Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer' is leading the way on 13 nods, but that's not the only fascinating number
Nominations for the 96th Academy Awards were unveiled on Tuesday, with Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" leading the way on 13 nods.
Here are six key takeaways from the Oscars announcement:
That strength makes the seemingly unstoppable awards success of Nolan's "Oppenheimer" all the more impressive.
The film earned rave reviews on its release last summer, and ranked third at the global box office with $950 million—behind only "Barbie" and "The Super Mario Bros. Movie."
The three-hour historical drama has since swept every major best picture award going, including at the Golden Globes (best drama) and the Critics Choice Awards.
And its haul of 13 Oscar nominations is only one shy of the all-time record for a film, held jointly by "All About Eve," "Titanic" and "La La Land."
Can anything now stop the "Oppenheimer" juggernaut on March 10?
But it was America Ferrera, not Margot Robbie, whose name was read out on Tuesday morning.
Ferrera, a Latina actress of Honduran ancestry, was previously best known for television comedy "Ugly Betty."
But her emotional turn as a regular mom in "Barbie," which included a powerful monologue on the impossible double standards of being a woman, clearly caught Academy voters' attention.
But there was solace for Gerwig as the movie landed a best picture nomination, making her one of three female directors with a film in the key category for the first time in Oscars history.
And Gerwig's presumed slot was taken by another woman—France's Justine Triet, who becomes only the eighth female ever to be nominated for best director by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Also read: AI spells danger for Hollywood stunt workers
Scorsese, 81, became the oldest person ever nominated for best director.
The nod for his critically adored epic drama nominee "Killers of the Flower Moon" is his 10th in the category.
That puts him just two behind record-holder William Wyler—and Scorsese is already working on his next project.
Meanwhile, composer Williams racked up an astonishing 54th nomination, for his score to "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny."
He has the most nominations for any living person, and is only second overall to Walt Disney.
"He is also, to the best of our knowledge, the oldest nominee in a competitive award category at 91 years of age," said the Academy.
Could Leonardo DiCaprio, arguably the world's biggest movie star, already an Oscar winner for "The Revenant," really miss out on a best actor nod?
After all, he is on screen for nearly two hours in "Killers"—around an hour longer than his nominated co-stars Lily Gladstone and Robert De Niro.
But in a crowded category, the spot that had been expected to fall to DiCaprio went instead to veteran actor Colman Domingo, for "Rustin."
Domingo, 54, has had a long career on stage and screen, with supporting roles in movies like "Lincoln," "Selma," "If Beale Street Could Talk" and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."
His portrayal of gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin now places him front and center.
The field included several big-hitting and starry productions that were presumed by many pundits to be shoo-ins.
These included Apple's "Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie," charting the actor's battle with Parkinson's disease, and Netflix's "American Symphony," which portrays the creative process of Grammy-winning musician Jon Batiste as he supports his wife through cancer.
Neither were picked, although the latter earned a best original song nod.
Instead, the spots went to films on subjects from Ugandan politics ("Bobi Wine: The People's President") and the war in Ukraine ("20 Days in Mariupol") to Alzheimer's disease ("The Eternal Memory") and women's rights ("Four Daughters" and "To Kill a Tiger").