The Academy Announces Its 2019 Oscar Nominations

VICE and A STAR IS BORN both scored eight Oscar nominations during the Academy’s early morning announcement on Tuesday, January 22, including best picture. Joining the nominees are Spike Lee’s BLACKKKLANSMAN, Golden Globe best comedy winner GREEN BOOK and record-breaking blockbuster BLACK PANTHER.

Even if BLACK PANTHER leaves the awards show with zero trophies, the breakout hit will have already won a great deal as the first superhero movie ever nominated for best picture. Grossing $700 million domestically, the Marvel film is the third-highest grossing U.S. film of all time and the third-highest grossing best picture nominee ever.  

The nominations for best director include a surprise number of foreign films, including Pawel Pawlikowski for his film COLD WAR. The category also includes veteran director Spike Lee for BLACKKKLANSMAN and Adam McKay (VICE).

VICE's Christian Bale, this year's Golden Globe winner for best actor in a musical or comedy, will compete against Willem Dafoe,for his portrayal of Vincent Van Gogh in AT ETERNITY’S GATE, as well as Bradley Cooper (A STAR IS BORN), Viggo Mortenson (GREEN BOOK) and more for the best actor Oscar. 

Lady Gaga received a best actress nomination for her role in A STAR IS BORN, but it’s more likely she’ll repeat her Golden Globes win for best original song. Other films in the running for the musical category include MARY POPPINS RETURNS and BLACK PANTHER.

Following up her Golden Globe win, Regina King is vying to take home the best supporting actress statue for her role in IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK – that is,  if she can beat out VICE's Amy Adams. 

Also from VICE, Sam Rockwell is nominated for best supporting actor in recognition of his portrayal of George W. Bush. But he faces a tough competition, including Sam Elliott (A STAR IS BORN), ADAM DRIVER (BLACKKKLANSMAN) and the Golden Globe-winner Mahershala ALI (GREEN BOOK).

Following its Golden Globe win, it should come as no surprise that SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE was nominated for best animated feature. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the film’s producers, responded to their Oscar nomination saying: “This is an incredible honor. We’re grateful to the Academy for recognizing the work of more than 800 artists and filmmakers who came together to tell the extraordinary story of Miles Morales in a groundbreaking way. In the last few months we’ve heard countless stories about parents whose children looked up at them while watching the film and said, ‘he looks like me,’ or ‘they speak Spanish like us,’ or ‘I want to grow up and be like her.’ It’s such a simple concept, but that is the reason so many people worked so hard — to make a movie that was worthy of Miles and makes everyone feel powerful and seen. Now more than ever, the world needs everyday superheroes and we are counting on everyone.”

Joining SPIDER-MAN in the best animation category are INCREDIBLES 2, RALPH BREAKS the INTERNET and more.

In addition to best director, COLD WAR is also nominated for best cinematography and best foreign-language film alongside the Japanese drama SHOPLIFTERS.

For the writing categories, FIRST REFORMED, GREEN BOOK and VICE are some of the films up for best original screenplay, while BLACKKKLANSMAN, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK and A STAR IS BORN compete for the adapted screenplay award.

And on the technical side of the Oscar nominations list, FIRST MAN was nominated for production design, visual effects, sound mixing and sound editing, the latter a category shared with John Krasinski's A QUIET PLACE. The visual effects category also includes films READY PLAYER ONE, SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR and CHRISTOPHER ROBIN. 

Contact your Account Executive to confirm movie availability. For a complete list of Oscar nominees, click here, and catch the 91st annual Academy Awards show on Sunday, February 24 on ABC.