Netflix must surely pick up the champagne.
The streaming leviathan rose on Monday over the nominations for the 93rd Oscar award. Netflix picks up 35 leading nominations and beats its own previous record of 24 which it set in 2020 when ‘The Irishman’ and ‘Marriage Story’ were among the biggest contenders.
This year, Netflix received ten nominations for David Fincher’s ‘Mank,’ a black-and-white ode to Hollywood that was also the year’s most nominated feature. “Man” was nominated for Best Picture, Kick for Gary Oldman and Amanda Seyfried and a Directing Award for Fincher.
Netflix’s other best competitor, Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” garnered six nominations. It was also recognized for Sacha Baron Cohen’s supportive performance as activist Abbie Hoffman and for Sorkin’s screenplay.
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” could not get the best nomination for the picture, but the adaptation of August Wilson’s classic play received five nods. Viola Davis was nominated for Best Actress for playing the blues singer who gave the film its name, while Chadwick Boseman was nominated for a posthumous award for acting. Boseman died in August at the age of 43.
Other Netflix Oscar nominees include ‘The White Tiger’, the animated ‘Over the Moon’ and ‘Crip Camp’, a documentary by Higher Ground, the production company founded by former President Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama . In 2018, Higher Ground signed a multi-year agreement with Netflix for the production of screenplays and unwritten films and television programs.
Netflix has done well at the Oscars since its first nomination in 2014 for the documentary feature for ‘The Square’. But even though it has won awards such as “Roma” and “Marriage Story”, it has so far failed to win an Oscar.
Netflix was not the only streaming service to celebrate something on Monday. Amazon Studios also received its highest Oscar nomination ever, with 12 nods. The streaming service has driven ‘The Sound of Metal’ to six nominations, including a best picture picnic and one for its star Riz Ahmed. It also garnered nominations for ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’ and ‘One Night at Miami’.
At the same time, it was a great day for Disney’s streaming efforts. Hulu gets a nomination for Andra Day’s starring turn in ‘The United States Vs. Billie Holiday ”, while Disney Plus received the first Oscar nomination since its launch in 2019. The service cut the best animated feature for ‘Onward’ and ‘Soul’, of which the latter also received nominations for best score and sound. ‘Mulan’, another Disney Plus version, received nominations for costumes and visual effects, just like the company’s ‘The One and Only Ivan’. “Nomadland”, produced by the Disney searchlight, is currently airing on Hulu.
Apple, which participated in the film competition just over a year ago, achieved its first nominations, with a best animated feature nod for ‘Wolfwalkers’ and the best sound nod for ‘Greyhound’.
Many of the films that achieved these streaming services after Oscar success have their origins in traditional studios. Paramount was planning to release ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7’, Universal was originally slated to debut ‘Borat 2’, and ‘Greyhound’ was a Sony release. COVID-19 changed these plans, leading studios and filmmakers to seek alternative distribution strategies and sell movies to Netflix and its kind.
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