‘Sinners’ makes history, setting Oscars nomination record

Ryan Coogler’s blues-steeped vampire epic “Sinners” led all films with 16 nominations to the 98th Academy Awards on Thursday, setting a record for the most in Oscar history.

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences voters showered “Sinners” with more nominations than they had ever bestowed before, breaking the 14-nomination mark set by “All About Eve,” “Titanic” and “La La Land.” Along with best picture, Coogler was nominated for best director and best screenplay, and double-duty star Michael B. Jordan was rewarded with his first Oscar nomination, for best actor.

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Paul Thomas Anderson’s father-daughter revolutionary saga “One Battle After Another,” the favourite coming into nominations, trailed in second with 13 of its own. Four of its actors -- Leonardo DiCaprio, Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro and Sean Penn -- were nominated, though newcomer Chase Infiniti was left out in best actress.

In those two top nominees, the film academy put its full force behind a pair of visceral and bracingly original American epics that each connected with a fraught national moment. Coogler’s Jim Crow-era film -- the rare horror movie to win the academy’s favour -- conjures a mythical allegory of Black life. In “One Battle After Another,” a dormant spirit of rebellion is revived in an out-of-control police state.

Both are also Warner Bros. titles. In the midst of a contentious sale to Netflix, the 102-year-old studio had its best Oscar nominations mornings ever, with 33 total nods. In a memo to Warner Bros. Discovery employees, David Zaslav, chief executive, called it “a golden moment for our company.” As the fate of Warner Bros., which Netflix is buying for US$72 billion, hangs in the balance amid a challenge from Paramount Skydance, Hollywood is bracing for potentially the largest realignment in the film industry’s history.

A coronation for Coogler

For Coogler, the 39-year-old filmmaker of “Fruitvale Station” and “Black Panther,” it was a crowning moment. One of Hollywood’s most esteemed yet humble filmmakers, Coogler has called “Sinners” -- a film that he will own outright 25 years after its release -- his most personal movie.

“I wrote this script for my uncle who passed away 11 years ago,” Coogler said in an interview Thursday morning. “I got to imagine that he’s listening to some blues music right now to celebrate.”

Reached by phone an hour after the nominations were read, Coogler -- speaking alongside his wife and producer Zinzi Coogler and producer Sev Ohanian -- was still trying to process the movie’s record-breaking haul.

“I love making movies. I’m honored to wake up every day and do it. I was writing last night. That’s why I didn’t get too much sleep,” said Coogler, chuckling. “Honestly, bro, I still feel a little bit asleep right now.”

The other top nominees

The 10 films nominated for best picture are “Bugonia,” “F1,” “Frankenstein,” “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme,” “One Battle After Another,” “The Secret Agent,” “Sentimental Value,” “Sinners” and “Train Dreams.”

Guillermo del Toro’s lush Mary Shelley adaptation “Frankenstein,” Josh Safdie’s period ping-pong odyssey “Marty Supreme” and Joachim Trier’s family drama “Sentimental Value” all scored nine nominations. Chloe Zhao’s speculative Shakespeare drama “Hamnet” collected eight nods. With the notable exception of del Toro, those filmmakers filled up a best director category of Anderson, Coogler, Safdie, Trier and Zhao, who in 2021 became the first woman of colour to ever win the award.

The nine nods for “Marty Supreme” included a third best actor nod for 30-year-old Timothee Chalamet, the favourite in the category he narrowly missed winning last year for “A Complete Unknown.” With Jordan and Chalamet, the nominees are Ethan Hawke for “Blue Moon,” Wagner Moura for “The Secret Agent” and DiCaprio for “One Battle After Another.”

Reached by phone Thursday, DiCaprio said the nominations for “One Battle After Another” and “Sinners” signaled a sea change in an industry where studios have largely shied away from big-budget original stories.

“To me what matters is great ideas and original filmmaking,” said DiCaprio. “I think there’s this tide of change that is going to happen no matter how we feel about it.”

Nominated for best actress was the category favourite, Jessie Buckley (“Hamnet”), along with Rose Byrne (“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”), Kate Hudson (“Song Sung Blue”), Renate Reinsve (“Sentimental Value”) and two-time winner Emma Stone, who landed her sixth nomination, for “Bugonia.”

‘KPop’ leads a field light on big hits

The year’s most-watched movie, with more than half a billion views on Netflix, “KPop Demon Hunters,” scored nominations for both best song (“Golden”) and best animated feature. Sony Pictures developed and produced the film, but, after selling it to Netflix, watched it become a worldwide sensation.

Blockbusters otherwise had a difficult morning. Universal Pictures’ “Wicked: For Good” was shut out entirely. While “Avatar: Fire and Ash” notched nominations for costume design and visual effects, it became the first “Avatar” film not nominated for best picture. The biggest box-office hit nominated for Hollywood’s top award instead was “F1,” an Apple production that landed four nominations. The streamer partnered with Warner Bros. to distribute the racing drama.

This year, the Oscars are introducing a new category for casting. That new honor helped “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another” pad their already impressive stats. Along with those two films, the nominees are “Hamnet,” “Marty Supreme” and “The Secret Agent.”

An international shift continues

The academy, which has expanded its overseas membership in recent years, also continued its tilt toward international films. Every category included one international nominee. For the eighth year in the row, a non-English-language film was nominated for best picture. More non-English performances were nominated than ever before.

The top nominee of them all was Trier’s Norwegian drama “Sentimental Value.” It cleaned up in the supporting actor categories, with nods for Stellan Skarsgård, Inga Ibsdotter LilIeaas and Elle Fanning. Also nominated for best supporting actress, in addition to Taylor: Amy Madigan for “Weapons” and Wunmi Mosaku for “Sinners.” In supporting actor, the nominees included Jacob Elordi for “Frankenstein” and, in a surprise that likely dislodged Paul Mescal of “Hamnet,” Delroy Lindo for “Sinners.”

A competitive best international feature category mirrored the turbulent state of the world. That included the Iranian revenge drama and Palme d’Or winner “It Was Just an Accident,” by the often-imprisoned filmmaker Jafar Panahi. He’s spoken passionately against the ongoing crackdown of demonstrators in his home country. France nominated the film.

Also nominated: the Tunisian entry “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” about volunteers at the Palestine Red Crescent Society; the timely Brazilian political thriller “The Secret Agent”; the apocalyptic Spanish road movie “Sirat” and “Sentimental Value.” Four of those nominees came from one independent distributor: Neon. The company, which has had an enviable streak of Palme d’Or wins, was second only to Warner Bros. with a collective 16 nominations.

The 98th Academy Awards will take place on March 15 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and will be televised live on ABC and Hulu. YouTube’s new deal to exclusively air won’t take effect until 2029. This year, Conan O’Brien will return as host.

By Jake Coyle, The Associated Press

AP Film Writer Lindsey Bahr in Park City, Utah, contributed to this report.