Guillermo del Toro’s lavish monster romance “The Shape of Water” fished out a leading 13 nominations, Greta Gerwig became just the fifth woman nominated for best director and “Mudbound” cinematographer Rachel Morrison made history as the first woman to earn a nod in that category in nominations announced Tuesday for the 90th annual Academy Awards.
Oscar voters put forward nine best-picture nominees: “The Shape of Water,” ‘’Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” ‘’Lady Bird,” ‘’Get Out,” ‘’The Post,” ‘’Dunkirk,” ‘’Call Me By Your Name” and “Phantom Thread.”
The cascading fallout of sexual harassment scandals throughout Hollywood put particular focus on the best director category, which for many is a symbol of gender inequality in the film industry. Gerwig follows only Lina Wertmuller, Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola and Kathryn Bigelow, the sole woman to win (for “The Hurt Locker”).
Also nominated for best director was “Get Out” director Jordan Peele. He becomes the fifth black filmmaker nominated for best director, and third to helm a best-picture nominee, following Barry Jenkins last year for “Moonlight.”
Gerwig and Peele are joined by fellow best director nominees Paul Thomas Anderson for “Phantom Thread,” Christopher Nolan for “Dunkirk” and Guillermo del Toro for “The Shape of Water.”
Morrison is joined in the cinematographers nominees’ circle by: Roger Deakins for “Blade Runner 2024”; Bruno Delbonnel for “Darkest Hour”; Hoyte van Hoytema for “Dunkirk”; and Dan Laustsen for “The Shape of Water.”
Though all of the front-runners — Frances McDormand (“Three Billboards”), Gary Oldman (“Darkest Hour”), Allison Janney (“I, Tonya”), Sam Rockwell (“Three Billboards”) — landed their expected nominations, there were surprises.
Denzel Washington (“Roman J. Israel, Esq.”) was nominated for best actor, likely eclipsing James Franco (“Disaster Artist”). Franco was accused of sexual misconduct, which he denied, just days before Oscar voting closed.
Behind the 13 nominations for "The Shape of Water" were: "Dunkirk" with 8; "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" with 7; "Darkest Hour" and "Phantom Thread" with 6 apiece; "Lady Bird" and "Blade Runner 2049" with 5 each; and "Call Me by Your Name," "Get Out," "Mudbound" and "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" with 4 apiece.
Last year’s Oscars broadcast, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, drew 32.9 million viewers for ABC, a four percent drop from the prior year. More worrisome, however, was a steeper slide in the key demographic of adults aged 18-49, whose viewership was down 14 percent from 2016.
Though the show ran especially long, at three hours and 49 minutes, it finished with a bang: the infamous envelope mix-up that led to “La La Land” being incorrectly announced as the best picture before “Moonlight” was crowned.
This year, the academy has prohibited the PwC accountants who handle the envelopes from using cellphones or social media during the show. The accounting firm on Monday also unveiled several reforms including the addition of a third balloting partner in the show’s control room. Neither of the PwC representatives involved in the mishap last year, Brian Cullinan or Martha Ruiz, will return to the show.
But the movie business has larger accounting problems. Movie attendance hit a 24-year low in 2017 despite the firepower of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” ‘’Beauty and the Beast” and “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2.” An especially dismal summer movie season was 92 million admissions shy of summer 2016, according to the National Alliance of Theater Owners.
Still, the summer produced one best-picture favorite, “Dunkirk,” which grossed $525.6 million worldwide. Warner Bros.’ Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman,” released in June to $821.8 million in ticket sales, became the highest grossing movie ever directed by a woman, though it did not receive any Oscar nods.
But the box-office hit that carved the most unlikely path to the Oscars is “Get Out.” It opened back in February on Oscar weekend, and went on to pocket $254.7 million worldwide. Though “Get Out” and “Dunkirk” lend a blockbuster punch to the best-picture field — something that has historically helped ratings of the broadcast — the other films in the mix are smaller indies.
It was a dominant if bittersweet day for 20th Century Fox. Its specialty label, Fox Searchlight, is behind both “Three Billboards” and “The Shape of Water,” and Fox released The Post.” Yet those wins may soon count for the Walt Disney Co., which last month reached a deal to purchase Fox for $52.4 billion.
Both Amazon and Netflix failed to crack the best picture category but earned nominations elsewhere. Netflix’s “Mudbound” scored a best-supporting nod for Mary J. Blige and Amazon’s “The Big Sick” grabbed a nomination for Holly Hunter in the same category. “The Big Sick” also scored an original screenplay nod.
NOMINATIONS BY CATEGORY – 90TH AWARDS
Performance by an actor in a leading role
Timothée Chalamet in “Call Me by Your Name” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Daniel Day-Lewis in “Phantom Thread” (Focus Features)
Daniel Kaluuya in “Get Out” (Universal)
Gary Oldman in “Darkest Hour” (Focus Features)
Denzel Washington in “Roman J. Israel, Esq.” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Willem Dafoe in “The Florida Project” (A24)
Woody Harrelson in “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri” (Fox Searchlight)
Richard Jenkins in “The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight)
Christopher Plummer in “All the Money in the World” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Sam Rockwell in “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri” (Fox Searchlight)
Performance by an actress in a leading role
Sally Hawkins in “The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight)
Frances McDormand in “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri” (Fox Searchlight)
Margot Robbie in “I, Tonya” (Neon/30 West)
Saoirse Ronan in “Lady Bird” (A24)
Meryl Streep in “The Post” (20th Century Fox)
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Mary J. Blige in “Mudbound” (Netflix)
Allison Janney in “I, Tonya” (Neon/30 West)
Lesley Manville in “Phantom Thread” (Focus Features)
Laurie Metcalf in “Lady Bird” (A24)
Octavia Spencer in “The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight)
Best animated feature film of the year
“The Boss Baby” (20th Century Fox) Tom McGrath and Ramsey Naito
“The Breadwinner” (GKIDS) Nora Twomey and Anthony Leo
“Coco” (Walt Disney) Lee Unkrich and Darla K. Anderson
“Ferdinand” (20th Century Fox) Carlos Saldanha
“Loving Vincent” (Good Deed Entertainment) Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman and Ivan Mactaggart
Achievement in cinematography
“Blade Runner 2049” (Warner Bros.) Roger A. Deakins
“Darkest Hour” (Focus Features) Bruno Delbonnel
“Dunkirk” (Warner Bros.) Hoyte van Hoytema
“Mudbound” (Netflix) Rachel Morrison
“The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight) Dan Laustsen
Achievement in costume design
“Beauty and the Beast” (Walt Disney) Jacqueline Durran
“Darkest Hour” (Focus Features) Jacqueline Durran
“Phantom Thread” (Focus Features) Mark Bridges
“The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight) Luis Sequeira
“Victoria & Abdul” (Focus Features) Consolata Boyle
Achievement in directing
“Dunkirk” (Warner Bros.) Christopher Nolan
“Get Out” (Universal) Jordan Peele
“Lady Bird” (A24) Greta Gerwig
“Phantom Thread” (Focus Features) Paul Thomas Anderson
“The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight) Guillermo del Toro
Best documentary feature
“Abacus: Small Enough to Jail” (PBS Distribution)
A Mitten Media/Motto Pictures/Kartemquin Educational Films/WGBH/FRONTLINE Production
Steve James, Mark Mitten and Julie Goldman
“Faces Places” (Cohen Media Group)
A Ciné Tamaris Production
Agnès Varda, JR and Rosalie Varda
“Icarus” (Netflix)
A Netflix Documentary in association with Impact
Partners, Diamond Docs, Chicago Media Project and Alex Production Bryan Fogel and Dan Cogan
“Last Men in Aleppo” (Grasshopper Film)
A Larm Film and Aleppo Media Center Production
Feras Fayyad, Kareem Abeed and Søren Steen Jespersen
“Strong Island” (Netflix)
A Yanceville Films and Louverture Films Production
Yance Ford and Joslyn Barnes
Best documentary short subject
“Edith+Eddie” (Kartemquin Films)
A Heart is Red/Kartemquin Films Production
Laura Checkoway and Thomas Lee Wright
“Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405”
A Stiefel & Co. Production
Frank Stiefel
“Heroin(e)” (Netflix)
A Netflix Original Documentary in association with The Center for Investigative Reporting/Requisite Media Production
Elaine McMillion Sheldon and Kerrin Sheldon
“Knife Skills”
A TFL Films Production
Thomas Lennon
“Traffic Stop” (HBO Documentary Films)
A Q-Ball Production
Kate Davis and David Heilbroner
Achievement in film editing
“Baby Driver” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos
“Dunkirk” (Warner Bros.) Lee Smith
“I, Tonya” (Neon/30 West) Tatiana S. Riegel
“The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight) Sidney Wolinsky
“Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”
(Fox Searchlight)
Jon Gregory
Best foreign language film of the year
“A Fantastic Woman”
A Fabula Production
Chile
“The Insult”
A Douri Film Production
Lebanon
“Loveless”
A Non-Stop Production
Russia
“On Body and Soul”
An Inforg-M&M Film Production
Hungary
“The Square”
A Plattform Production
Sweden
Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
“Darkest Hour” (Focus Features) Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy
Sibbick
“Victoria & Abdul” (Focus Features) Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard
“Wonder” (Lionsgate) Arjen Tuiten
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
“Dunkirk” (Warner Bros.) Hans Zimmer
“Phantom Thread” (Focus Features) Jonny Greenwood
“The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight) Alexandre Desplat
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (Walt Disney) John Williams
“Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”
(Fox Searchlight)
Carter Burwell
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
“Mighty River” from “Mudbound”
(Netflix)
Music and Lyric by Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq
and Taura Stinson
“Mystery Of Love” from “Call Me by Your Name”
(Sony Pictures Classics)
Music and Lyric by Sufjan Stevens
“Remember Me” from “Coco”
(Walt Disney)
Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and
Robert Lopez
“Stand Up For Something” from “Marshall”
(Open Road Films)
Music by Diane Warren
Lyric by Lonnie R. Lynn and Diane Warren
“This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman”
(20th Century Fox)
Music and Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
Best motion picture of the year
“Call Me by Your Name” (Sony Pictures Classics)
A Frenesy Film/La Cinéfacture/Memento Films International/RT Features Production
Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges and Marco Morabito, Producers
“Darkest Hour” (Focus Features)
A Working Title Films Production
Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten and Douglas Urbanski, Producers
“Dunkirk” (Warner Bros.)
A Syncopy Pictures Production
Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
“Get Out” (Universal)
A Blumhouse Productions/QC
Entertainment/Monkeypaw Production
Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr. and Jordan Peele, Producers
“Lady Bird” (A24)
A Mission Films Production
Scott Rudin, Eli Bush and Evelyn O’Neill, Producers
“Phantom Thread” (Focus Features)
An Annapurna Pictures Production
JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan
Ellison and Daniel Lupi, Producers
“The Post” (20th Century Fox)
A 20th Century Fox/DreamWorks Pictures Production
Amy Pascal, Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers
“The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight)
A Double Dare You Production
Guillermo del Toro and J. Miles Dale, Producers
“Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”
(Fox Searchlight)
A Blueprint Pictures Production
Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers
Achievement in production design
“Beauty and the Beast” (Walt Disney)
Production Design: Sarah Greenwood
Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“Blade Runner 2049” (Warner Bros.)
Production Design: Dennis Gassner
Set Decoration: Alessandra Querzola
“Darkest Hour” (Focus Features)
Production Design: Sarah Greenwood
Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“Dunkirk” (Warner Bros.)
Production Design: Nathan Crowley
Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
Nathan Crowley
“The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight)
Production Design: Paul Denham Austerberry
Set Decoration: Shane Vieau and Jeff Melvin
Best animated short film
“Dear Basketball” (Verizon go90)
A Glen Keane Production
Glen Keane and Kobe Bryant
“Garden Party”
A MOPA Production
Victor Caire and Gabriel Grapperon
“Lou” (Walt Disney)
A Pixar Animation Studios Production
Dave Mullins and Dana Murray
“Negative Space”
An Ikki Films Production
Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata
“Revolting Rhymes”
A Magic Light Pictures Production
Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer
Best live action short film
“DeKalb Elementary”
A UCLA Production
Reed Van Dyk
“The Eleven O’Clock”
A FINCH Production
Derin Seale and Josh Lawson
“My Nephew Emmett”
A New York University Production
Kevin Wilson, Jr.
“The Silent Child”
A Slick Films Production
Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton
“Watu Wote/All of Us”
A Hamburg Media School Production
Katja Benrath and Tobias Rosen
Achievement in sound editing
“Baby Driver” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Julian Slater
“Blade Runner 2049” (Warner Bros.) Mark Mangini and Theo Green
“Dunkirk” (Warner Bros.) Richard King and Alex Gibson
“The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight) Nathan Robitaille and Nelson Ferreira
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (Walt Disney) Matthew Wood and Ren Klyce
Achievement in sound mixing
“Baby Driver” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin and Mary H. Ellis
“Blade Runner 2049” (Warner Bros.) Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill and Mac Ruth
“Dunkirk” (Warner Bros.) Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker and Gary A. Rizzo
“The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight) Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern and Glen Gauthier
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (Walt Disney) David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Stuart Wilson
Achievement in visual effects
“Blade Runner 2049” (Warner Bros.) John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert and Richard R. Hoover
“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” (Walt Disney) Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner and Dan Sudick
“Kong: Skull Island” (Warner Bros.) Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza and Mike Meinardus
“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” (Walt Disney) Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould
“War for the Planet of the Apes” (20th Century Fox) Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon and Joel Whist
Adapted screenplay
“Call Me by Your Name” (Sony Pictures Classics) Screenplay by James Ivory
“The Disaster Artist” (A24) Screenplay by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
“Logan” (20th Century Fox) Screenplay by Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green. Story by James Mangold
“Molly’s Game” (STXfilms) Written for the screen by Aaron Sorkin
“Mudbound” (Netflix) Screenplay by Virgil Williams and Dee Rees
Original screenplay
“The Big Sick” (Amazon Studios) Written by Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani
“Get Out” (Universal) Written by Jordan Peele
“Lady Bird” (A24) Written by Greta Gerwig
“The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor. Story by Guillermo del Toro
“Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”
(Fox Searchlight)
Written by Martin McDonagh
