2025 Oscars: Universal’s Film Empire Nabs Historic 25 Noms, Netflix Leads Individual List With 16 – Hollywood Reporter
Emilia Pérez. (Featured L-R) Zoe Saldaña as Rita Moro Castro and Karla Sofía Gascón as Emilia Pérez in Emilia Pérez. Cr. Netflix © 2024.
Subscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterSubscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterA24 also made a strong showing with 14 nominations, while Searchlight Pictures picked up 10 to propel Disney’s vast film stable to a total count of 15.
By
Pamela McClintock
Senior Film Writer
When it comes to this year’s Oscar nominations, the love was spread across the distributor scoreboard, from legacy Hollywood studios and their specialty divisions, to streamers and maverick indie distributors.
Netflix walked away with the most of any individual distributor on Tuesday with a total of 16 nods after Emilia Pérez landed a spot in 13 categories, the most of any film this year and setting a new record for a non-English-language film. And it’s just one shy of the all-time record for any film (All About Eve, Titanic and La La Land each landed 14).
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Next up on the Academy’s scorecard of top-nominated individual distributors was powerhouse A24 with 14, including 10 for The Brutalist. The movie, which swept the Golden Globes, will use its front-runner status as it continues to expand in theaters, where it has earned a promising $5.9 million despite only playing in several hundred cinemas to date.
Universal Pictures‘ Wicked likewise scored 10 noms in a major win for a film that is both an awards darling and a commercial studio hit. For years, many have attributed the declining interest in watching the Oscars telecast to the fact that many of the nominees are arthouse films that may only play in a smattering of top markets. Wicked has grossed north of $800 million to date at the global box office, making it the top-grossing film vying for best picture. Cynthia Erivo, who is up for best actress, and Ariana Grande, who is up for best supporting actress, have huge followings, which could help the telecast.
Universal’s larger film empire, which includes Focus Features and DreamWorks Animation (home of sleeper hit The Wild Robot), made history on Tuesday in nabbing a combined 25 nods, its best showing ever. It surpassed last year’s then-record 18 that was led by Christopher Nolan’s best picture winner Oppenheimer.
This year, Universal Pictures proper led with 13 noms, followed by Focus with 11. This is the third year-in-a row in which both labels have a title in the best picture race. Focus has Conclave, which walked away with eight noms to tie with Brokeback Mountain and Milk to rank as the most nominated film in Focus’ history. And Conclave was one of the top-grossing specialty titles of 2024 after successfully making the leap from the arthouse to the multiplex. To date, it has grossed north of $76 million globally.
Searchlight Pictures, landing 10 nominations, helped Disney’s vast film empire pick up a total of 15 nominations, including eight for A Complete Unknown and two for A Real Pain. Disney is also home of 20th Century Studios and National Geographic Films, which also earned nods.
A Complete Unknown is another best picture contender that is doing real box office business, earning nearly $60 million to date after opening on Christmas Day. And, of course, Pixar and Disney’s Inside Out 2, which is up for best animated feature, is the top-grossing animated film of all time with nearly $1.7 billion in worldwide ticket sales.
Rule-bending indie distributor Noen also made a strong showing in picking up seven noms — six went to Palme d’Or winner Anora. It bested Warner Bros.’ five noms and Paramount’s three. Warners’ noms were all for Legendary’s Dune: Part Two, another best picture contender and box-office heavyweight, which grossed $705 million globally.
Here is the Academy’s nominee count by individual distributor.
Netflix — 16Emilia Pérez, Maria, Wallace, Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl A24 — 14The BrutalistSing, Sing
*Universal — 13Wicked, The Wild Robot
Focus Features — 12Conclave, NosferatuSearchlight — 10A Complete Unknown, A Real PainNeon — 7Anora, The Secret of the Sacred Fig MUBI — 6The SubstanceWarner Bros. — 5Dune: Part TwoParamount — 3Better Man, September 5Sony Pictures Classics — 3I’m Still Here
Briarcliff Entertainment/Rich Spirit — 2The Apprentice
Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios — 2The Nickel Boys
Sideshow/Janus Films — 2Flow
20th Century — 2Alien: Romulus, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Disney+ — 1Elton John: Never Too Late
IFC Films — 1Memoir of a Snail
Kino Lorber — 1Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
MTV Documentary Films — 1I Am Ready, Warden
National Geographic Documentary Films — 1Sugarcane
Picturehouse — 1Porcelain War
**Disney — 1Inside Out 2
*Universal’s count includes Focus and DreamWorks Animation.**Disney’s count includes Searchlight, 20th Century Studios, Disney+ and National Geogrpaic and Nat Geographic Documentary Films.Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every daySign up for THR news straight to your inbox every daySubscribe for full access to The Hollywood ReporterSend us a tip using our anonymous form.
