Screenwriter Tony McNamara is Australia’s lone individual nominee for this year’s Oscars, with Margot Robbie missing out in the lead actress category and instead recognised as a producer on Barbie, which is up for Best Motion Picture.
The Poor Things scribe will contend the Best Adapted Screenplay award alongside American Fiction’s Cord Jefferson, Oppenheimer writer/director Christopher Nolan, The Zone of Interest‘s Jonathan Glazer, and Barbie‘s Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach. It’s the second time he has received recognition from The Academy, having previously been up for Best Original Screenplay in 2019 for The Favourite, in which he also collaborated with director Yorgos Lanthimos and actress Emma Stone.
“I learnt from Bella Baxter that life is a crazy, unexpected but mostly joyous adventure, it certainly feels that way today,” McNamara said.
“Especially the joyous part. I’m humbled to be honoured by the Academy and with this amazing group of writers. The entire team on Poor Things are masters of their crafts and it is a humbling honour to be recognized alongside them this morning.”
Poor Things, adapted from Alasdair Gray’s Victorian-set satire, is the second-most nominated film with 11 nods, including Achievement in Directing, Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role and Best Motion Picture.
However, there was no matching the force that is Oppenheimer, with Christopher Nolan’s historical drama joining the likes of Forrest Gump and Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring in garnering 13 nominations. Having swept the major categories at this month’s Golden Globes, the film is the hot favourite to take out Best Motion Picture, Achievement in Directing, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for Cillian Murphy, and Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Robert Downey Jr.
There was less love for Gerwig’s Barbie, despite it being 2023’s highest-grossing film globally at $US1.4 billion, and the highest-grossing film ever directed by a woman. While it still managed eight nominations, the exclusion of Robbie in the lead actress category and Gerwig in the directing field are both notable, given their nominations at Golden Globes and Critic’s Choice Awards. Robbie is also nominated for Leading Actress at the BAFTA Awards.
Joining Barbie, Poor Things, and Oppenheimer in the field for Best Motion Picture this year are American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Past Lives, and The Zone of Interest. Robbie is included as one of four producers of Barbie alongside David Heyman, Tom Ackerley, and Robbie Brenner.
There are also two Australian producers among the nominees for Best Live-Action Short Film, with Sara McFarlane getting a nod alongside writer/director Nazrin Choudhury for Red, White and Blue, and Nicky Bentham recognised alongside Misan Harriman forThe After.
The 96th Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, March 10 US time at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles, with Jimmy Kimmel hosting the ceremony. It will be broadcast on Channel 7 and 7plus on Monday, March 11.
Find the full list of nominations here.