Dimension-hopping adventure Everything Everywhere All At Once topped the list of movies nominated on Tuesday (Jan 24) for this year’s Oscars as Hollywood’s film academy chose several crowd-pleasing hits to compete for the best picture prize.
Everything Everywhere, a science-fiction flick about an exasperated Chinese immigrant struggling to finish her taxes, landed 11 nominations, including best picture and four acting nods.
Other films in the hunt for the top trophy at the Academy Awards included sequel Avatar: The Way Of Water, James Cameron’s visual spectacle that currently ranks as the sixth-highest grossing movie of all time.
Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis, two of last summer’s biggest blockbusters, also made the cut alongside Steven Spielberg’s autobiographical coming-of-age drama The Fabelmans and dark comedy The Banshees of Inisherin.
Tar, Triangle of Sadness, Women Talking and a German remake of All Quiet On The Western Front rounded out the 10-picture list.
Winners of the industry’s highest honours will be unveiled at a Mar 12 ceremony hosted by comedian Jimmy Kimmel and aired live on Walt Disney Co’s ABC network.
The Oscars and other awards shows have been struggling to attract TV viewers, particularly younger ones who spend time on TikTok and YouTube.
Last year’s Academy Awards ceremony, when Will Smith slapped presenter Chris Rock before winning best actor, drew about 15.4 million TV viewers, the second-smallest audience ever.
Having widely seen films, rather than just lesser-known art house movies, may help boost Oscar ratings this year, said Scott Feinberg, awards editor at The Hollywood Reporter. The most-watched Oscars took place 25 years ago as megahit Titanic swept the honours.
“When the movies are popular with the public, the public feels invested and tunes in to see who wins,” Feinberg said. “This is setting them up for success as much as anything could.”
Sixteen of the 20 people who clinched acting nods were first-time nominees.
