Awards shows are losing viewers by the boatload, and not surprisingly, this year’s Academy Awards, usually the biggest awards show of the year, notched its lowest viewership ever with fewer than 10 million viewers. But considering that most of us haven’t been to a theater in over a year, that shouldn’t come as a shock. This year’s batch of nominees was probably seen by the fewest number of people than those of any year in recent memory.
On the plus side, thanks to VOD and streaming, these movies were able to really stand out and that is a nice jab to filmmakers who, up until last year, cried foul at movies released via streaming services being eligible for this prestigious award, claiming they were essentially “made for TV movies.” So take that, Martin Scorsese.
While you may not have seen it, Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland took home the highest honor of the night, Best Picture. Zhao also won Best Director, making her the first woman of color to do so. In addition, star Frances McDormand won Best Actress for her role in that indie hit.
Zhao’s next major project is a massive step up from her indie roots. She helmed Marvel Studios’ Etermals based on characters created by the legendary Jack Kirby. This picture was supposed to open last winter, but due to COVID-19, was pushed to this coming December.
Marvel has made a practice of hiring indie directors to helm dome of its high-stakes projects including Jon Watts (the two, soon to be three, Spider-Man flicks starring Tom Holland) and James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1, 2, and 3). Black Panther was the first superhero movie to ever be nominated for Best Picture in 2019, although it didn’t win.
But Zhao is now the only Oscar-winning director to tackle a Marvel project. Let’s be honest, not many people were thrilled about Eternals. These aren’t Marvel’s biggest names. Hell, many people don’t know who they are at all! But the same could have been said for the Guardians of the Galaxy before the first movie dropped.
So hopefully, Zhao’s Oscar momentum can drive Eternals to new heights. We’ll find out when that movie opens on November 5 of this year.
Until then, below you can find all of this year’s Oscar winners!
Best Actor
Anthony Hopkins
The Father
Best Actress
Frances McDormand
Nomadland
Best Picture
Nomadland
Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey and Chloé Zhao, Producers
Music (Original Song)
“Fight For You” from Judas and the Black Messiah
Music by H.E.R. and Dernst Emile II; Lyric by H.E.R. and Tiara Thomas
Music (Original Score)
Soul
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste
Film Editing
Sound of Metal
Mikkel E. G. Nielsen
Cinematography
Mank
Erik Messerschmidt
Production Design
Mank
Production Design: Donald Graham Burt; Set Decoration: Jan Pascale
Actress in a Supporting Role
Yuh-Jung Youn
Minari
Visual Effects
Tenet
Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley and Scott Fisher
Documentary Feature
My Octopus Teacher
Pippa Ehrlich, James Reed and Craig Foster
Documentary Short Subject
Colette
Anthony Giacchino and Alice Doyard
Animated Feature Film
Soul
Pete Docter and Dana Murray
Animated Short Film
If Anything Happens I Love You
Will McCormack and Michael Govier
Live Action Short Film
Two Distant Strangers
Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe
Source: Deadline
