‘Barbie’ Leads Golden Globe Nominations With Nine, Followed Closely By ‘Oppenheimer’

Greta Gerwig’s β€œBarbie” dominated the Golden Globe Awards nominations with nine nods for the blockbuster film, including best picture musical or comedy as well as acting nominations for Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling and three of its original songs.

It was closely followed by its release date and meme companion Christopher Nolan’s β€œOppenheimer,” which scored eight nominations, including best picture drama and for actors Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt.

The revamped group, now a for-profit endeavor with a larger and more diverse voting body, announced nominations Monday for its January awards show, after scandal and several troubled years, including one without a broadcast. Cedric the Entertainer and Wilmer Valderrama presided over the announcements from the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where the show will also take place on Jan. 7.

Films nominated for best motion picture drama included β€œOppenheimer,” Martin Scorsese’s β€œKillers of the Flower Moon,” Bradley Cooper’s β€œMaestro,” Celine Song’s β€œPast Lives,” Justine Triet’s β€œAnatomy of a Fall” and Jonathan Glazer’s β€œThe Zone of Interest.”

In the best motion picture musical or comedy category, β€œBarbie” was joined by β€œAir,” β€œAmerican Fiction” β€œThe Holdovers,” β€œMay December” and β€œPoor Things.”

Yorgos Lanthimos’ β€œPoor Things” and Scorsese’s β€œKillers of the Flower Moon” both received seven nominations each. β€œPoor Things” saw nominations for Lanthimos, its actors Emma Stone, Mark Ruffalo, Willem Dafoe, and Tony McNamara for screenplay. β€œKillers of the Flower Moon” got nods for Scorsese, for direction and co-writing the screenplay with Eric Roth, and stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro.

Stone, who was also nominated for the Showtime series β€œThe Curse,” said in a statement that she was β€œFeeling extremely bewildered and thankful for it all.” She also said her β€œPoor Things” character Bella Baxter is her favorite and that she was β€œso grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this magical film experience.”

DiCaprio also used his statement to praise Gladstone: β€œShe is the soul of our film and helped to bring this sinister and painful part of our nation’s history to life,” he wrote. The film is about the murders of wealthy Osage individuals in Oklahoma in the early 20th century.

β€œBarbie” tied for second-most nominations in Globes history with β€œCabaret,” from 1972. Robert Altman’s β€œNashville” remains the record-holder with 11 nominations. It went into the morning as a favorite top, and got a big boost from its three original song nominations, including β€œI’m Just Ken,” and one of the year’s new categories, recognizing cinematic and box office achievement. One person who was not nominated was America Ferrera, who delivered the movie’s most memorable monologue.

β€œSuccession” was the top-nominated television program, with nine nods including for series stars Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook and Kieran Culkin, followed by Hulu’s β€œThe Bear.”

As always there were some big surprises, like Jennifer Lawrence getting nominated for her bawdy R-rated comedy β€œNo Hard Feelings” for best performance by a female actor in a musical or comedy. She was nominated alongside Robbie, Stone and Fantasia Barrino (β€œThe Color Purple”), Natalie Portman (β€œMay December”) and Alma PΓΆysti (β€œFallen Leaves”).

Lawrence, in a statement said she had so much fun making the movie that β€œit almost feels wrong to accept such an honor – but I will!!!… I cannot wait for some lukewarm Chardonnay. Let’s go!!!”

β€œThe Color Purple” was expected to do better. The adaption of the stage musical got only two nominations total, both for actors, for Barrino and Danielle Brooks for her supporting performance. Left out was Colman Domingo, who was nominated for best drama actor for β€œRustin.”

Cord Jefferson’s comedy β€œAmerican Fiction” also came up with only two nods, best musical or comedy and for lead actor Jeffrey Wright.

Sofia Coppola’s widely acclaimed β€œPriscilla” got only one nomination, for actor Cailee Spaeny’s portrayal of Priscilla Presley. Her category mates in best female performance in a drama include Gladstone, Annette Bening for β€œNyad,” Sandra HΓΌller for β€œAnatomy of a Fall,” Greta Lee for β€œPast Lives” and Carey Mulligan for β€œMaestro.”

The Globes won’t have to worry about anyone criticizing its β€œall male” directors this year, however. Gerwig was nominated as was Celine Song, for her romantic debut β€œPast Lives,” alongside Nolan, Scorsese, Cooper and Lanthimos.

Netflix got the most nominations overall, with 13 total for a slate which included β€œMaestro,” β€œMay December” and β€œRustin,” followed by Warner Bros., which made β€œBarbie” and β€œThe Color Purple” with 12.

Ridley Scott’s β€œNapoleon” was not nominated at all. Instead, its star Joaquin Phoenix was recognized for β€œBeau is Afraid” in the lead actor comedy/musical category, with Wright, Matt Damon (β€œAir”), Nicolas Cage β€œDream Scenario,” TimothΓ©e Chalamet (β€œWonka”) and Paul Giamatti (β€œThe Holdovers”). Michael Mann’s β€œFerrari,” with Adam Driver, and Wes Anderson’s starry β€œAsteroid City” also got zero nominations.

The voting body has now grown to 300 members, following backlash to a 2021 report in the Los Angeles Times that found that there were zero Black members in the group that was then composed of only 87 foreign journalists.

Perhaps as a result, there were more international films and actors nominated in prominent categories including the Finnish comedy β€œFallen Leaves,” the courtroom thriller β€œAnatomy of a Fall” and the harrowing Auschwitz drama β€œThe Zone of Interest.”

The 81st Golden Globes will be the first major broadcast of awards season, with a new home on CBS, but no word on a host. And while to audiences it might look similar on the surface, it’s been tumultuous few years behind the scenes in the aftermath of the L.A. Times report, which also exposed ethical lapses like its members accepting lavish gifts and travel from awards publicists and studios.

The Globes had long been one of the highest-profile awards season broadcasts, second only to the Oscars. Before the pandemic, it was still pulling in around 19 million viewers. The show was touted as a boozy, A-list party, whose hosts often took a more irreverent tone than their academy counterparts. It also only honored the flashiest filmmaking categories β€” picture, director, actors among them β€” meaning no long speeches from visual effects supervisors or directors of shorts no one has heard of.

Some years, the HFPA were pilloried for nominating poorly reviewed films with big name talent with hopes of getting them to the show, the most infamous being β€œThe Tourist,” with Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. In the past decade, they’ve more often overlapped with the Oscars.

This year, NBC’s Tuesday night broadcast got its smallest audience ever for a traditional broadcast, with 6.3 million viewers.