Photo: FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP / Getty Images
BEVERLY HILLS (CNS) - Nominations for the 97th Academy Awards will be announced Thursday morning, with "Emilia Pérez," "The Brutalist," "Conclave" and "Wicked" generating buzz as among the likely top contenders for best picture of 2024.
Actor/writer/comedians Rachel Sennott and Bowen Yang are set to announce the nods in 23 categories for Hollywood's biggest night during a livestream event from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science's Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Beverly Hills. The announcements are scheduled to begin at 5:30 a.m.
The nominations ceremony, originally set for Jan. 17, was first postponed to Jan. 19 due to the Los Angeles-area wildfires, and later rescheduled again to Thursday. In addition, the nomination voting period was extended to Jan. 17.
The gender-bending crime musical "Emilia Pérez" and "The Brutalist," a 3 1/2-hour, post-World War II epic, are both coming off big nights at the recent Golden Globe Awards -- with "Emilia Pérez" capturing four Globes, including best motion picture/musical or comedy and "The Brutalist" snagging three trophies, including best motion picture/drama.
Those flicks figure to be high on the leaderboard after Thursday's Oscar announcements, adding in the likely acting nominations for "Emilia Pérez" star Karla Sofía Gascón and "The Brutalist" star Adrien Brody, who took home a Golden Globe for best actor in a drama. Zoe Saldaña also captured a Globe as best supporting actress in "Emilia Pérez."
"Emilia Pérez" -- a Spanish-language, French-produced musical -- could emerge as the most-nominated non-English film in Oscar history, topping 2000's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" and 2018's "Roma," which each got 10 nods.
"Pérez" tells the story of a drug cartel leader played by Gascón who hires a lawyer (Saldaña) to help Gascón's character fake her death so she can transition to being a woman and live as her genuine self. At the Globes, Gascón was the first openly transgender woman nominated for a performance by a female actor -- a milestone she would repeat at the Oscars if she gets the expected nod.
The Papal thriller "Conclave" is another likely best picture nominee following its six Golden Globe nods, and being one of 10 nominees for the Producers Guild of America Award, an honor that traditionally foretells success on Oscar night.
"Wicked," an adaptation of the Broadway musical, was another Producers Guild nominee -- as was "Emilia Pérez," "The Brutalist," "Anora," "A Complete Unknown," "Dune: Part Two," "A Real Pain," "September 5" and "The Substance."
In the acting categories, front-runners for best-actor Oscars are expected to be Brody for "The Brutalist"; Timothée Chalamet for "A Complete Unknown"; Daniel Craig for "Queer"; Colman Domingo for "Sing Sing" and Ralph Fiennes for "Conclave."
They all captured best actor nominations at the Screen Actors Guild Awards, which are a historic barometer for Oscar success.
Others Oscar best-actor possibilities include Golden Globe nominees Sebastian Stan (for both "The Apprentice" and "A Different Man"), Jesse Eisenberg ("A Real Pain"), Hugh Grant ("Heretic"), Gabriel Labelle ("Saturday Night"), Jesse Plemons ("Kinds of Kindness") and Glen Powell ("Hit Man").
Besides Gascón's expected nomination for the best actress Oscar, look for SAG nominees Pamela Anderson ("The Last Showgirl"), Cynthia Erivo ("Wicked"), Mikey Madison ("Anora") and Demi Moore ("The Substance") to contend for Oscar nods. Moore captured the Golden Globe for best actress in a musical or comedy, besting Gascón.
Meanwhile, Golden Globe winner Fernanda Torres ("I'm Still Here") is another likely Oscar nominee for a best-actress nod in what figures to be a battle of A-Listers with Globe nominees Angelina Jolie ("Maria"), Nicole Kidman ("Babygirl"), Tilda Swinton ("The Room Next Door") and Kate Winslet ("Lee"). Amy Adams ("Nightbitch") and Zendaya ("Challengers"), also Globe nominees, are also in the running.
A total of 323 feature films are eligible for consideration, including 207 that met the criteria for consideration for best picture. More than 9,900 Academy voters are eligible to cast ballots for nominations across the 23 categories. Final voting for the Oscars will take place from Feb. 11-18.
The 97th Oscars are set for March 2 at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood and will be televised live at 4 p.m. on ABC and streamed live on Hulu. Conan O'Brien is set to host the show, making his debut in the role.