‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ tops Oscar nominations with 11

The multiverse-skipping sci-fi indie hit Everything Everywhere All at Once led nominations for the 95th Academy Awards as Hollywood heaped honors on big-screen spectacles like Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water a year after a streaming service won best picture for the first time.

Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan’s Everything Everywhere All at Once landed a leading 11 nominations on Tuesday, including nods for Michelle Yeoh and comeback kid Ke Huy Quan.

The 10 movies up for best picture are: Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Banshees of Inisherin, The Fabelmans, Tár, Top Gun: Maverick, Avatar: The Way of Water, Elvis, All Quiet on the Western Front, Women Talking and Triangle of Sadness.

Nominations were announced Tuesday from the academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California, by Riz Ahmed and Allison Williams.

If last year’s Oscars were dominated by streaming – Apple TV+’s CODA won best picture and Netflix landed a leading 27 nominations – movies that drew moviegoers to multiplexes after two years of the pandemic make up many of this year’s top contenders.

The nominees for best actress are: Ana de Armas, Blonde; Cate Blanchett, Tár; Andrea Riseborough, To Leslie; Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans, and Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Brendan Fraser, The Whale; Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin; Austin Butler, Elvis; Bill Nighy, Living, and Paul Mescal, Aftersun, are the nominees for best actor.

In the best supporting actress category, Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever; Hong Chau, The Whale; Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin; Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once, are in contention for the statuette.

The nominees for best supporting actor are: Brian Tyree Henry, Causeway; Judd Hirsch, The Fabelmans; Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin; Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin, and Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once.

Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans struggled to catch on with audiences, but the director’s autobiographical coming-of-age tale is set to land Spielberg his 20th Oscar nomination and eighth nod for best director. John Williams, his longtime composer, extended his record for the most Oscar nominations for a living person. Another nod for best score will give Williams his 53rd nomination, a number that trails only Walt Disney’s 59.

Last year’s broadcast drew 15.4 million viewers, according to Nielsen, up 56% from the record-low audience of 10.5 million for the pandemic-marred 2021 telecast. This year, ABC is bringing back Jimmy Kimmel to host the March 12 ceremony, one that will surely be seen as a return to the “site of the slap.”

But larger concerns are swirling around the movie business. Last year saw flashes of triumphant resurrection for theaters, like the success of Top Gun: Maverick, after two years of pandemic. But partially due to a less steady stream of major releases, ticket sales for the year recovered only about 70% of pre-pandemic business. Regal Cinemas, the USA’s second-largest chain, announced the closure of 39 cinemas this month.

At the same time, storm clouds swept into the streaming world after years of once-seemingly boundless growth. Stocks plunged as Wall Street looked to streaming services to earn profits, not just add subscribers. A retrenchment has followed, as the industry again enters an uncertain chapter.

In stark contrast to last year’s Academy Awards, this year may see no streaming titles vying for the Oscars’ most sought-after award – although the last spots in the 10-movie best-picture field remain up for grabs. Netflix’s best shots instead are coming in other categories, notably with animated film favorite Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and the German submission, All Quiet on the Western Front.

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