“Barbenheimer” is officially over. While Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” may have outdueled its release date mate by a little under $500 million at the worldwide box office, Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer” has taken the most coveted award of them all, the Oscar for Best Picture. The Universal Pictures release ended the 96th Academy Awards with 7 Oscars overall including Best Director (Nolan), Best Actor (Cillian Murphy), Supporting Actor (Robert Downey, Jr.), Editing (Jennifer Lame), Original Score (Ludwig Göransson), and Cinematography (Hoyte van Hoytema).
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A recipient of 12 Oscar nominations overall, “Oppenheimer” was also recognized with a nomination in the Supporting Actress (Emily Blunt), Costumes, Makeup and Hairstyling, Production Design, and Best Sound categories.
“Oppenheimer” is Universal’s second Best Picture winner in the past five years after the controversial “Green Book” took the prize in 2019. This is also the studio’s 10th Best Picture win, putting it solely in third place all-time behind Columbia Pictures and Paramount Pictures. Those studios have 12 and 11 wins, respectively. However, neither of those two companies has won Best Picture since Paramount’s “Titanic” in 1998. It appears the chances Universal catches up with them sooner rather than later are worth betting on.
Chronicling the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer, known as the father of the Atomic Bomb, Nolan’s critically acclaimed epic dominated awards season. It won the SAG Ensemble Award (as well as Lead Actor and Supporting Actor), the PGA Award for Theatrical Motion Pictures, the DGA Award, the BAFTA Award for Best Film, the Art Directors Guild Award for Period Film, the Golden Globe for Motion Picture-Drama and numerous other critics and guild honors. It also remarkably pulled this off with only Nolan being able to promote the film while the SAG strike dragged on until Nov. 9, already two months into the “official” season.
While it didn’t hit the $1 billion mark like “Barbie” did, “Oppenheimer” still grossed a massive $957 million globally. An incredible number considering its subject matter. It was also made for only a reported $100 million, making it a massive moneymaker for Universal. It becomes the third highest-grossing Best Picture winner ever after “Titanic” ($2.2 billion) and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” ($1.1 billion). Obviously, this is not taking 96 years of inflation into account.
Part of its success was due to the incredible cast Nolan assembled. Outside of Downey, Jr., Blunt, and Murphy, the ensemble included Florence Pugh, Rami Malek, Matt Damon, Gary Oldman, Jason Clarke, Casey Affleck, Alden Ehrenreich, Olivia Thirlby, Jason Clarke, Benny Safdie, and Josh Hartnett, just to name a few. In fact, for many, it will be the first Best Picture winner on their substantial resumes.
The nine other films nominated for Best Picture this year were the aforementioned “Barbie,” “American Fiction,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “The Holdovers,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro,” “Past Lives,” “Poor Things,” and “The Zone of Interest.”