Guillermo del Toro’s science-fiction-fantasy-romance The Shape of Water has secured a field-beating thirteen Oscar nominations, one short of the record, turning on its head a race which previously had the darkly comic thriller Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri as a clear front-runner.
Martin McDonagh’s Golden Globe Best Drama winner came in third place, with seven nominations to eight for Christopher Nolan’s Second World War IMAX epic Dunkirk, a rare success for a film released as early in the year as July.
But another film, released in a period which is usually an awards black-hole – between the start of the year and the Oscar ceremony itself – Get Out, secured four nominations; Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Jordan Peele and Best Actor for the previously little-known British star, Daniel Kaluuya.
Kaluuya will be up against another two British actors, including Gary Oldman, who’s already been dominating the category, at a range of ceremonies, for his portrayal of Winston Churchill another Second World War drama, Darkest Hour. The other nominees are three-time winner Daniel Day-Lewis for Phantom Thread, Call Me By You Name’s Timothée Chalamet and another Academy favourite, Denzel Washington, for Roman J Israel, Esq.
There was surprise in some quarters when Golden Globe winner in the comedy category, James Franco, failed to pick up a Best Actor nomination for his depiction of one of cinema’s proudest failures, Tommy Wiseau, in The Disaster Artist. There’s been much speculation that this was a result of the allegations of misconduct that followed his Globes win.
In an even stronger sign that the Time’s Up campaign is ringing in the ears of everyone in Hollywood, few will argue with what must be the shortest time between being cast in a role and earning an Oscar nomination for Christopher Plummer, recast as John Paul Getty in Sir Ridley Scott’s All The Money In The World in November, after the disgraced Kevin Spacey had already shot the scenes. But he’s facing a tough battle in the Best Supporting Actor race with Three Billboard’s Sam Rockwell sweeping the category in most awards ceremonies to date. Arguably, the only person who could stop him winning the big one would be his own co-star Woody Harrelson, who’s also in the running, potentially splitting the vote of Academy members who enjoyed the film. In one of the more interesting categories, the other nominees include Richard Jenkins for The Shape of Water and Willem Dafoe’s highly acclaimed role, giving The Florida Project its only nomination. Jenkins’ co-star Michael Shannon failed to secure a nomination.
The Best Actress category will be a run-off between The Shape of Water’s British star Sally Hawkins and, until now the runaway favourite, Three Billboard’s Frances McDormand. The other contenders are Margot Robbie, as the eponymous heroine of I, Tonya, Lady Bird‘s Saoirse Ronan and the almost obligatory nod for twenty-one-time nominee and three-time winner Meryl Streep, for her competent but not spectacular turn in Steven Spielberg’s The Post, whose only other nomination is for the top prize of the night, Best Picture.
Spielberg himself wasn’t nominated, as he was at the Golden Globes. In fact, only two of the Globe directing nominees repeated their recognition courtesy of the Academy. The biggest snub – perhaps the biggest surprise of the Oscars – was the failure of the Academy to nominate the director of Three Billboards, Martin McDonagh, reducing his film’s chance of picking up the top prize on the night, having made it through the Awards Season until now as the clear favourite; only Argo has previously won Best Picture without its director, Ben Affleck, being nominated. The nominations, instead, went to Globe winner Guillermo del Toro, Globe nominee Christopher Nolan, Get Out’s Jordan Peele, Lady Bird’s Greta Gerwig and – perhaps the most likely beneficiary of McDonagh’s omission, Phantom Thread’s Paul Thomas Anderson.
His film is, perhaps, more worthy of recognition for its acting and in the technical categories. As well as Day-Lewis’s nomination, his British co-star Lesley Manville has secured a nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category, alongside The Shape of Water’s Octavia Spencer, Lady Bird’s Laurie Metcalf, Golden Globe winner Allison Janney, for I, Tonya, and Mudbound‘s Mary J Blige – the only acting nominee ever to be recognised, in the same year, in the Best Original Song category.
Another first for Mudbound came in the cinematography category, where Rachel Morrison has become the first woman to be nominated for that craft. To become the first female winner, she’ll have to be picked over The Shape of Water’s Dan Laustsen, Hoyte van Hoytema, who wowed audiences with his majestic IMAX footage for Dunkirk, Darkest Hour’s Bruno Delbonnel and Roger Deakins, who receives his 14th Oscar nomination for Blade Runner 2049, having never converted one into a win.
In other categories, Pixar are again nominated in the Feature Length Animation category; Coco is up against Ferdinand, The Boss Baby, Loving Vincent and The Breadwinner. And in the Foreign Language race, Sweden’s Cannes Palme d’Or winner The Square and the Russian London Film Festival winner Loveless will be up against Chile’s A Fantastic Woman, Lebanon’s The Insult and Hungary’s On Body and Soul, but there’s no nomination for the Golden Globe winner, In The Fade, from Germany.
From a British perspective, this year’s Oscar nominations give the UK industry something to boast about, with Dunkirk, Darkest Hour and Three Billboards all being British projects, while three of the Best Actor nominees are British, a Best Actress and a Best Supporting Actress are from the UK and many of the craft nominees are British, including Deakins. Even the Live Action Short Film category has British representation, with Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton’s The Silent Child.
But with acting nominations for Kaluuya, Washington, Blige and Spencer and a directing nod for Peele, the first woman to be nominated for the cinematography award and actress Greta Gerwig becoming only the 5th woman ever nominated for Best Director with her first solo effort, the 2018 nominations will perhaps be remembered best for the Academy’s response – conscious or otherwise – to the two recent scandals that have hit Hollywood – the treatment of women in the industry and the earlier Oscar So White campaign, when there were no non-white actors nominated for two successive years – making this one of the most diverse sets of nominations for years.
The winners, to be revealed at a ceremony in Hollywood on 4th March, will be selected from the following full list of nominees:
Best motion picture of the year
- “Call Me by Your Name” Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges and Marco Morabito, Producers
- “Darkest Hour” Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten and Douglas Urbanski, Producers
- “Dunkirk” Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
- “Get Out” Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr. and Jordan Peele, Producers
- “Lady Bird” Scott Rudin, Eli Bush and Evelyn O’Neill, Producers
- “Phantom Thread” JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan Ellison and Daniel Lupi, Producers
- “The Post” Amy Pascal, Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers
- “The Shape of Water” Guillermo del Toro and J. Miles Dale, Producers
- “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri” Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers
Performance by an actor in a leading role
- Timothée Chalamet in “Call Me by Your Name”
- Daniel Day-Lewis in “Phantom Thread”
- Daniel Kaluuya in “Get Out”
- Gary Oldman in “Darkest Hour”
- Denzel Washington in “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”
Performance by an actor in a supporting role
- Willem Dafoe in “The Florida Project”
- Woody Harrelson in “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”
- Richard Jenkins in “The Shape of Water”
- Christopher Plummer in “All the Money in the World”
- Sam Rockwell in “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Performance by an actress in a leading role
- Sally Hawkins in “The Shape of Water”
- Frances McDormand in “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”
- Margot Robbie in “I, Tonya”
- Saoirse Ronan in “Lady Bird”
- Meryl Streep in “The Post”
Performance by an actress in a supporting role
- Mary J. Blige in “Mudbound”
- Allison Janney in “I, Tonya”
- Lesley Manville in “Phantom Thread”
- Laurie Metcalf in “Lady Bird”
- Octavia Spencer in “The Shape of Water”
Achievement in directing
- “Dunkirk” Christopher Nolan
- “Get Out” Jordan Peele
- “Lady Bird” Greta Gerwig
- “Phantom Thread” Paul Thomas Anderson
- “The Shape of Water” Guillermo del Toro
Adapted screenplay
- “Call Me by Your Name” Screenplay by James Ivory
- “The Disaster Artist” Screenplay by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
- “Logan” Screenplay by Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green; Story by James Mangold
- “Molly’s Game” Written for the screen by Aaron Sorkin
- “Mudbound” Screenplay by Virgil Williams and Dee Rees
Original screenplay
- “The Big Sick” Written by Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani
- “Get Out” Written by Jordan Peele
- “Lady Bird” Written by Greta Gerwig
- “The Shape of Water” Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor; Story by Guillermo del Toro
- “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri” Written by Martin McDonagh
Best animated feature film of the year
- “The Boss Baby” Tom McGrath and Ramsey Naito
- “The Breadwinner” Nora Twomey and Anthony Leo
- “Coco” Lee Unkrich and Darla K. Anderson
- “Ferdinand” Carlos Saldanha
- “Loving Vincent” Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman and Ivan Mactaggart
Achievement in cinematography
- “Blade Runner 2049” Roger A. Deakins
- “Darkest Hour” Bruno Delbonnel
- “Dunkirk” Hoyte van Hoytema
- “Mudbound” Rachel Morrison
- “The Shape of Water” Dan Laustsen
Achievement in costume design
- “Beauty and the Beast” Jacqueline Durran
- “Darkest Hour” Jacqueline Durran
- “Phantom Thread” Mark Bridges
- “The Shape of Water” Luis Sequeira
- “Victoria & Abdul” Consolata Boyle
Best documentary feature
- “Abacus: Small Enough to Jail” Steve James, Mark Mitten and Julie Goldman
- “Faces Places” Agnès Varda, JR and Rosalie Varda
- “Icarus” Bryan Fogel and Dan Cogan
- “Last Men in Aleppo” Feras Fayyad, Kareem Abeed and Søren Steen Jespersen
- “Strong Island” Yance Ford and Joslyn Barnes
Best documentary short subject
- “Edith+Eddie” Laura Checkoway and Thomas Lee Wright
- “Heaven Is a Traffic Jam on the 405” Frank Stiefel
- “Heroin(e)” Elaine McMillion Sheldon and Kerrin Sheldon
- “Knife Skills” Thomas Lennon
- “Traffic Stop” Kate Davis and David Heilbroner
Achievement in film editing
- “Baby Driver” Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos
- “Dunkirk” Lee Smith
- “I, Tonya” Tatiana S. Riegel
- “The Shape of Water” Sidney Wolinsky
- “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri” Jon Gregory
Best foreign language film of the year
- “A Fantastic Woman” Chile
- “The Insult” Lebanon
- “Loveless” Russia
- “On Body and Soul” Hungary
- “The Square” Sweden
Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
- “Darkest Hour” Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick
- “Victoria & Abdul” Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard
- “Wonder” Arjen Tuiten
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
- “Dunkirk” Hans Zimmer
- “Phantom Thread” Jonny Greenwood
- “The Shape of Water” Alexandre Desplat
- “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” John Williams
- “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri” Carter Burwell
Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
- “Mighty River” from “Mudbound”
Music and Lyric by Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq and Taura Stinson - “Mystery Of Love” from “Call Me by Your Name”
Music and Lyric by Sufjan Stevens - “Remember Me” from “Coco”
Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez - “Stand Up For Something” from “Marshall”
Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Lonnie R. Lynn and Diane Warren - “This Is Me” from “The Greatest Showman”
Music and Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
Achievement in production design
- “Beauty and the Beast” Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
- “Blade Runner 2049” Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Alessandra Querzola
- “Darkest Hour” Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
- “Dunkirk” Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
- “The Shape of Water” Production Design: Paul Denham Austerberry; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau and Jeff Melvin
Best animated short film
- “Dear Basketball” Glen Keane and Kobe Bryant
- “Garden Party” Victor Caire and Gabriel Grapperon
- “Lou” Dave Mullins and Dana Murray
- “Negative Space” Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata
- “Revolting Rhymes” Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer
Best live action short film
- “DeKalb Elementary” Reed Van Dyk
- “The Eleven O’Clock” Derin Seale and Josh Lawson
- “My Nephew Emmett” Kevin Wilson, Jr.
- “The Silent Child” Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton
- “Watu Wote/All of Us” Katja Benrath and Tobias Rosen
Achievement in sound editing
- “Baby Driver” Julian Slater
- “Blade Runner 2049” Mark Mangini and Theo Green
- “Dunkirk” Richard King and Alex Gibson
- “The Shape of Water” Nathan Robitaille and Nelson Ferreira
- “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” Matthew Wood and Ren Klyce
Achievement in sound mixing
- “Baby Driver” Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin and Mary H. Ellis
- “Blade Runner 2049” Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill and Mac Ruth
- “Dunkirk” Mark Weingarten, Gregg Landaker and Gary A. Rizzo
- “The Shape of Water” Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern and Glen Gauthier
- “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Stuart Wilson
Achievement in visual effects
- “Blade Runner 2049” John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert and Richard R. Hoover
- “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner and Dan Sudick
- “Kong: Skull Island” Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza and Mike Meinardus
- “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould
- “War for the Planet of the Apes” Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon and Joel Whist