BARBIE SOARS BUT MARGOT IGNORED

LOS ANGELES. — Box office smash Barbie has received eight Oscar nominations — but its star Margot Robbie and director Greta Gerwig were snubbed in some major categories.

Gerwig missed out on being recognised in best director, but a nomination for Anatomy of a Fall’s Justine Triet meant the line-up was not entirely male.

This is also the first year women have directed three best picture nominees.

Oppenheimer scored the most nominations overall, followed by Poor Things and Killers of the Flower Moon.

There were nods for Barbie’s star and director elsewhere — Gerwig is nominated for best adapted screenplay, while Robbie is recognised as a producer in the best picture line-up.

Barbie’s best picture nod also means Gerwig is the first woman to direct three films nominated for the top prize.

However, as Barbie was the highest-grossing film of 2023, taking $1.44bn (£1.14bn) worldwide, many expected Gerwig and Robbie to show up in the best director and best actress categories too.

While Robbie missed out on a best actress nod, her co-star America Ferrera scored a surprise supporting nod.

Ryan Gosling was nominated for best supporting actor, while two tracks from the film’s soundtrack were nominated for best original song.

Christopher Nolan’s threehour epic about theoretical physicist J Robert Oppenheimer was acclaimed by critics and a huge success at the box office.

Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt and Robert Downey Jr were nominated for acting prizes, and Nolan for best director.

Poor Things, Killers of the Flower Moon, Barbie and Maestro are among the other nominations this year.

Jimmy Kimmel will host the Oscars ceremony from Los Angeles on 10 March.

The top nominees:

l 13 nominations - Oppenheimer

l 11 - Poor Things

l 10 - Killers of the Flower Moon

l 8 - Barbie

l 7 - Maestro

l 5 - American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers, The Zone of Interest — BBC.