2025 Oscar nominations: ‘Emilia Pérez’ leads the way with 13

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences showered little-seen films rooted in progressive politics with nominations for the 97th Academy Awards on Thursday.

“Emilia Pérez,” a musical exploration of trans identity, and “The Brutalist,” a three-and-a-half-hour examination of immigrant trauma and anti-Semitism, emerged as the films to beat by securing nominations in most of the major categories, including best picture and best instructor. “Emilia Pérez,” a Netflix entry, received 13 total nominations, the most of any film.

“The Brutalist,” a low-budget film from A24 that hits theaters nationwide on Friday, received 10 nominations. A blockbuster, “Wicked,” with its messages about the dangers of authoritarianism and resilience, also did well with voters. It garnered 10 nominations, but failed to crack the all-important directing and screenplay categories.

While the acting races have taken clearer shape over the past month, the Best Picture race remains unusually open. Unlike last year, when “Oppenheimer” cemented its front-runner status almost immediately and never looked back, several films remain in the hunt for Hollywood’s top prize this time around.

Best picture nominees included “Conclave,” a Vatican thriller that explores identity politics; “The Substance,” a feminist manifesto in the form of a body horror film; “Nickel Boys,” a historical drama set in a racist reform school in 1960s Florida; “Anora,” a Cinderella story about a sex worker who impulsively marries the hard-partying son of a Russian oligarch; “I’m Still Here,” a Brazilian drama about family life and political oppression; and the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown.”

The major studio films “Wicked” and “Dune: Part Two” filled the category. The Academy expanded the best picture field to 10 in 2022; it previously had a sliding number with as few as five spaces. The academy positioned the changes as part of an expanded focus on diversity, equality and inclusion.

Adrien Brody (“The Brutalist”), Timothée Chalamet (“A Complete Unknown”), Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”) and Ralph Fiennes (“Conclave”) were, as expected, nominated for best actor. Sebastian Stan attracted the wild-card spot for his performance as a creepy, early-career Donald Trump on “The Apprentice.”

Demi Moore (“The Substance”) has been the favorite to win best actress since she gave a poignant acceptance speech about Hollywood pigeonholes at the Golden Globes this month. Academy voters waved her through to the nominations stage, while also giving best actress nods to Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked”), Mikey Madison (“Anora”), Fernanda Torres (“I’m Still Here”) and Karla Sofía Gascón (“Emilia “) Pérez”). Gascón became the first openly trans actress to receive an Oscar nomination.

Kieran Culkin, fresh off winning a Golden Globe for his performance in the drama “A Real Pain,” received a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Rounding out the category were Yura Borisov (“Anora”), Guy Pearce (“The Brutalist”), Edward Norton (“A Complete Unknown”) and Jeremy Strong (“The Apprentice”).

As an actress, Oscar voters left nominations to favorites Zoe Saldaña (“Emilia Pérez”) and Ariana Grande (“Wicked”), who both played lead roles but decided to run as secondary contenders. Joining them were Isabella Rossellini (“Conclave”), Monica Barbaro (“A Complete Unknown”) and Felicity Jones (“The Brutalist”).

A majority of the incumbent nominees — 13 of 20 — were first-time academics, perhaps underscoring the organization’s efforts over the past decade to make its voting base less dominated by older white men. The Academy now has around 10,000 voting members, up from around 6,700 in 2017.

In the director category, the Academy nominated favorites Sean Baker (“Anora”), Brady Corbet (“The Brutalist”) and Jacques Audiard (“Emilia Pérez”). Rounding out the category were James Mangold (“A Complete Unknown”) and French filmmaker Coralie Fargeat (“The Substance”). Notable omissions included Edward Berger (“Conclave”) and Jon M. Chu (“Wicked”).

Fargeat becomes the 10th woman to be nominated in the Best Director category in the Academy’s 97-year history. Only three have won: Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”) in 2022, Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”) in 2021 and Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”) in 2009.

Original screenplay nominees included favorites “Anora,” “The Brutalist” and “A Real Pain.” The remaining two spots went to “The Substance” and “September 5th.”

Adapted Screenplay Nods went to “Conclave,” “Emilia Pérez,” “A Complete Unknown,” “Nickel Boys” and “Sing Sing.”

Netflix is ​​having a banner week, after announcing Tuesday that it crossed 300 million subscribers and walking away Thursday morning with 16 nominations, the most of any distributor. 13 nods for “Emilia Pérez” alone make the venerable musical the streaming service’s most nominated film in its history. (Emilia Pérez, a musical presented in Spanish, also became the most nominated non-English language film in Oscar history. The previous record holders were “Roma” and “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” with 10 each).

“Emilia Pérez” was an acquisition for Netflix from last year’s Cannes Film Festival and has been on an awards tear ever since. Previously, Netflix’s most nominated film was 2018’s “Roma,” which garnered 10 nominations. The company’s most winning film is the 2022 drama “All Quiet on the Western Front,” which won four Oscars, including best international feature and best cinematography.

The streaming giant has collected 23 trophies since 2016, when it landed its first with the documentary “The White Helmets.” It has also won two best director: Campion for “The Power of the Dog” and Alfonso Cuarón for “Roma.” It has yet to land the much-coveted Best Picture award.

The nominations were announced at the Academy’s headquarters in Beverly Hills, California, in an early morning ceremony hosted by Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott. The ceremony will be held on March 2.

In their quest to find a host who will create buzz but not blow up in their faces, Oscar organizers swapped out a current comedian (Jimmy Kimmel) for a former one: Conan O’Brien. Having never hosted the Academy Awards before, O’Brien will likely bring a freshness to the show that could come across as old-fashioned at best and out of touch at worst. At the same time, he’s a safe bet — a seasoned pro whose comedic style has been honed over decades and has successfully hosted other awards shows, including the Emmys.

The recent wildfires in Los Angeles County, which have destroyed at least 10,000 homes, had caused the Academy to delay the announcement of the nominations. Amid the devastation, questions about the ceremony have circulated in Hollywood. Should it be turned into a fundraising telethon? Or scrapped altogether?

Academy officials rejected both of those notions, saying in a letter to members Wednesday that “honoring the unifying spirit and creative synergy of filmmaking” remained their primary focus for the ceremony. Still, the show will “recognize those who fought so bravely against the wildfires.” Perhaps to add a sense of solemnity, the show will also “move away from live performances” of nominated songs.

A toned-down Oscars ceremony would mark a turnaround from recent years, when the academy tried to turn up the razzle-dazzle as part of a frantic effort to attract more viewers. ABC’s broadcast of the latest ceremony drew about 20 million viewers, the highest in four years. However, the double figure was set as recently as 2014.

To make the Academy Awards more relevant to young people, the Academy agreed in December to stream the ceremony online (on Hulu) for the first time. ABC, which like Hulu is owned by Disney, remains the Academy’s broadcast partner.