Eight was the lucky number for Australian hopes at this year’s Academy Awards nominations, representing not only the tally of nods for Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis but also the amount of times Cate Blanchett has now been up for acting awards.
The story of the iconic crooner, which Luhrmann produced alongside Catherine Martin, Gail Berman, Patrick McCormick, and Schuyler Weiss, is among ten films vying for Best Picture, alongside All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, The Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Fabelmans, Top Gun: Maverick, Triangle of Sadness, and Women Talking.
As with the BAFTA nominations last Friday, Luhrmann was again left out of the Directing category.
Martin will be hoping to add to the four Oscars she has already won with nominations in Costume Design and Production Design alongside set decorator Beverley Dunn and first-time nominee Karen Murphy.
Also getting their first nod from the Queensland-shot biopic are Austin Butler for Actor in a Leading Role; Matt Villa and Jonathan Redmond for Best Film Editing; Jason Baird, who is nominated with Mark Coulier and Aldo Signoretti for Best Makeup and Hair Styling; and Wayne Pashley and Michael Keller, who share their Best Sound nomination with previous winners David Lee and Andy Nelson.
Elvis cinematographer Mandy Walker, who made history as the first female to win an AACTA Award in the field last year, has the chance to repeat the feat at the Oscars in what is her first nomination.
Walker, who is only the third woman to be nominated in the category and the second Australian female after Ari Wegner last year, paid tribute to her collaborators on the film for helping to make it “the spectacle that it is”.
“Having the opportunity to make a film with such a visionary as Baz Luhrmann is an honor in itself, and to be recognized for my work by the Academy and my peers with this nomination is absolutely amazing,” she said.
“Taking the audience on the epic journey of Elvis’ life was a fantastic feat that wouldn’t have been possible without our amazing creative team, incredible cast, and the support from beginning to end by Warner Bros and our fabulous producers.”
Blanchett, a two-time winner, secured her eighth Academy Award nomination for her performance in Todd Field’s Tár, having already triumphed at the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards for the role. She will compete for Best Leading Actress alongside Ana de Armas (Blonde), Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie). Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans), and Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once).
Rounding out the Australian nominees is Lachlan Pendragon’s stop-motion short An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It, which gets a nod in the Short Film (Animated) category.
There was no such luck for fellow Aussies Hugh Jackman and Margot Robbie, who missed out for The Son and Babylon, respectively.
Leading the nominations this year is Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s Everything Everywhere All at Once with 11 nods, while Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin and Malte Grunert’s All Quiet on the Western Front both have nine.
The 95th Academy Awards will be held Sunday, March 12 (March 13 AEDT) at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Find the full list of nominees here.