By Lisa Richwine
BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) -Historical epic “Oppenheimer,” about the race to build the first atomic bomb, landed a leading 13 Oscar nominations on Tuesday and will compete for the prestigious best picture trophy.
“Oppenheimer” outpaced gothic comedy “Poor Things,” which received 11 nominations for the film industry’s highest honors.
Also in the best picture race were feminist doll adventure “Barbie,” Leonard Bernstein biopic “Maestro,” and Martin Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” about the murders of members of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma in the 1920s.
Rounding out the field of 10 were “American Fiction,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “The Holdovers,” “Past Lives” and “The Zone of Interest.”
“Barbie,” last year’s highest-grossing movie, landed eight nominations, including a supporting actress nod for America Ferrera, but voters passed over lead actress Margot Robbie and director Greta Gerwig.
Bradley Cooper also was left off the best director list for “Maestro,” though he was nominated for best actor for starring in the film as composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein.
His competitors include Cillian Murphy, who played scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer. In a surprise, voters snubbed Leonardo DiCaprio, star of “Killers of the Flower Moon.”
Winners will be chosen by the roughly 11,000 actors, producers, directors and film craftspeople who make up the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
The golden statuettes will be handed out at a Hollywood ceremony broadcast live on Walt Disney’s ABC on March 10. Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel will return as host.
(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
