2024 Oscars Best Production Design nominees: 4 past contenders versus 7 rookies

Matthew Stewart
·3 min read
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The films competing for the 2024 Best Production Design Oscar are “Barbie,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Napoleon,” “Oppenheimer,” and “Poor Things.” Our odds currently indicate that “Barbie” (17/5) will be the winner, followed in order of likelihood by “Poor Things” (7/2), “Oppenheimer” (4/1), “Killers of the Flower Moon” (9/2), and “Napoleon” (9/2).

After 1970 and 2004, this is only the third year in Oscars history that the same five movies are nominated for Best Production Design and Best Costume Design. The two present lineups differ, however, in that none of the former’s individual contenders are past winners, constituting the first such instance in the category since 2009. In that case, the only returning nominees were art director Nathan Crowley (“The Dark Knight”) and set decorator Gary Fettis (“Changeling”).

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Leading this year’s production design hopefuls in terms of total career nominations are “Barbie” duo Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer, who earned joint recognition for half a dozen earlier films. Four of their notices came for working with director Joe Wright on “Pride & Prejudice” (2006), “Atonement” (2008), “Anna Karenina” (2013), and “Darkest Hour” (2018), while the remaining two were for “Sherlock Holmes” (2010) and “Beauty and the Beast” (2018). Excluding “Sherlock Holmes,” six of their bids were coupled with ones for Best Costume Design, all of which were bestowed upon Jacqueline Durran, who prevailed in 2013.

Currently on his fourth production design nomination is Arthur Max, who was previously recognized for his work with “Napoleon” director Ridley Scott on “Gladiator” (2001), “American Gangster” (2008), and “The Martian” (2016). The artists whose work was awarded over his respectively hailed from “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street,” and “Mad Max: Fury Road.” Having already faced off against the “Barbie” pair on his sophomore outing, he is also currently involved in his second rematch with Jack Fisk (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), formerly of “There Will Be Blood” (2008) and “The Revenant” (2016).

Included among the seven present hopefuls who are totally new to this category are three from “Poor Things” (Shona Heath, Zsuzsa Milahek, and James Price), two from “Oppenheimer” (Ruth De Jong and Claire Kaufman), and one each from “Killers of the Flower Moon” (Adam Willis) and “Napoleon” (Elli Griff). The recognition for “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” makes this the first production design roster since 2015 to include two different pairs of women.

Each of the last 15 films to receive this honor has also collected at least one more Oscar, with the last lone winner having been “Sweeney Todd.” The most overlap has occurred in Best Cinematography and Best Original Score, with six instances each. This time, “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Oppenheimer,” and “Poor Things” are in the running for all three prizes.

The films that won in this category most recently are “All Quiet on the Western Front” (2023), “Dune” (2022), “Mank” (2021), and “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” (2020). This year’s winner will be revealed during the 96th Academy Awards ceremony, airing March 10 on ABC.

Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?

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