The Academy Awards are finally (almost) here, sending off the spectacular cinematic year of 2023 with bang.
The 2024 Oscars will take place tonight, with Jimmy Kimmel returning to host. This year’s crop of contenders range from “Barbie” to “Oppenheimer,” “American Fiction” to “The Holdovers,” and “Anatomy of a Fall” to “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
While certain categories seem to have a sure frontrunner — like Lily Gladstone in the Best Actress race for her performance in Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Oppenheimer” star Robert Downey Jr. as Best Supporting Actor, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph as Best Supporting Actress for “The Holdovers” — others are thoroughly a toss-up in terms of predictions.
Will Best Adapted Screenplay go to Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig for “Barbie,” to Christopher Nolan for his WWII epic “Oppenheimer,” or to Cord Jefferson for his satirical take on novel “Erasure,” which gave us “American Fiction”? Is Best Actor a surefire lock for Cillian Murphy in “Oppenheimer,” or will Paul Giamatti scoop up the title for “The Holdovers”? Should the academy already be carving “Christopher Nolan” into the Best Director trophy, or can Justine Triet come out on top for “Anatomy of a Fall”?
And that’s not even touching the Best Picture race: “Oppenheimer” has the most nominations, but there is also Bradley Cooper’s “Maestro,” Celine Song’s “Past Lives,” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “Poor Things.” “American Fiction” and “Anatomy of a Fall” have been coming on particularly strong as of late.
As IndieWire awards editor Anne Thompson mentioned in her final predictions for the ceremony, “Oppenheimer” feels like an undeniable winner poised for a possible sweep like last year’s Best Picture title holder “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Yet Thompson pointed to “The Zone of Interest” as a possible dark horse lead for Best Picture, despite Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” seemingly cinching the coveted award.
Thompson analyzed the last-minute surge of awards consideration that might push Emma Stone out of the Best Actress category and potentially leave “Poor Things” “empty-handed” if “Barbie” thrives in the crafts categories of Production Design and Costumes. And, while “Barbie” is still up in the air in terms of the Best Adapted Screenplay race, the film basically has a monopoly on a Best Song win at the very least.
The Academy Awards showrunner Raj Kapoor told IndieWire that “Barbie” jokes will not run the gamut during the awards show, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, but that there will still be a Kenergy to the live show.
“The official quote should be the Oscars will have Kenergy,” Kapoor said. “You can say we’re going big. Big and Ken will be synonymous.”
Yet the 2024 Oscars will also have a personalized approach, Kapoor added.
“We want the show to feel immersive. We want it to feel inclusive. We want it to feel innovative,” Kapoor said. “And at times, we want it to feel intimate. There’s a connection between the stage and the audience. They’re not two separate things. They are all working together. And that even goes to how winners accept and then leave the stage. Everyone will feel like they are part of the show.”
And everyone truly is, thanks to the lineup of buzzy presenters and nominees alike.
The 2024 Academy Award nominees are among the most diverse ever, and the slated presenters are almost as highly-anticipated at this year’s nominees themselves. A “Scarface” reunion in the works with Al Pacino and Michelle Pfeiffer taking the stage together in honor of the Brian de Palma film’s 40th anniversary, while “Everything Everywhere All at Once” co-stars Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan, (and dual Oscar winners) will return to present awards.
Performances from Billie Eilish and Finneas, Diane Warren, Becky G, Jon Batiste, and even Ryan Gosling are also confirmed for this year’s ceremony.
The 96th Oscars are executive produced by Katy Mullan, Molly McNearney, and showrunner Raj Kapoor. The 2024 Oscars will air live on on ABC on Sunday, March 10 starting at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. Audiences can tune in to watch the 96th Oscars at the new time and follow along on Oscar.com, Oscars.org, or on the Academy’s Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and Facebook pages.
