After being postponed due to the horrific wildfires in Los Angeles, this year’s Oscar nominees will be revealed on Thursday. The transgender cartel musical “Emilia Perez” is anticipated to lead a very competitive field.
Due to many fires that have destroyed the US entertainment capital and the Academy Awards’ host city, killing over two dozen people and forcing tens of thousands to evacuate, voting deadlines had to be extended this month.
Given that a community that usually obsesses over the Oscars race has more important things to deal with, the nominees will be announced virtually and under muted conditions.
The stars and studios who have spent months and millions of dollars campaigning will find out if they made the coveted final shortlists on March 2, the day of the glamorous Oscars ceremony.
French filmmaker Jacques Audiard’s musical “Emilia Perez,” which is set in Mexico and follows a narco leader who transforms into a woman and abandons violence, is expected to win best picture and receive numerous song, score, and sound nominations.
According to Pete Hammond, an awards columnist for the film trade publication Deadline, “It’s going to rack up a big number,” AFP said.
Zoe Saldana and Karla Sofia Gascon, the film’s star and the first openly transgender acting nominee, seem to be nominated as well.
Selena Gomez, their more well-known co-star, may not make it because of criticism she has received for her Spanish-language lines.
Even so, the Netflix film could become the most nominated non-English-language movie ever — a record held by “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and “Roma,” each with 10.
“It’s so strong in all of the categories that it could get nominated in,” Hammond stated.
Competition atop the nomination list will likely come from Vatican thriller “Conclave,” epic immigrant saga “The Brutalist” and show-stopping musical adaptation “Wicked.”
Sci-fi sequel “Dune: Part Two,” indie darling “Anora” and Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown” are also expected to do well.
