Kagt’s “Superboys of Malegaon,” Gabriele Fabbro’s “Trifole” and William Goldenberg’s “Unstoppable”; and the Bridging the Borders Award, which was sponsored by 360 Media and carried a cash award of $2,000, went to the French drama “Souleymane’s Story” from director Boris Lojkine.

The 2025 Palm Springs International Film Festival ran from Jan. 2-12 in the desert resort town east of Los Angeles.

Here are the winners and jury statements:

FIPRESCI Prize for Best International Feature Film: “I’m Still Here” (Brazil), Director Walter Salles

Jury Statement: “To ‘I’m Still Here,’ for conveying the horror of encroaching dictatorship from the intimate perspective of a mother defending not just her family of five, but her dignity. Evoking the severity of the violence without resorting to melodrama, director Walter Salles captures a critical moment of history in scrupulous and compelling detail.”

FIPRESCI Prize for Best International Screenplay: “Vermiglio” (Italy), Director Maura Delpero

Jury Statement:  “To writer-director Maura Delpero, for subverting the conventions of a wartime drama within the framework of an elegant period piece — and letting the story unfold through the eyes of complicated female characters.”

FIPRESCI Prize for the Best Actress in an International Feature Film: Zoe Saldaña – “Emilia Pérez”(France), Director Jacques Audiard

Jury Statement: “To Zoe Saldaña, for the ferocity and complexity of her performance in ‘Emilia Pérez,’ which shows a virtuosic range of expression, from song and dance to her potent interpretation of a morally shaded character. Although her character plays a supporting role, she drives the narrative with the power of a protagonist.”

FIPRESCI Prize for Best Actor in an International Feature Film: Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Provái  – “Kneecap” (Ireland), Director Rich Peppiatt

Jury Statement: “To Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap, and DJ Provái, for their seamless performance as an ensemble of musicians who make their acting debut in Kneecap. Proving equally authentic and explosive in both capacities, they bring a fresh and propulsive energy to the whole notion of cultural identity.”

FIPRESCI jury: Brian D. Johnson (Canadian Film Critic), Marcelo Janot (Brazilian Film Critic), and Paola Caseslla (Italian Film Critic).

*

Best Documentary Award: “No Other Land” (Palestine), Directors Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor

Best Documentary Award Special Mention: “Blue Road – The Edna O’Brien Story” (Ireland/ United Kingdom), Director Sinéad O’Shea

Jury Statement: “For its compelling immersion into the lives of Palestinian villagers in the West Bank who face the constant threat of expulsion from their homes by the Israel Defense Forces and attacks by Israeli settlers, we award the Best Documentary Award to “No Other Land.” This film foregrounds the bond between two filmmakers – one Palestinian, the other Israeli – without sentimentalizing the relationship, but emphasizing the different rules that apply to Israelis who live under civil law and Palestinians governed by Israeli military justice. We complement festival programmers on an extraordinary selection of documentaries in competition and award a Special Mention to “Blue Road – The Edna O’Brien Story,” which reveals the creative genius and exceptional life force of the great Irish writer.

Jury: Dale Cohen (UCLA Documentary Film Legal Clinic), Matthew Carey (Deadline), and Tishon Pugh (New Orleans Film Society)

*

New Voices New Visions Award: “The New Year That Never Came” (Romania), Director Bogdan Mureșanu

New Voices New Visions Special Mention: “Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight”(South Africa), Director Embeth Davidtz

Jury Statement: “The director of our winning film lives up to the promise he showed in 2019 when his short ‘The Christmas Gift’ won ShortFests’ Best of the Festival Award. We appreciated the way that he incorporates a myriad of storylines, bringing them to a triumphant conclusion set to Ravel’s ‘Bolero.’ We especially admired his use of dark comedy to explore the impact on individual citizens of the Ceausescu dictatorship and its fall. We’d also like to give a Special Mention to Lexi Ventor for her stunning portrayal of Bobo in ‘Don’t Let’s Go the Dogs Tonight.’ Her presence and emotional intelligence offer a child’s eye view of the experience Zimbabwe faced as it entered its period of decolonization.”

Jury: Beth Barett (Seattle International Film Festival), Gil Robertson (African American Film Critics Association), and Justine Barda (Telescope Film)

*

Ibero-American Award: “Sujo”(Mexico), Director Astrid Rondero, Fernanda Valadez

Ibero-American Special Mention: “Manas” (Brazil/Portugal), Director Marianna Brennand

Jury Statement: “We have unanimously selected ‘Sujo’ for its elegant, nuanced portrayal of a young boy struggling to escape overwhelming violence and poverty in a small Mexican town. The film is meticulously paced and darkly poetic, offering its protagonist an unusually optimistic and humane ending to his story. Featuring outstanding performances from its young cast and beautiful, ethereal cinematography, ‘Sujo’ cements filmmaker duo Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez’s rising-star status in the contemporary Mexican cinema scene.”

Jury: Anna Marie De La Fuente (Variety), Chloë Roddick (Morelia International Film Festival), and Danny Hastings (Official Latino Film Festival)

*

Desert Views Award Winner: “Checkpoint Zoo”(United States/Ukraine), Director Joshua Zeman

Desert Views Special Mention: “Desert Angel”(United States), Director Vincent DeLuca

Jury Statement: “The 2025 Desert Views Jury is proud to present the Desert Views Award to Checkpoint Zoo. This film embodies the spirit of community through a small group of local Ukrainians that captured the hearts of a global audience through social media posts in the early chaotic days of the Russian invasion. Against all odds and great personal sacrifice, an unlikely group of volunteers united their community and inspired hope globally in an effort to rescue animals.”

Jury: Jose Macias (Desert Hot Springs), Margaret Quirante (Morongo Valley), Matt Ramirez (Cathedral City), Tanisha L. Alston (Palm Desert), and Sohelia Crane (Palm Desert)

*

Young Cineastes Award Winner: “Tatami” (Georgia/Israel/Iran), Directors Zar Amir Ebrahimi and Guy Nattiv

Young Cineastes Special Mention: “Superboys of Malegaon”(India/United States), Director Reema Kagti

Jury Statement: “The 2025 Young Cineastes Jury is proud to present the Young Cineastes Award to ‘Tatami.’ We selected this film because it is a ‘non fiction’ fictional story packed with unique visuals, that brings foreign political awareness to its viewers. The film tells a story of resilience where every decision impacts individuals’ lives.”

Jury: Joseph Manjarrez (Palm Springs High School), Lyla Valentine (Palm Desert High School), and Stephanie Lopez (Palm Springs High School)

*

Bridging the Borders Award: “Souleymane’s Story”(France), Director Boris Lojkine

Bridging the Borders Special Mention: “Happy Holidays”(Palestine/Germany/France/ Italy/Qatar), Director Scandar Copti

Jury: Abbas Yari, Ali Murat Erkorkmaz, Bijan Tehrani, Granaz Moussavi, Keely Badger, Marcy Garriott, Michael Franck, Matt Ferro, Susan Morgan Cooper, and Vladek Juszkiewicz.

The post ‘I’m Still Here’ Beats ‘Emilia Pérez’ to Win Top Award at Palm Springs Film Festival appeared first on TheWrap.