Jane Camption’s adaptation of Thomas Savage’s western novel The Power Of The Dog also had the power of the Academy behind it as the film received 12 nominations for this year’s Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Benedict Cumberbatch), Best Supporting Actress (Kristen Dunst) and Best Supporting Actor (Jesse Plemmons).
The nominations were announced live this morning by actors Leslie Jordan and Tracee Ellis Ross.
Dune, the first half of director Dennis Villenuvue’s adaptation of the classic science-fiction novel, Dune, received 10 nominations, while Belfast and Steven Spielberg’s new adaptation of the Broadway classic West Side Story received seven nods apiece. The Best Supporting Actress nomination for Ariana DeBose in West Side Story is for a role that earned Rita Moreno an Academy Award the first time that the musical was brought to the big screen in 1961.
King Richard, the story of the father of tennis phenoms Venus and Serena Williams, earned six nominations including Best Picture and Best Actor for lead Will Smith.
Rounding out this year’s list of ten Best Picture nominees are CODA, Don’t Look Up, Drive My Car, Licorice Pizza and Nightmare Alley.
Surprisingly, Despite it’s numerous nominations, Dune was overlooked in the acting and director categories, perhaps indicating what competitive categories they are this year.
Spielberg’s Best Director nomination for West Side Story is his eighth, making him just the fourth person to be nominated in that category that many times. Previously, Billy Wilder, who was also nominated eight times, Martin Scorsese, who was nominated nine times and the William Wyler, the record-holder with 12 total directing nominations, were the other directors to hit that milestone. Spielberg has won previously for Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan.
Troy Kotsur’s nomination for CODA puts him in the Oscars history book as the first deaf male actor to earn a nomination in an acting category.
The animated film Flee made history by being nominated in three categories – Best Animated Film, Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature – the first time that a film has spanned across all three of those categories.
Director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi’s Drive My Car also demonstrated the Academy’s growing international diversity with its four nominations for Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay and International Feature. This is also a record number of nominations for a Japanese film.
The Academy Awards ceremony will be held Sunday March 27.
Here is the complete list of nominees –
BEST PICTURE
Belfast
CODA
Don’t Look Up
Drive My Car
Dune
King Richard
Licorice Pizza
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story
BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson – Licorice Pizza
Kenneth Branagh – Belfast
Jane Campion – The Power of the Dog
Steven Spielberg – West Side Story
Ryûsuke Hamaguchi – Drive My Car
BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain – The Eyes of Tammy Faye
Olivia Colman – The Lost Daughter
Penélope Cruz – Parallel Mothers
Nicole Kidman – Being the Ricardos
Kristen Stewart – Spencer
BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem – Being the Ricardos
Benedict Cumberbatch – The Power of the Dog
Andrew Garfield – Tick, Tick… Boom!
Will Smith – King Richard
Denzel Washington – The Tragedy of Macbeth
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jessie Buckley – The Lost Daughter
Ariana DeBose – West Side Story
Judi Dench – Belfast
Kirsten Dunst – The Power of the Dog
Aunjanue Ellis – King Richard
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ciarán Hinds – Belfast
Troy Kotsur – CODA
Jesse Plemons – The Power of the Dog
J.K. Simmons – Being the Ricardos
Kodi Smit-McPhee – The Power of the Dog
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Cruella – Jenny Beavan
Cyrano – Massimo Cantini Parrini
Dune – Jacqueline West
Nightmare Alley – Luis Sequeira
West Side Story – Paul Tazewell
BEST SOUND
Belfast
Dune
No Time to Die
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Don’t Look Up – Nicholas Britell
Dune – Hans Zimmer
Encanto – Germaine Franco
Parallel Mothers – Alberto Iglesias
The Power of the Dog – Jonny Greenwood
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CODA – Sian Heder
Drive My Car – Ryusuke Hamaguchi & Takamasa Oe
Dune – Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts & Denis Villeneuve
The Lost Daughter – Maggie Gyllenhaal
The Power of the Dog – Jane Campion
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Belfast – Kenneth Branagh
Don’t Look Up – Adam McKay & David Sirota
Licorice Pizza – Paul Thomas Anderson
King Richard
The Worst Person in the World
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Affairs of the Art
Bestia
Boxballet
Robin Robin
The Windshield Wiper
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
Ala Kachuu — Take and Run
The Dress
The Long Goodbye
On My Mind
Please Hold
BEST FILM EDITING
Don’t Look Up – Hank Corwin
Dune – Joe Walker
King Richard – Pamela Martin
The Power of the Dog – Peter Sciberras
Tick, Tick… Boom! – Myron Kerstein & Andrew Weisblum
BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
House of Gucci
Coming 2 America
Cruella
Dune
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Encanto
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs. The Machines
Raya and the Last Dragon
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Ascension
Attica
Flee
Summer of Soul
Writing With Fire
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Audible
Lead Me Home
The Queen of Basketball
Three Songs for Benazir
When We Were Bullies
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Be Alive” — Beyoncé Knowles-Carter & Darius Scott – King Richard
“Dos Oruguitas” — Lin-Manuel Miranda – Encanto
“Down to Joy” — Van Morrison – Belfast
“No Time to Die” — Billie Eilish & Finneas O’Connell – No Time to Die
“Somehow You Do” — Diane Warren – Four Good Days
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Dune – Greig Fraser
Nightmare Alley – Dan Lausten
The Power of the Dog – Ari Wegner
The Tragedy of Macbeth – Bruno Delbonnel
West Side Story – Janusz Kaminski
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
Drive My Car – Japan
Flee – Denmark
The Hand of God – Italy
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom – Bhutan
The Worst Person in the World – Norway
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Dune – Zsuzsanna Sipos & Patrice Vermette
Nightmare Alley – Tamara Deverell & Shane Vieau
The Power of the Dog – Grant Major & Amber Richards
The Tragedy of Macbeth – Stefan Dechant & Nancy Haigh
West Side Story – Rena DeAngelo & Adam Stockhausen
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Dune
Free Guy
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
No Time to Die
Spider-Man: No Way Home
