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The refrain, sung by Take That, that opens “Anora” (Neon) — “Today this could be the greatest day of our lives” — sounds like a manifestation of the Palme d’Or winner’s awards campaign over the course of the last 24 hours. On Saturday night, two guild award wins, Best Picture at the PGA and Best Director at the DGA, followed the surprise Best Film win at Friday’s 2025 Critics Choice Awards.

After a wide field of six Best Picture contenders, we finally have a frontrunner in the Oscar race.

During the customary DGA acceptance speech before the announcement of the winner at the end of the night, “Anora” helmer Sean Baker expressed his admiration for his guild peers, and made another plea for theatrical distribution similar to what he stated at the CCAs. “Let’s do whatever we can do for us feature filmmakers to expand that theatrical window again; demand it.

Super Bowl weekend is notoriously tough for cinemagoing but fans turned out and tuned in for music documentary concert film Becoming Led Zeppelin from Sony Pictures Classics, which rocked the top ten. A Complete Unknown and The Brutalist are holding. Neon saw a bump for its Parasite re-release. Documentary No Other Land had a nice expansion.

Long-gestating Becoming Led Zeppelin, an early version of which premiered at Venice in 2021, charged to more than $2.6 million on 369 Imax screens and the no. 7 spot, the only indie in the top 10 this weekend.

That’s the biggest ever opening weekend domestically for an Imax-exclusive music release. Crowds are showing love across North America with strong results from both coasts as well as markets like Toronto, Cleveland, St. Louis and Dallas.

Also from SPC, Walter Salles I’m Still Here topping $1 million in week 4 on 704 screens, a big expansion from 93 last week, and Pedro Almodovar’s...

Since the nominations were announced on Jan. 23, the Oscar Best Actor race had narrowed into a two-man battle between a pair of two-time nominees: Adrien Brody of The Brutalist (who won his first time out) and Timothée Chalamet of A Complete Unknown (who didn’t). It would be a significant upset if either of these actors didn’t cart off the trophy. But shockers happen, as Brody himself knows all too well. If that happens, three other nominees are hoping to pounce: Ralph Fiennes for Conclave, Colman Domingo for Sing Sing, and Sebastian Stan for The Apprentice.

Let’s analyze the Best Actor contest in greater depth.

The Frontrunner: Adrien Brody

Before diving into Brody’s Brutalist bona fides, let’s climb into the way-back machine to look at the actor’s upset win in the category in 2003 for The Pianist. How big a shocker was it? Huge. While...

Heading into the weekend, it had been several years since the Best Picture race had been this crowded and fraught. As late as Saturday morning, a solid argument could have been made for six of the 10 Best Picture nominees to win at the 97th Oscars on March 2: Anora, The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Emilia Pérez, and Wicked. But after Anora pulled off upset wins at both the Producers Guild and Directors Guild Awards (not to mention its win at the Critics Choice Awards), it stands as the clear frontrunner in the race as final Oscar winner voting is set to begin on Feb. 11. But is the race over, and, if not, which contender is well-positioned to take Anora down? Here’s our analysis of the Oscars Best Picture race (updated on Feb. 9).

Frontrunner: Anora

The movie that once looked like a spoiler in the race – the designation we...

Maybe Anora was the frontrunner all along.

In the weeks since the Oscar nominations were announced, Oscar pundits and awards strategists have treated the wide-open Best Picture race like an adaptation of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, searching somewhat fruitlessly for a contender that felt “just right.” However, on Saturday night, Sean Baker won Best Director at the Directors Guild Awards, and about an hour later, Baker and his film took top honors at the Producers Guild Awards. What had been considered a toss-up is now trending back to where the consensus was throughout the fall.

How did we get here, and what comes next? Ahead, here are three takeaways from the big weekend for Anora.

When it comes to Best Picture, always wait for the industry

For months, Anora stood atop the Gold Derby Best Picture charts. But after the Neon release got blanked at the Golden Globe Awards...

For a while there the Best Picture race was wide open. But now that both the Directors Guild of America and the Producers Guild of America have agreed on one film, it’s looking like the image is starting to come together for the Academy Awards. And that film is Anora, as director Sean Baker took home the DGA Award for Best Director and the film itself won the top prize from the PGA.

First-time DGA nominee Sean Baker would beat out The Brutalist’s Brady Corbet, A Complete Unknown’s James Mangold, Conclave’s Edward Berger, and Emilia Pérez’s Jacques Audiard. As we’ve found, the Directors Guild of America has an incredible track record of predicting the Best Director Oscar winner, with less than 10 of the DGA winners not taking home the Academy Award. The most recent example was in 2019, with Sam Mendes winning for 1917 but losing...

by Nathaniel R

Chicken or egg? Egg or chicken? Have the last two weeks of the Oscar race and the very recent prizes from the Directors Guild, Producers Guild, and Critics Choice Awards changed the game or were the upcoming 97th Academy Awards always this much of an "anyone's game" free-for-all wherein Anora, The Brutalist, and Emilia Perez all felt possible as the dominant film?  I myself would argue for the latter. The Golden Globes (Emilia Perez dominated with 4 wins) are never the final chapter in any Oscar race, just one of its booziest most memorable chapters.

The dominant story for a week or so was the deflation Emilia Perez's, done in by a social media scandal which opened a very large window for the film's many naysayers to crash through. But it's important to remember that first industry voters loved the trans cartel musical to the breathy tune of 13 Oscar nominations.

The Oscar race is a marathon, not a sprint. There are dozens of pit stops along the way and trophies to be given out before the 2025 Oscars on March 2. Keep track of precursor wins here with our scorecard. This includes honors from major film festivals, critics groups, guilds, and televised shows of the 2024-25 Oscar season. Wins are listed in order of announcement and in accordance with candidates’ FYC campaigns.

Updated: Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025, with Directors Guild of America and Producers Guild of America Awards winners.

And just like that, one of the most unpredictable Oscar races just became very predictable. On the heels of its Critics Choice Award for Best Picture — its only win — on Friday, Anora regained its Oscar momentum on Saturday with two major industry prizes, the Directors Guild of America Award for Sean Baker and the Producers Guild of America Award for Best Picture.

Anora was not...

A24’s highly anticipated drama The Brutalist, directed by Brady Corbet, is set to make its digital debut next month. With a stellar cast led by Adrien Brody, Guy Pearce, and Felicity Jones, the film has already garnered immense critical acclaim, earning 10 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. If you’re wondering when and where you can stream The Brutalist online, here’s everything you need to know.

What is The Brutalist About?

Set in the aftermath of World War II, The Brutalist follows visionary architect László Toth (Adrien Brody) as he seeks to rebuild his life in America alongside his wife, Erzsébet (Felicity Jones). Forced apart during wartime, the couple faces new struggles in a foreign land, where László’s talent catches the attention of wealthy industrialist Harrison Lee Van Buren (Guy Pearce). However, as ambition clashes with morality, the cost of power and legacy becomes devastatingly clear.

With...

The latest twist in a thrillingly unpredictable season saw Anora assert its Oscar credentials over the weekend with a stunning trifecta of awards circuit wins, earning top prizes from the Producers Guild of America, Directors Guild Of America, and Critics Choice Association.

If history is any guide, Saturday’s PGA Awards win for Sean Baker, Samantha Quan, and Alex Coco certainly boosts the likelihood that the Cannes Palme d’Or winner will win the best picture Academy Award on March 2. Sixteen of the last 24 PGA Darryl F. Zanuck Award winners have gone on to do so, most recently Oppenheimer in...

The 24th AARP Movies for Grownups Awards took place over the weekend, celebrating the best films and television shows made by and for older audiences. Hosted by Alan Cumming at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, the event recognized standout performances and productions from the past year.

Originally set for January 11, the ceremony was postponed due to the devastating wildfires in Los Angeles County. In response, the AARP Foundation announced that proceeds from the event would be donated to local organizations supporting wildfire recovery efforts.

This year’s top honor, Best Movie for Grownups, went to A Complete Unknown, which edged out Conclave, Emilia Pérez, Gladiator II, and September 5. The film also secured the Best Time Capsule award, making it one of the night’s big winners.

Demi Moore won Best Actress for her role in The Substance, while Adrien Brody took home Best Actor for The Brutalist. Joan Chen (Didi) and...

The Producers Guild of America named Anora the best picture of the year at the 2025 PGA Awards. The surprise win came just an hour after director Sean Baker took home the DGA’s top prize — establishing the Neon film as the official Oscars frontrunner for Best Picture. Anora also won Best Picture at last night’s Critics Choice Awards.

Anora defeated fellow Oscar nominees The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Dune: Part Two, Emilia Pérez, The Substance, and Wicked — as well as non-Oscar nominees A Real Pain and September 5. The two Oscar nominees that missed out on PGA noms were I’m Still Here and Nickel Boys.

Since 2009, both the PGA and the Academy Awards have selected their Best Picture with ranked-choice voting, aka the preferential ballot. Since the two groups aligned their voting procedure, the PGA has been one of the most reliable Oscar predictors, forecasting 13 of 16 Oscar champs including...

The Producers Guild on Saturday handed out it big feature film prize to Neon’s Anora, giving the indie comedy that won last spring’s Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or a massive boost and its third major award in a little more than 24 hours, after winning Best Picture at the Critics Choice Awards on Friday and the DGA Awards only minutes earlier tonight.

In fact, while double wins tonight were back to back, a later start at the PGAs in Century City allowed Baker to make it from the DGA ceremony at the Beverly Hilton in time to hear his film’s name called at the Fairmont Century Plaza.

At the PGAs, Anora beat out fellow Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures nominees The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Dune: Part Two, Emilia Pérez, A Real Pain, September 5, The Substance and Wicked.

Baker praised...

In a surprising win that resets the Oscar race, Anora director Sean Baker took home the Feature Film Director prize at Directors Guild of America Awards Saturday, instantly becoming the frontrunner for the Best Director trophy at the Academy Awards.

Baker, a first-time DGA nominee, toppled a strong field that included fellow Oscar nominees Brady Corbet (The Brutalist), Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez), and James Mangold (A Complete Unknown), along with Conclave director Edward Berger, who failed to land an Oscar bid. The DGA victory came on the same night Baker’s film — which personally earned him four Academy Award bids — unexpectedly won the top prize at another major precursor, the Producers Guild of America Awards, and one night after the film scored at the Critics Choice Awards.

Corbet had still been considered the prohibitive favorite for both the DGA honor and directing Oscar going into Saturday.

Anora stars Mikey Madison...

It was a busy Saturday night as the Producers were handing out their PGA Awards in Century City and a mile away, the Directors Guild of America was honoring their own in Beverly Hills. The DGA Awards include a slight surprise as Sean Baker took home Best Director for “Anora.”. And, predictably, Frederick E. O. Toye repeated his September Emmy win with a DGA Award in the Drama Series category for “Shōgun.”

Read More: ‘The Brutalist’: It’s A “Hard Job” But Brady Corbet never gives up

Like the PGA Award for Best Picture (Producer), the DGA Award has been a somewhat reliable precursor for predicting the Best Director Oscar.

Continue reading Sean Baker Takes Best Director At 2025 DGA Awards at The Playlist.

At the DGA Awards on Saturday night, the Emilia Pérez director Jacques Audiard included lead actress Karla Sofía Gascón when he thanked “his beloved actresses” despite all the controversy swirling around Gascón and Audiard’s recent interview with Deadline in which he said, “I haven’t spoken to her, and I don’t want to.”

In his speech as he accepted the DGA medallion for his nomination in the top prize category, Audiard said, via translator, “The last word is for my wonderful cast, my beloved actresses, Karla, Zoë, Selena, Adriana and Edgar, who is not an actress.”

It’s been posited that the unearthing of Gascon’s previous controversial comments on X could plunge the awards trajectory of Emilia Pérez into a downward spiral, but with a win Friday night at the Critics Choice Awards for Zoë Saldaña in Best Supporting Actress, it may not be over yet for...

The Producers Guild of America Awards brought some clarity for the upcoming Oscars race as “Anora” took the evening’s top prize after it also won the top DGA prize for director Sean Baker just a few moments earlier as well as the Critics Choice award on Friday.

DreamWorks’ “The Wild Robot” gained momentum by earning the PGA animated film prize, while “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story,” which missed out on the Academy Awards shortlist, took home the PGA prize for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Motion Picture.

On the television side, “Hacks” followed up its strong showing from Friday’s Critics Choice Awards, landing the Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television – Comedy. Meanwhile, Netflix’s “Baby Reindeer” landed the David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Limited or Anthology Series Television. Other TV winners include “Saturday Night Live” in the Live Entertainment, Variety, Sketch, Standup & Talk...

Completing one of the most remarkable two-day stretches in awards-season history, “Anora” won the top feature film prize at the Producers Guild Awards on Saturday night. The victory came about an hour after its director, Sean Baker, won at the Directors Guild Awards two blocks away, and a little more than 24 hours after the film scored a surprise win for Best Picture at the Critics Choice Awards.

The Critics Choice/DGA/PGA trifecta took the Palme d’Or-winning tragicomedic indie from a film that didn’t seem to have much Oscar momentum to the closest thing to a frontrunner in this weird, unsettled season.

TheWrap ran into a dazed Baker in a corner of the lobby after his PGA win and commented, “Hell of a two days.” Baker smiled, shook his head and agreed. “Hell of a two days,” he said.

If “Anora” can win with the Producers Guild and...

The 2025 Producers Guild Awards were presented at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles on Saturday night.

The films competing for the guild’s top film prize, the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures, included Anora, The Brutalist, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, Dune: Part Two, Emilia Pérez, A Real Pain, September 5, The Substance and Wicked, with Anora ultimately taking home the honor.

Throughout the ceremony, the films nominated for the top award were highlighted by castmembers. Wicked stars Ariana Grande and Jeff Goldblum presented a reel of their film, while Peter Sarsgaard and John Magaro presented a look at September 5. A Real Pain star Jennifer Grey presented the reel for her film, where she costars with Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin.

Elle Fanning and Boyd Holbrook later took the stage to honor their film A Complete Unknown, before Josh Brolin honored his film Dune: Part Two.

The Producers Guild of America had to delay the voting process and nominations announcement for its annual award show due to the Los Angeles wildfires, but the PGA Awards proceeded as planned tonight from the Fairmont Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

The guild award show, which is often seen as a barometer of the Best Picture race, is always watched closely by anyone looking to get a leg up on their Oscar ballots. And to anyone paying attention to the Oscar race, there was only one conclusion to draw from Saturday night: voters are high on “Anora.” Sean Baker’s Palme d’Or winner won the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures on the same night that Baker took the top prize at the DGA Awards.

TV was also well-represented, with Emmy favorites like “Shōgun,” “Hacks,” and “Baby Reindeer” taking the Drama, Comedy, and Limited Series categories,...

Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars stepped up to attend the 77th Annual Directors Guild of America Awards on Saturday night (February 8) in Beverly Hills, California.

Hosted by Judd Apatow, the event took place at The Beverly Hilton and featured an impressive guestlist of actors including the likes of Elle Fanning, Mikey Madison, Ayo Edebiri (who was also nominated for directing an episode of The Bear), Ali Wong (nominated for Ali Wong: Single Lady) and Bill Hader.

Keep reading to find out more…

Other stars in attendance included Adrien Brody, Bowen Yang, Justine Lupe, Maude Apatow, Michelle Yeoh, Demi Moore and Timothy Simons.

Some of the directors who were nominated and in attendance included Anora director Sean Baker, The Brutalist director Brady Corbet, A Complete Unknown director James Mangold, Didi director Sean Wang, Nickel Boys director Ramell Ross, Armand director Halfdan Ullman Tondel, Shogun directors Hiromi Kamata and Jonathan van Tulleken,...

“Anora” director Sean Baker has won the DGA Award for Theatrical Feature, gaining significant Oscar momentum ahead of final voting.

With its surprising best picture win at the Critics Choice Awards — its only prize of the night — the $6 million dramedy, which claimed the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, has solidified itself as a major contender in an unpredictable awards season.

“I feel like the luckiest guy in the world to be able to do thing I knew I wanted to do since I was 5 years old,” Baker told the crowd Saturday at the conclusion of the 77th annual DGA Awards, held at the Beverly Hilton.

A wide-open year has unfolded with plenty of twists and turns, including campaign controversies and surprising Oscar snubs like DGA nominee Edward Berger and recent Critics Choice shocking victor Jon M. Chu for “Wicked.”

Legendary filmmaker Ang Lee, a two-time Oscar-winning director...

With Oscar nominations firmly set and multiple guild award shows every week between now and the big show in March, the race to the Academy Awards has entered its final leg. This weekend is a crucial one for award watchers, with the Producers Guild of America and Directors Guild of America both giving out their annual prizes at ceremonies that could predict the Best Picture and Best Director race.

The 77th annual DGA Awards, which took place at the Beverly Hilton on Saturday, February 8, honored the year’s finest achievements in feature filmmaking, episodic TV, and commercial directing. The evening’s top prize, Theatrical Feature Film, went to Sean Baker for “Anora,” while other nominees included Jacques Audiard (“Emilia Pérez”), Edward Berger (“Conclave”), Brady Corbet (“The Brutalist”), and James Mangold (“A Complete Unknown”).

It remains to be seen what Baker’s big win means for his Oscar campaign — but last...

Wicked producer Marc Platt is teasing what’s next for the film’s story in the forthcoming second movie, along with recalling his initial hesitation to divide the screen adaptation of the successful Broadway show into two separate features.

During the annual Producers Guild of America Nominees Breakfast on Saturday, Platt was asked about the biggest hurdles in bringing Wicked, which he originally produced for the Broadway stage, to the screen for Universal Pictures. Starring Ariana Grande (Glinda) and Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba), director Jon M. Chu’s Wicked movie is nominated for 10 Oscars after hitting theaters late last year, while the second title in the two-part release, Wicked: For Good, is set for November.

“I remember going to the movies as a kid and watching musicals or Lawrence of Arabia that had intermissions in it, and that was actually my dream for Wicked, that we could do it with intermission,...

Hours before the 2025 Producers Guild of America Awards officially began, the 10 nominees for the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Best Picture got together on Saturday morning for an early-bird panel at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

In the room were Samantha Quan for Anora, Andrew Morrison for The Brutalist, Fred Berger for A Complete Unknown, Tessa Ross for Conclave, Mary Parent for Dune: Part Two, Ali Herting for A Real Pain, Philipp Trauer for September 5, Coralie Fargeat for The Substance, and Marc Platt for Wicked. Emilia Pérez‘s Jacques Audiard, across town for the Directors Guild Awards, appeared via a pretaped clip.

“Cinema is an education,” Audiard declared at one point while speaking about the medium he loves so much. He did not address the controversy surrounding Emilia Pérez star Karla Sofía Gascón, who upended the film’s Oscar campaign after her past offensive tweets resurfaced and she subsequently botched several attempts at apology.

During a ceremony hosted by the ever-charming Alan Cumming and rescheduled from Jan. 11 due to the devastating Los Angeles wildfires, AARP the Magazine this afternoon unveiled the winners of its 24th Annual Movies for Grownups Awards handed out at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, with the Bob Dylan biopic A Complete Unknown taking the top honor of Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups over Conclave, Emilia Pérez, Gladiator II, and September 5.

The Best Actress (Film) honor went to Oscar favorite Demi Moore for The Substance — matching her win at the Golden Globes in January and Critics Choice Award on Friday — while Globe victor and past Oscar winner Adrien Brody (another Academy Award frontrunner) took the Best Actor (Film) prize for his lead performance in The Brutalist. Emilia Pérez director Jacques Audiard earned the Best Director trophy despite the ongoing controversy surrounding star Karla Sofía Gascón, with Joan Chen winning Best Supporting...

After delaying its awards ceremony for several weeks following the wildfires in Los Angeles, AARP the Magazine announced the winners of its annual Movies for Grownups Awards on Saturday, with A Complete Unknown going home as the big winner.

The show, hosted by Alan Cumming at the Beverly Wilshire, celebrates TV and film for older audiences, and this year also presented a career achievement award to Glenn Close. Though Conclave came into the ceremony with the most nominations, the film left empty handed. A Complete Unknown took best picture as Demi Moore and Adrien Brody won the top acting prizes, and Shogun was recognized as best TV series.

Check out a full list of winners below:

Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups

A Complete Unknown (Winner)

Conclave

Emilia Pérez

Gladiator II

September 5

Best Actress

Pamela Anderson (The Last Showgirl)

Marianne Jean-Baptiste (Hard Truths)

Nicole Kidman (Babygirl)

Demi Moore (The Substance...

The 24th AARP Movies for Grownups Awards are here, crowning the best movies and TV shows of the past year for audiences of a certain age.

Hosted by Alan Cumming on Saturday at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Conclave and A Complete Unknown led the nominations at the awards show, which was created by and for people over 50 years old.

The latter beat out Conclave, Emilia Pérez, Gladiator II and September 5 for Best Movie for Grownups during the ceremony.

Originally scheduled for Jan. 11, the awards show was postponed due to last month’s devastating Los Angeles County wildfires. The AARP Foundation will donate proceeds from the awards to local organizations to aid in wildfire recovery efforts.

The 24th AARP Movies for Grownups Awards will be broadcast by PBS on Great Performances on Sunday, Feb. 23 7pm Et/6pm Ct, also streaming on the PBS website and app.

Here are the winners of...

The nominations for the 97th Academy Awards have been announced, but do you still feel like you need to play catch up?

This year’s Oscar nominees run the gamut, including heartfelt musicals and gory body horrors. “Emilia Pérez” led all nominees for this year’s ceremony with 13, following behind were “Wicked” and “The Brutalist” both with 10 nominations.

Several nominees have special recognitions, including Karla Sofía Gascón as the first openly trans actor nominated, “Conclave” supporting actress Isabella Rossellini earning a nomination 46 years her mother did, Demi Moore’s first nomination after four decades in the business and Timothée Chalamet becoming the youngest two-time Oscar nominee since James Dean.

Read the full list of where to watch all of the 2025 Oscar movies.

Searchlight Pictures A Complete Unknown

The Bob Dylan origin story earned eight nominations, including Best Picture, directing for James Mangold, leading actor for Timothee Chalamet, supporting actor for Edward Norton,...

The Oscars race for Best Supporting Actor has lacked the drama of other categories this year — so it’s fitting that the clear favorite is nominated for his role in a comedy. A Real Pain star Kieran Culkin leads Gold Derby’s odds to take home the statuette on March 2 — and it doesn’t look like Yura Borisov (Anora), Edward Norton (A Complete Unknown), Guy Pearce (The Brutalist), or Jeremy Strong (The Apprentice) can do anything about it. But who has the best shot at pulling off the upset? Let’s break down the category.

Frontrunner: Kieran Culkin

In A Real Pain, Culkin plays Benji, an obnoxious yet charming drifter who accompanies his cousin, David (Jesse Eisenberg), on a tour through Poland to honor their late grandmother. Two years after his Emmy win for Succession, nearly every Oscar expert predicts Culkin will be taking home the Academy Award next. The...

The Critics Choice Awards (February 7 on the The CW) were all over the place. When it comes to reading the Oscar tea leaves, these 600 film and TV writers from all over the world are often predictive. But this year’s delayed show spread the love around a wide group of films. And, more importantly, the journalists voted back in December, before Netflix’s “Emilia Pérez” revelations changed some viewers’ perception of the film.

Looking at the CCAs, as well as the upcoming DGA and PGA Awards, is like peering into a time machine. That’s how swiftly things can change at the Oscars.

Critics groups add momentum to the winners more than anything else. Not winning isn’t harmful, it just doesn’t give a contender like “A Complete Unknown” a boost. “Anora” (Neon) won just one prize, but it was the one you want: Best Film, and writer-director Sean Baker...

The awards season is winding down, the nominations are out and the final stretch of the race that concludes at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood with the 97th annual Oscars is on. That means it’s time for Deadline’s Contenders Film: The Nominees, our annual virtual nominees showcase that kicks off this morning at 9 a.m. Pt.

Click here to sign up for and launch the livestream.

In a season in which the Los Angeles wildfires tragedy have also affected the race — postponing some precursor ceremonies, delaying Oscar voting and the nominations announcement and putting into question whether the large number of voters in the area have had time to even see the movies, much less vote — Contenders offers one-stop shopping for a cross-section of nominated movies and designed to get voters more engaged and excited, and maybe even to catch up in this troubled season.

Although Emilia Pérez...

John Lithgow played the role of Cardinal Joseph Tremblay, one of the leading candidates to take over as the pope in Edward Berger’s Conclave. The film follows Ralph Fiennes’ Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, who is in charge of electing the next pope and uncovers secrets and scandals in the process. Lithgow’s character wasn’t innocent and there was one hint in the film that the actor managed to cover up well.

John Lithgow and Ralph Fiennes in a still from Conclave | Credits: Focus Features

Lithgow was sadly one of the biggest snubs at the Oscars despite the film’s eight nominations. He even spoke out against another Oscar snub in the film. The film’s director Edward Berger did not get nominated in the Best Director category, despite the film bagging Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Adapted Screenplay nods.

John Lithgow covered up one aspect of his character...

After a nearly one month postponement due to the wildfires in California, the Critics Choice Awards were held last night, with Emilia Pérez, The Substance and Wicked the only movies taking home more than two awards.

You can check out the full list of winners for the 30th Critics Choice Awards – for which our own editor-in-chief Chris Bumbray is an active voting member – below:

Best Picture: Anora

Best Director: John M. Chu, Wicked

Best Actor: Adrien Brody, The Brutalist

Best Actress: Demi Moore, The Substance

Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain

Best Supporting Actress: Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Perez

Best Young Actor/Actress: Marist Stella, My Old Ass

Best Acting Ensemble: Conclave

Best Original Screenplay: The Substance, Coralie Fargaet

Best Adapted Screenplay: Conclave, Peter Straughan

Best Cinematography: Nosferatu

Best Editing: Challengers

Best Costume Design: Wicked

Best Production Design: Wicked

Best Score: Challengers

Best Original Song: “El Mal”, Emilia Perez...

Reading Time: 4 minutes

It’s awards season, celebrity gossip fans.

In the wake of the Golden Globes being handed out a few weeks ago, and then the Oscar nominations being announced a short time later, the 2025 Critics Choice Awards honored the best in movies and television on Friday night.

The ceremony was hosted by Chelsea Handler.

And the stars who took home the major prizes? Scroll down for a full list of Critics Choice Awards winners…

Demi Moore accepts the Best Actress award for “The Substance” onstage during the 30th Annual Critics Choice Awards at Barker Hangar on February 7, 2025 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images for Critics Choice Association)

Best Picture

“A Complete Unknown”

“Anora” (Winner)

“The Brutalist”

“Conclave”

“Dune: Part Two”

“Emilia Pérez”

“Nickel Boys”

“Sing Sing”

“The Substance”

“Wicked”

Best Actor

Adrien Brody – “The Brutalist” (Winner)

Timothée Chalamet – “A Complete Unknown”

Daniel Craig – “Queer...

Actor Adrien Brody captured the Best Actor award at the 2025 Critics Choice Awards for his powerful performance in “The Brutalist,” a historical drama about a Jewish architect’s journey after the Holocaust.

Brody defeated a strong lineup of actors including Daniel Craig, Timothée Chalamet, and others to win the prestigious award. His portrayal of László Tóth, a Hungarian-born architect who emigrates to the United States, was praised by critics and industry professionals.

During the February 7th ceremony hosted by Chelsea Handler, the 51-year-old actor reflected on the rarity of such career moments. “I’ve been doing this since I was 12, and these moments are far and few between in an actor’s life,” Brody told the audience.

In an emotional acceptance speech, Brody thanked multiple supporters, including his film’s crew, cast, and studio A24. He also acknowledged his longtime partner Georgina Chapman and his parents, stating, “I could not be here without you.

The indie drama “Anora” surprised audiences by clinching Best Picture at the 30th annual Critics Choice Awards, marking a significant moment in this year’s film awards season. Distributed by Neon and previously awarded the Palme d’Or at Cannes, the film saved its most prestigious win for the event’s finale at Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar.

The ceremony, hosted by Chelsea Handler for the third consecutive year, highlighted both established talents and breakthrough performances across film and television. The win positions “Anora” as a strong contender for upcoming major awards, including potential nominations from the Directors Guild of America and Producers Guild of America.

In a notable moment, Jon M. Chu won Best Director for “Wicked,” a meaningful victory following his recent Oscar nomination snub. The Broadway musical adaptation also secured wins for Costume Design and Production Design.

Acting categories showcased diverse performances. Adrien Brody continued his awards season momentum,...

The 30th annual Critics Choice Awards took place on Friday, February 7, at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California. Three films—Wicked, Emilia Pérez, and The Substance—each won three awards. However, none of them claimed the top honor of Best Picture, which went to Anora. Interestingly, Anora didn’t win in any other category that night.

Jon M. Chu, director of Wicked, won Best Director, making him only the third filmmaker to win the award for a musical. The others were Baz Luhrmann for Moulin Rouge! and Damien Chazelle for La La Land. Chazelle later won an Oscar for directing La La Land, but Luhrmann and Chu didn’t even receive Oscar nominations for their films. Wicked also took home awards for Best Production Design and Best Costume Design.

Emilia Pérez won Best Foreign Language Film, Best Original Song for “El Mal”, and Best Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldaña.

AI is becoming an increasingly common tool in filmmaking, and its presence in Oscar contenders is stirring up debate. Recently, The Brutalist made headlines for using AI to refine Hungarian dialogue, but it’s far from the only film incorporating the technology. Other high-profile contenders, including Dune: Part Two, A Complete Unknown, and Emilia Pérez, have also utilized AI in various ways. As a result, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is now seriously considering making AI disclosure mandatory for Oscar submissions.

Currently, filmmakers can voluntarily disclose their use of AI, but that may soon change. Academy Governors and Branch executive committees are reviewing how AI is being implemented across different areas of filmmaking. The goal is to establish clearer rules for the 2026 Oscars, with final guidelines expected in April. The Academy’s SciTech Council is also working on precise language to define and regulate AI usage.

AI-driven...

The Critics Choice Awards are one of the most prestigious and sought-after awards in the film industry. They focus more on ratings and the acclaim that a project has than the world’s few on it, being associated similarly to the Oscars.

Anora won Best Picture at the Critics Choice Awards | Credits: Neon

They can also help predict the winners of the Oscars, as often the two have a similar winners’ list. Unfortunately, this year’s winners are proving to act as bad news for Timothée Chalamet and Mikey Madison.

The Critics Choice Awards winners were quite interesting

This year, the Critics Choice Awards had a lot of very difficult decisions to make with its lineup in almost every single category. From The Substance to The Brutalist and even Wicked, audiences saw all kinds of masterpieces this year, and pretty impressive ones managed to snag a nomination.

Demi Moore in The Substance | Credit: Mubi

However,...

Critics Choice Awards 2025: Top 5 Highlights (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Critics Choice Awards 2025: The 30th Annual Critics Choice Awards took place on February 7 after being postponed due to the wildfires. Emilia Perez received some of the top awards, including Best Foreign Language Film. There were some memorable moments at the ceremony night, and one of the best was honoring and acknowledging the first responders by giving them a standing ovation. In addition, Angelina Jolie and Jackie Chan reappeared at the Critics Choice Awards, which also made news. We have listed the five biggest highlights from the award night. To find out more, scroll below!

Three of the most discussed films of last year, The Substance, Wicked, and Emilia Perez, won the most awards at the ceremony. However, Anora surprised everyone by taking home the Best Picture award. Demi Moore won the much-deserved Best Actress award, and once again, her speech was simply amazing.

Mikey Madison as Ani and Mark Eydelshteyn as Ivan in ‘Anora’ (Courtesy of Neon)

Wicked and Conclave went into the 2025 Critics Choice Awards with the most nominations, but voters (myself included) spread the wealth around, showering Wicked, Conclave, The Brutalist, Anora, The Substance (congrats Demi Moore!), and Emilia Perez with film awards. On the TV drama side, Shogun earned Best Drama, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress awards. Hacks cleaned up in the TV comedy categories, scoring Best Comedy, Best Actress, and Best Supporting Actress.

The Critics Choice Awards were held on February 7, 2025 with Chelsea Handler returning as host for the third time. Handler spent time during the opening of her monologue to thank first responders for their incredible work during the Los Angeles wildfires. She also thanked Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni for providing a distraction from waking up every day not knowing what news will disappoint or horrify us.

Anora won the top prize of best picture at the 2025 Critics Choice Awards, while Emilia Pérez, Wicked and The Substance each captured three trophies.

The Brutalist star Adrien Brody won best actor; Demi Moore won best actress for her work in The Substance; Emilia Pérez actress Zoe Saldaña won best supporting actress and A Real Pain‘s Kieran Culkin, who wasn’t in attendance, won best supporting actor.

Emilia Pérez, currently dealing with the fallout from controversial, recently resurfaced tweets by star and best actress Oscar nominee Karla Sofía Gascón, won two other awards at the ceremony, voting for which closed on Jan. 10, well before Gascón’s past posts emerged. The mood within Santa Monica’s Barker Hangar, where the awards took place, was relatively somber with each win for the Netflix musical. Still, the film took home awards for best foreign language film and best song in addition to Saldaña’s trophy.

Critics Choice Awards 2025: Full List Of Winners (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Critics Choice Awards 2025: The award season continues with another much-coveted award night. It is the 30th Annual Critics Choice Awards, where both films and television artists are awarded. Shogun has secured quite a few awards, including Best Drama Series. Deadpool & Wolverine and Emilia Perez, too, bagged two top awards at the ceremony. Keep scrolling for the complete winners list.

For the uninitiated, the ceremony was held at the Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport on February 7. It was live-streamed on E! According to reports, it was supposed to be held on January 12 but was postponed due to the California fires.

American comedian/actress Chelsea Handler hosted the Critics Choice Awards 2025, while many Hollywood actors took the stage to present the trophies. The list includes Aldis Hodge, Allison Tolman, Chase Stokes, Craig Robinson, David Alan Grier, David Harbour,...

After two separate delays due to the Los Angeles wildfires, the 2025 Critics Choice Awards have all finally been handed out. The winners list provides another indicator of the strength of several films leading into the Academy Awards March 2, though TV plays a big role in the Critics Choice Awards as well — even if many of the top contenders on that side of the event, such as “Shogun,” which led the TV awards with four wins, are not eligible for this September’s Emmys having already stormed last year’s Emmys.

“Anora” won Best Picture out of a field of 10 nominees. It was the only Critics Choice Award the Sean Baker film starring Mikey Madison won full stop. The most film wins went to “Wicked,” “Emilia Pérez,” and “The Substance” with three each.

“Wicked” won Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, and, in a shock, Best Director for Jon M. Chu,...

The Critics Choice Awards spread the wealth on Friday night, with seven films winning above-the-line awards, including a shocking Best Picture win for Anora.

The Sean Baker film was blanked by the Critics Choice Awards until the night’s final award, failing to convert bids in Best Original Screenplay (which Baker was favored to win), Best Actress for Mikey Madison, Best Supporting Actor for Yura Borisov, Best Director for Baker, Best Ensemble, and Best Editing (for Baker).

Anora wasn’t the only unexpected winner during the ceremony. Just before the Neon release and six-time Oscar nominee took home Best Picture, Wicked filmmaker Jon M. Chu won Best Director honors. The victory was a shock. Chu, who was snubbed in the Oscars Best Director category, bested Oscar nominees Jacques Audiard (Emilia Pérez), Baker, Brady Corbet (The Brutalist), and Coralie Fargeat (The Substance) for the honor. However, the result might have something...

Anora won Best Picture at Friday’s Critics Choice Awards. It was the Neon film’s only victory of the night, preventing an 0-for-7 shutout, and the first time in Critics Choice history that a film won the top award and nothing else.

Twice delayed by the Los Angeles wildfires, the 30th Critics Choice Awards was the first stop of a weekend that could clarify the open Best Picture Oscar race, but Critics Choice didn’t quite do that in a ceremony that spread the wealth with a couple of surprise wins. Jon M. Chu (Wicked) pulled off a shocker in Best Director, while Coralie Fargeat (The Substance) upset Sean Baker (Anora) in Best Original Screenplay.

While Critics Choice is not an industry award, 17 of its previous 29 Best Picture winners went on to claim the Oscar. However, there have been five mismatches in the last 10 years, most recently three years...

After two postponements due to the recent Los Angeles wildfires, the 30th annual Critics Choice Awards were at last held on Friday — and it was a big night for Shōgun.

FX’s acclaimed drama, which went into the evening with the most TV category nods, ultimately won in four of the five categories for which it was nominated, including trophies for Best Drama Series, Actor in a Drama (Hiroyuki Sanada), Supporting Actor in a Drama (Tadanobu Asano) and Supporting Actress in a Drama (Moeka Hoshi). Anna Sawai, however — nominated for Best Actress in a Drama Series — ultimately lost out to Kathy Bates,...

The best in both movies and television were honored at the 2025 Critics Choice Awards!

So many stars stepped out for the awards show on Friday (February 7) at the Barker Hanger in Santa Monica, Calif.

Heading into the show, Wicked and Conclave were the most nominated movies of the night with 11 nominations each while Shogun led the TV categories with 6 nominations.

Make sure to check out our Best Dressed list to see all of the best looks from the red carpet.

Head inside to check out the complete winners list for the Critics Choice Awards…

Keep scrolling to see the full winners list from the Critics Choice Awards…

Movie Categories:

Best Picture

A Complete Unknown

Anora – Winner

The Brutalist

Conclave

Dune: Part Two

Emilia Pérez

Nickel Boys

Sing Sing

The Substance

Wicked

Best Actor

Adrien Brody – The Brutalist – Winner

Timothée Chalamet – A Complete Unknown

Daniel Craig – Queer

Colman Domingo – Sing Sing...

“Wicked” director Jon M. Chu beat out several Oscar nominees for best director at the Critics’ Choice Awards Friday evening, taking home the prize from that body. The filmmaker seemed stunned as he took the stage at the behest of his encouraging cast, including stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande.

“I’m going to win that Oscar!” Chu began in his speech, drawing a huge laugh from the room, before waving it away with his hand and smiling, “I’m not nominated, I’m not nominated.”

Chu went on to explain he hadn’t written a speech, saying that “I will be real with you. … We get to tell stories for our life. I’d been waiting to not think about algebra or grammar ever again. I just wanted to make movies. I wanted to work with my friends. I wanted to share whatever it is we had in our heads that week,...