Oscar Shortlists In 10 Categories Announced: ‘Barbie’, ‘Oppenheimer’, ‘Maestro’ & More

Today is not just significant for the solstice and the passing of fall into winter, it also is the first bell ringing in the race for Oscar as the Academy has just announced semi-finalists in 10 categories.

Fifteen movies each are moving forward in the contests for International Feature Film, Documentary Feature, Original Song and Music Score, plus the documentary, animated and live action short-film categories. Ten movies each advanced today in the categories of Sound, Visual Effects and Makeup & Hairstyling.

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Not surprisingly, 2023’s box office champ Barbie leads the way with five shortlist mentions including Original Score, Sound and three for Original Song, but curiously did not make the cut for Hair & Makeup. Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon ( including two for the late musical icon Robbie Robertson in Score and Song), and J.A. Bayona’s Spanish Oscar entry Society of the Snow are next with four each. Several pics including Oppenheimer, The Color Purple, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Poor Things, Napoleon are American Symphony are tied with three each.

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The shortlists are eagerly awaited as an early indicator of which films might be exhibiting strong support in certain pockets of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and which are overlooked. There always are surprises. Since the recent leak of 20 semi-finalists in Visual Effects, for example, presumed front-runner Oppenheimer didn’t even make that cut, so you will not be seeing Christopher Nolan’s landmark achievement mentioned on at least one list released today. On the other hand, these lists — though not including marquee categories like Picture, Acting, Directing, Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Production and Costume Design or Animated Feature — still can be a signal for an unexpected contender.

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Last year, eventual International Film winner and Best Picture nominee All Quiet on the Western Front scored a leading five mentions on the shortlists, including Sound, Visual Effects, Makeup & Hair, and Original Music Score in addition to International Film. It went on to be nominated in all five and won two of those Oscars in addition to another two categories that aren’t not shortlisted.

In perhaps a sign that another Netflix International Film entry, Spain’s Society Of The Snow, could be on the same trajectory, the J.A. Bayona movie made four lists overall, missing only Sound in terms of what All Quiet did on its way to huge success across the board at the Oscar nominations. Are the shortlists signaling a potential surprise again for Netflix, which also did well with two mentions for its Maestro, and the Jon Batiste docu, American Symphony with three mentions.

In terms of sheer numbers, although Barbie led all comers with five mentions, three of them are for Song and AMPAS rules state only two songs from any one movie can be nominated in the finals, so essentially Barbie, Killers Of The Flower Moon, Society Of The Snow are the only films that have a shot of being actually nominated in four different categories listed today. Another International Film certainty with three mentions (incl Sound and Score) The Zone Of Interest is showing particular strength for A24 as a shortlist indicator of future glory.

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Among snubs in the Song category were Golden Globe nominee Bruce Springsteen’s “Addicted To Romance” from the little-seen She Came To Me, and Jack Black’s Golden Globe and Critics Choice nominated “Peaches” from The Super Mario Bros Movie. Also Disney, usually a staple in the Song category was shut out for their Critics Choice nominated “The Wish”, and in fact the only song to make a cut from any Disney-owned entity was “The Fire Inside” from Searchlight’s Flamin’ Hot. Of course that tune is from Diane Warren, a 14 time nominee and Honorary Oscar winner, who is a regular annually on these lists. Another musical note John Williams has a shot at his 54th Oscar nomination for his score to Indiana Jones & The Dial Of Destiny. Don’t bet against Warren and Williams when nominations are announced on January 23rd. The music branch loves them.

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Nominations for the 96th Academy Awards will be announced on Tuesday, January 23, and ABC will air the ceremony live from the Dolby Theater on March 10.

Here are the 2024 Oscar shortlists:

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE FILM
American Symphony
Apolonia, Apolonia
Beyond Utopia
Bobi Wine: The People’s President
Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy
The Eternal Memory
Four Daughters
Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project
In the Rearview
Stamped from the Beginning
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
A Still Small Voice
32 Sounds
To Kill a Tiger
20 Days in Mariupol

DOCUMENTARY SHORT FILM
The ABCs of Book Banning
The Barber of Little Rock
Bear
Between Earth & Sky
Black Girls Play: The Story of Hand Games
Camp Courage
Deciding Vote
How We Get Free
If Dreams Were Lightning: Rural Healthcare Crisis
Island in Between
The Last Repair Shop
Last Song from Kabul
Nǎi Nai & Wài Pó
Oasis
Wings of Dust

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Armenia, Amerikatsi
Bhutan, The Monk and the Gun
Denmark, The Promised Land
Finland, Fallen Leaves
France, The Taste of Things
Germany, The Teachers’ Lounge
Iceland, Godland
Italy, Io Capitano
Japan, Perfect Days
Mexico, Totem
Morocco, The Mother of All Lies
Spain, Society of the Snow
Tunisia, Four Daughters
Ukraine, 20 Days in Mariupol
United Kingdom, The Zone of Interest

MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING 
Beau Is Afraid
Ferrari
Golda
Killers of the Flower Moon
The Last Voyage of the Demeter
Maestro
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Society of the Snow

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
American Fiction
American Symphony
Barbie
The Boy and the Heron
The Color Purple
Elemental
The Holdovers
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Killers of the Flower Moon
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Saltburn
Society of the Snow
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The Zone of Interest

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
It Never Went Away from American Symphony
Dear Alien (Who Art In Heaven) from Asteroid City
Dance The Night from Barbie
I’m Just Ken from Barbie
What Was I Made For? from Barbie
Keep It Movin’ from The Color Purple
Superpower (I) from The Color Purple
The Fire Inside from Flamin’ Hot
High Life from Flora and Son
Meet In The Middle from Flora and Son
Can’t Catch Me Now from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Wahzhazhe (A Song For My People) from Killers of the Flower Moon
Quiet Eyes from Past Lives
Road To Freedom from Rustin
Am I Dreaming from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Boom
Eeva
Humo (Smoke)
I’m Hip
A Kind of Testament
Koerkorter (Dog Apartment)
Letter to a Pig
Ninety-Five Senses
Once upon a Studio
Our Uniform
Pachyderme
Pete
27
War Is Over! Inspired by the Music of John & Yoko
Wild Summon

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
The After
The Anne Frank Gift Shop
An Avocado Pit
Bienvenidos a Los Angeles
Dead Cat
Good Boy
Invincible
Invisible Border
Knight of Fortune
The One Note Man
Red, White and Blue
The Shepherd
Strange Way of Life
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Yellow

SOUND
Barbie
The Creator
Ferrari
The Killer
Killers of the Flower Moon
Maestro
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon
Oppenheimer
The Zone of Interest

VISUAL EFFECTS
The Creator
Godzilla Minus One
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One
Napoleon
Poor Things
Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire
Society of the Snow
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Erik Pedersen contributed to this report.

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