The 96th edition of the Oscars will kick off within hours and fans are already biting their nails for their favorites to win the awards. The competition, as usual, has some worthy contenders in each category. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is leading the nominations with 13 nods from the Academy and the film is a favorite to win all the major awards.
However, the Academy is not exactly known to concur with public opinion or sometimes even good cinema. Fans expect a fair share of drama to happen at the 96th Academy Awards, but here are some possible wins that would really upset the audience.
#6 Best Supporting Actress – Danielle Brooks over Emily Blunt
Emily Blunt‘s stand-out performance as Kitty Oppenheimer faces threat from The Color Purple star Danielle Brooks at the Oscars 2024. Brooks, best known for her role in Orange is the New Black, played the defiant Sofia in the musical version of the 1982 novel. Sofia fights back against her violent husband’s abuse. Brooks earlier made her Broadway debut with the same role in 2015, earning a Tony Award nomination.
Blunt has given the performance of a lifetime as an inebriated wife, who at times stands as a strong pillar of support for Robert Oppenheimer despite their rocky relationship. However, both Brooks and Blunt are yet to win a major award for their exceptional performances. Their real competitor is The Holdovers‘ Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who has won the Golden Globe, the BAFTA, and the Critics Choice Award for Best Supporting Actress.
NOMINEES:
- Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer)
- Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)
- America Ferrera (Barbie)
- Jodie Foster (NYAD)
- Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)
#5 Best Supporting Actor – Sterling K. Brown over Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. came close to the Academy Awards twice before – once for Chaplin which he lost to Al Pacino and for Tropic Thunder which he lost to the late Heath Ledger. Downey Jr. has all the chances of winning the Best Supporting Actor this year for playing Lewis Strauss in Oppenheimer. He has grabbed all the major awards including the Golden Globe, the BAFTA, the Critics Choice Award, and the SAG Award.
However, one of his major threats comes in the form of three-time Emmy winner Sterling K. Brown. The actor played Cliff in American Fiction, a plastic surgeon who maintains a complicated relationship with his brother Monk, played by Jeffrey Wright. According to his interview with THR, Cord Jefferson’s script was one of the best he’d ever read. Another popular contender in this list is Ryan Gosling for his role as Ken in Barbie.
NOMINEES:
- Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)
- Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction)
- Ryan Gosling (Barbie)
- Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)
- Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon)
#4 Best Actress – Sandra Hüller over Lily Gladstone
Lily Gladstone recently won the SAG Award for Best Actress for her role as Molly Burkhart in Martin Scorsese‘s Killers of the Flower Moon. She is a favorite to win the Oscar this year, which would also be a landmark in the history of the Academy Awards. She is poised to become the first Native American to win the award if she were to win. However, her biggest competitor throughout this awards season has been Emma Stone, who played Bella Baxter in Poor Things.
However, one surprise contender who could easily nab the award from both these actresses is Sandra Hüller. The actress is nominated for her role as a writer who tries to prove her innocence in her husband’s death in the French legal drama, Anatomy of a Fall. One advantage for Hüller is that her two films are contenders for Best Picture and Best Director at Oscars 2024.
NOMINEES:
- Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
- Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall)
- Annette Bening (NYAD)
- Carey Mulligan (Maestro)
- Emma Stone (Poor Things)
#3 Best Actor – Bradley Cooper over Cillian Murphy
While Bradley Cooper hasn’t proved to be a major threat to Cillian Murphy this awards season, he’s still a worthy contender who can disappoint Oppenheimer fans with a win. Cooper played Leonard Bernstein in his directorial venture, Maestro, and has been running a pretty good Oscar campaign this year. The actor has already shown the audiences his commitment to the role for the past six years.
However, he was unsuccessful in winning any awards this season due to Murphy’s equally gripping performance as J. Robert Oppenheimer. Only Paul Giamatti managed to surprise Murphy’s fans at the Critics Choice Awards with a win over him. If Cooper were to win, it would be a true disappointment to the fans who trolled him during his other losses.
NOMINEES:
- Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
- Bradley Cooper (Maestro)
- Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)
- Colman Domingo (Rustin)
- Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)
#2 Best Director – Jonathan Glazer over Christopher Nolan
Fans expect Christopher Nolan to grab his first-ever Oscar this year with Oppenheimer. While the acclaimed director has produced some masterpiece films for modern audiences, the Academy’s reluctance to acknowledge Nolan’s choice of genres as award-worthy denied him the Oscars. Nolan won the Golden Globe and the BAFTA for Oppenheimer. But he still has to overcome the threat from one director at Oscars 2024.
Nolan and Jonathan Glazer are not only competing for the category of Best Director but also for Best Adapted Screenplay. Both directors have produced masterful works and deserve the recognition, but if Glazer were to win, it would be one of the biggest Oscar upsets of this year. Nolan’s snub in the Best Director category at the 90th Academy Awards still hurts many fans. They really can’t take another loss this year.
NOMINEES:
- Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
- Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest)
- Justine Triet (Anatomy of a Fall)
- Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon)
- Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things)
#1 Best Movie – The Zone of Interest over Oppenheimer
Out of the ten nominated films, Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is the fan-favorite to win the Best Picture Award this year. Other famous entries like Killers of the Flower Moon, Poor Things, and Barbie too have significant supporters among the public. While Oppenheimer talks about The Manhattan Project which resulted in the atomic bomb explosion in Japan, another nominated film also discusses its story in the background of a historical disaster.
Jonathan Glazer’s The Zone of Interest explores a Nazi commandant Rudolf Höss and his wife as they build a life in a home next to the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp. The lead characters are played by Christian Friedel and Sandra Hüller. The film has five nominations including Best Picture and Best Director and can surprise Oppenheimer fans with a win at Oscars 2024.
NOMINEES:
- Oppenheimer
- The Zone of Interest
- American Fiction
- Anatomy of a Fall
- Barbie
- The Holdovers
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Maestro
- Past Lives
- Poor Things
The 96th Academy Awards will air in the U.S. on Sunday, March 10 at 7 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT on ABC.
