Greta Gerwig (‘Barbie’) will be 1st to go 3-for-3 in directing Best Picture Oscar nominees

Matthew Stewart
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As she strolls comfortably toward multiple Oscar nominations for “Barbie,” Greta Gerwig is on track to set several Academy Awards records tied to her age, gender and the movie’s financial success. In terms of more general achievements, perhaps the most impressive one in her reach is becoming the first filmmaker to have all of her initial three solo features contend for Best Picture. Over the past 95 years, many directors have had shots at earning that distinction and a few have come remarkably close, but none of their chances have been quite as strong as hers.

Since Gerwig did not produce her first two independently-directed films – “Lady Bird” (2017) and “Little Women” (2019) – and, per academy rules, cannot officially share in a “Barbie” Best Picture nomination due to her screen credit of “executive producer” (rather than the qualifying “producer” or “produced by”), she does not and will not soon have any bids for the top honor to her name in a literal sense. Regardless, her freshman and sophomore efforts’ candidacies for the prestigious prize make her eligible for said direction-based achievement, which should come easily given the unthinkable idea of “Barbie” not landing in this year’s 10-slot Best Picture lineup. Indeed, the blockbuster’s inclusion is presently supported by a whopping 90% of our nearly 7,000 Oscar nominations predictors.

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“Barbie” and its arch box office rival, “Oppenheimer,” both being named 2024 Best Picture finalists will put Gerwig and Christopher Nolan in an elite group of directors each responsible for at least three of the category’s nominees. He would join the club – which currently consists of 67 male members – thanks to the past campaigns of “Inception” (2010) and “Dunkirk” (2017), both of which (as “Oppenheimer” should) brought shared producing nominations to him specifically. Aside from being the first woman on this list, Gerwig will have earned her spot faster than over half of its present entrants, coming in four years under the average (whereas Nolan would land three years above it).

Gerwig, who now shares the female record for directing the most Best Picture nominees with Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker,” 2009; “Zero Dark Thirty,” 2012) and Jane Campion (“The Piano,” 1993; “The Power of the Dog,” 2021), stands apart from them in that her qualifying films happened to be her first two solo creations. While she is the only woman who has ever had a shot at going three-for-three in that regard, a total of seven men have unsuccessfully attempted to do so already.

Considering only completed narrative features, the first director to vie for this distinction was Orson Welles, who started out by helming Best Picture nominees “Citizen Kane” (1941) and “The Magnificent Ambersons” (1942) as well as the overlooked “The Stranger” (1946). He was followed a decade later by Laurence Olivier (“Henry V,” 1946; “Hamlet,” 1948; “Richard III,” 1956), who preceded Morton DaCosta (“Auntie Mame,” 1958; “The Music Man,” 1962; “Island of Love,” 1963) and Mike Nichols (“Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?,” 1966; “The Graduate,” 1967; “Catch-22,” 1970).

SEEGreta Gerwig (‘Barbie’) just set several Critics Choice Awards records and may soon achieve even more

Rounding out this group of would-be record setters are Roland Joffé (“The Killing Fields,” 1984; “The Mission,” 1986; “Fat Man and Little Boy,” 1989), James L. Brooks (“Terms of Endearment,” 1983; “Broadcast News,” 1987; “I’ll Do Anything,” 1994) and Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption,” 1994; “The Green Mile,” 1999; “The Majestic,” 2001). Also worth mentioning is Warren Beatty, whose co-directed (with Buck Henry) debut, “Heaven Can Wait” (1978), and first individual effort, “Reds” (1981), were both nominated before his “Dick Tracy” (1990) was passed over.

Although Gerwig began her solo filmmaking career well after the yearly Best Picture nominations limit of five was lifted and is now working at a time when it is set at 10, her upcoming achievement will remain hard-fought and meaningful and could easily be improved upon as the 40-year-old adds more movies to her résumé. The prospect of her not only reaching this goal but also being rewarded with personal Best Director and Best Original Screenplay notices is backed up by a decisive majority of our oddsmakers, who presently expect “Barbie” to rake in 11 Oscar nominations altogether.

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