91st Oscar Nominations – BLACK PANTHER Becomes First Superhero Movie To Garner A Best Picture Nomination

By Michelle McCue | January 22, 2019

Actor-comedian and Oscar–nominated writer Kumail Nanjiani and actress–producer–director Tracee Ellis Ross announced the 91st Oscars nominations today (January 22), live from the Academy’s headquarters in Beverly Hills, CA.

Marvel Studios’ BLACK PANTHER made history by becoming the first superhero movie to receive a Best Picture nomination. Skippy, nominated for Outstanding Production at the 4th Academy Awards, was based on a comic strip.

Spike Lee received his first Best Director nomination for the film BlacKkKlansman. This is his fifth overall, including his Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay nominations this year. He was previously nominated for his original screenplay for Do the Right Thing (1989) and for the documentary feature 4 Little Girls (1997). Lee was the recipient of an Honorary Award in 2015.

A Star Is Born is the fourth film version to receive Academy Award nominations, for a total of 26 nominations. The acting nominations for Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga are the third for both the lead characters (after Fredric March and Janet Gaynor in 1937, and James Mason and Judy Garland in 1954).

THE FAVOURITE and ROMA led the field with ten nominations each.

With ten nominations, Roma has tied the record held by Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) for the most nominations received by a foreign language film. It is the tenth foreign language film nominated for Best Picture. Roma is the fifth film to be nominated for both Foreign Language Film and Best Picture in the same year. Each of the previous four (Z, 1969; Life Is Beautiful, 1998; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, 2000; Amour, 2012) won for Foreign Language Film but not Best Picture.

Alfonso Cuarón is the fourth person to receive four nominations in four different award categories for the same film. Warren Beatty did so twice, with Best Picture, Directing, Leading Actor and Writing nominations for Heaven Can Wait (1978) and Reds (1981). Ethan Coen and Joel Coen received nominations for Best Picture, Directing and Writing and shared a nomination for Film Editing under the pseudonym Roderick Jaynes for No Country for Old Men (2007). Alan Menken received four nominations in two Music categories for Beauty and the Beast (1991).

For the first time, two directors of films nominated in the Foreign Language Film category (Paweł Pawlikowski, Cold War and Alfonso Cuarón, Roma) have received Directing nominations. Bradley Cooper is the fifteenth person to direct himself to an acting nomination and the ninth to do so on his feature film directing debut.

In the acting categories, eight individuals are first-time nominees (Yalitza Aparicio, Olivia Colman, Marina de Tavira, Adam Driver, Sam Elliott, Richard E. Grant, Regina King, Rami Malek). Five of the nominees are previous acting winners
(Mahershala Ali, Christian Bale, Sam Rockwell, Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz). Two were also nominated for acting last year (Willem Dafoe, Sam Rockwell). Yalitza Aparicio is the second actress nominated for a debut performance in a spoken language other than English. The first was Catalina Sandino Moreno, nominated for her leading role in Maria Full of Grace (2004).

Lady Gaga is the second person to receive acting and song nominations for the same film. Mary J. Blige was the first, with her nominations for Mudbound last year.

The Cinematography nominations for Cold War and Roma mark the first time since 1966 that two black-and-white films have been nominated in the category in a single year. Since 1967, when the Academy eliminated a separate award category for black-and-white cinematography, there have been 15 black-and-white films nominated for Cinematography.

Sandy Powell has the most nominations for Costume Design of any living person with 14. The overall record in the category belongs to Edith Head with 35 nominations.

The 91st Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 24, 2019, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network.

Academy members from each of the 17 branches vote to determine the nominees in their respective categories – actors nominate actors, film editors nominate film editors, etc. In the Animated Feature Film and Foreign Language Film categories, nominees are selected by a vote of multi-branch screening committees. All voting members are eligible to select the Best Picture nominees.

Active members of the Academy are eligible to vote for the winners in all 24 categories beginning Tuesday, February 12, through Tuesday, February 19.

Performance by an actor in a leading role

• Christian Bale in “Vice”
• Bradley Cooper in “A Star Is Born”
• Willem Dafoe in “At Eternity’s Gate”
• Rami Malek in “Bohemian Rhapsody”
• Viggo Mortensen in “Green Book”

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

• Mahershala Ali in “Green Book”
• Adam Driver in “BlacKkKlansman”
• Sam Elliott in “A Star Is Born”
• Richard E. Grant in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
• Sam Rockwell in “Vice”

Performance by an actress in a leading role

• Yalitza Aparicio in “Roma”
• Glenn Close in “The Wife”
• Olivia Colman in “The Favourite”
• Lady Gaga in “A Star Is Born”
• Melissa McCarthy in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

• Amy Adams in “Vice”
• Marina de Tavira in “Roma”
• Regina King in “If Beale Street Could Talk”
• Emma Stone in “The Favourite”
• Rachel Weisz in “The Favourite”

Best animated feature film of the year

• “Incredibles 2” Brad Bird, John Walker and Nicole Paradis Grindle
• “Isle of Dogs” Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson
• “Mirai” Mamoru Hosoda and Yuichiro Saito
• “Ralph Breaks the Internet” Rich Moore, Phil Johnston and Clark Spencer
• “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

Achievement in cinematography

• “Cold War” Łukasz Żal
• “The Favourite” Robbie Ryan
• “Never Look Away” Caleb Deschanel
• “Roma” Alfonso Cuarón
• “A Star Is Born” Matthew Libatique

Achievement in costume design

• “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” Mary Zophres
• “Black Panther” Ruth Carter
• “The Favourite” Sandy Powell
• “Mary Poppins Returns” Sandy Powell
• “Mary Queen of Scots” Alexandra Byrne

Achievement in directing

• “BlacKkKlansman” Spike Lee
• “Cold War” Paweł Pawlikowski
• “The Favourite” Yorgos Lanthimos
• “Roma” Alfonso Cuarón
• “Vice” Adam McKay

Best documentary feature

• “Free Solo” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes and Shannon Dill
• “Hale County This Morning, This Evening” RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes and Su Kim
• “Minding the Gap” Bing Liu and Diane Quon
• “Of Fathers and Sons” Talal Derki, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme and Tobias N. Siebert
• “RBG” Betsy West and Julie Cohen

Best documentary short subject

• “Black Sheep” Ed Perkins and Jonathan Chinn
• “End Game” Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
• “Lifeboat” Skye Fitzgerald and Bryn Mooser
• “A Night at The Garden” Marshall Curry
• “Period. End of Sentence.” Rayka Zehtabchi and Melissa Berton

Achievement in film editing

• “BlacKkKlansman” Barry Alexander Brown
• “Bohemian Rhapsody” John Ottman
• “The Favourite” Yorgos Mavropsaridis
• “Green Book” Patrick J. Don Vito
• “Vice” Hank Corwin

Best foreign language film of the year

• “Capernaum” Lebanon
• “Cold War” Poland
• “Never Look Away” Germany
• “Roma” Mexico
• “Shoplifters” Japan

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling

• “Border” Göran Lundström and Pamela Goldammer
• “Mary Queen of Scots” Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher and Jessica Brooks
• “Vice” Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

• “Black Panther” Ludwig Goransson
• “BlacKkKlansman” Terence Blanchard
• “If Beale Street Could Talk” Nicholas Britell
• “Isle of Dogs” Alexandre Desplat
• “Mary Poppins Returns” Marc Shaiman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

• “All The Stars” from “Black Panther”
  Music by Mark Spears, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth and Anthony Tiffith; Lyric by Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, Anthony Tiffith and Solana Rowe
• “I’ll Fight” from “RBG”
  Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
• “The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns”
  Music by Marc Shaiman; Lyric by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman
• “Shallow” from “A Star Is Born”
  Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt
• “When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”
  Music and Lyric by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch

Best motion picture of the year

• “Black Panther” Kevin Feige, Producer
• “BlacKkKlansman” Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Raymond Mansfield, Jordan Peele and Spike Lee, Producers
• “Bohemian Rhapsody” Graham King, Producer
• “The Favourite” Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday and Yorgos Lanthimos, Producers
• “Green Book” Jim Burke, Charles B. Wessler, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga, Producers
• “Roma” Gabriela Rodríguez and Alfonso Cuarón, Producers
• “A Star Is Born” Bill Gerber, Bradley Cooper and Lynette Howell Taylor, Producers
• “Vice” Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, Producers

Best Picture Release Dates:
Black Panther – February 15, 2018
BlacKkKlansman – August 9, 2018
A Star Is Born – October 4, 2018
Bohemian Rhapsody – November 1, 2018
Green Book – November 15, 2018
Roma – November 21, 2018
The Favourite – November 22, 2018
Vice – December 24, 2018

Achievement in production design

• “Black Panther” Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Jay Hart
• “The Favourite” Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton
• “First Man” Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas
• “Mary Poppins Returns” Production Design: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
• “Roma” Production Design: Eugenio Caballero; Set Decoration: Bárbara Enríquez

Best animated short film

• “Animal Behaviour” Alison Snowden and David Fine
• “Bao” Domee Shi and Becky Neiman-Cobb
• “Late Afternoon” Louise Bagnall and Nuria González Blanco
• “One Small Step” Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas
• “Weekends” Trevor Jimenez

Best live action short film

• “Detainment” Vincent Lambe and Darren Mahon
• “Fauve” Jeremy Comte and Maria Gracia Turgeon
• “Marguerite” Marianne Farley and Marie-Hélène Panisset
• “Mother” Rodrigo Sorogoyen and María del Puy Alvarado
• “Skin” Guy Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman

Achievement in sound editing

• “Black Panther” Benjamin A. Burtt and Steve Boeddeker
• “Bohemian Rhapsody” John Warhurst and Nina Hartstone
• “First Man” Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
• “A Quiet Place” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
• “Roma” Sergio Díaz and Skip Lievsay

Achievement in sound mixing

• “Black Panther” Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor and Peter Devlin
• “Bohemian Rhapsody” Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin and John Casali
• “First Man” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Ai-Ling Lee and Mary H. Ellis
• “Roma” Skip Lievsay, Craig Henighan and José Antonio García
• “A Star Is Born” Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Ruder and Steve Morrow

Achievement in visual effects

• “Avengers: Infinity War” Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl and Dan Sudick
• “Christopher Robin” Christopher Lawrence, Michael Eames, Theo Jones and Chris Corbould
• “First Man” Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles and J.D. Schwalm
• “Ready Player One” Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew E. Butler and David Shirk
• “Solo: A Star Wars Story” Rob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Dominic Tuohy

Adapted screenplay

• “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “BlacKkKlansman” Written by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee
• “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” Screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
• “If Beale Street Could Talk” Written for the screen by Barry Jenkins
• “A Star Is Born” Screenplay by Eric Roth and Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters

Original screenplay

• “The Favourite” Written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara
• “First Reformed” Written by Paul Schrader
• “Green Book” Written by Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly
• “Roma” Written by Alfonso Cuarón
• “Vice” Written by Adam McKay