All right, it’s time to get down to business. Oscar nominations will be announced this morning, and finally we’ll know if “The Brutalist” is the real deal by placing in a raft of categories, if “Emilia Pérez” truly has taken awards season by storm or if the “Wicked” witches will rule Oz
and Hollywood.
The lack of a clear front-runner has made this awards season – and the road to the 97th Academy Awards on March 2 – somewhat unpredictable if not intriguing. With various acting performances and acclaimed technical design, “Brutalist,” “Emilia” and “Wicked,” plus the acclaimed papal thriller “Conclave,” seem to be the odds-on favorites to gather up the most nominations. All are expected best picture contenders alongside “A Complete Unknown,” “Dune: Part Two,” “The Substance” and “Anora.”
“The Brutalist” star Adrien Brody is a favorite in the best actor category, while the best actress category potentially offers high-profile comebacks (Demi Moore from “The Substance” and Pamela Anderson of “The Last Showgirl”) as well as noteworthy breakthroughs (“Anora” newcomer Mikey Madison and “Emilia Pérez” star
).
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Stay tuned for news on all the nominations when they’re announced by Rachel Sennott and “Saturday Night Live” regular Bowen Yang beginning at 8:30 a.m. ET/5:30 PT. Watch on Oscars.com, Oscars.org, the Academy’s digital platforms (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook), “Good Morning America,” Disney+ or Hulu.
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Who is hosting the Oscars in 2025?
Comedian and former late-night host Conan O’Brien is hosting the Oscars for the first time, following in the footsteps of Jimmy Kimmel, Steve Martin, Billy Crystal, Chris Rock and many more.
This year’s Academy Awards is tweaking other aspects of its presentation as well. One major change: The best song category presentation is ditching the usually popular live performances of nominated tunes and focusing instead on the songwriters themselves. The Academy also promised to honor Los Angeles as “the city of dreams” and reflect on the city’s “beauty and resilience” in the wake of the destructive wildfires that pushed back awards shows and resulted in the cancellation of the Oscar nominees luncheon.
Who’s expected to be nominated for an Academy Award?
With a Golden Globe win and a Screen Actors Guild nomination, Adrien Brody (“The Brutalist”) is in the pole position in the best actor race. He likely will be nominated with Timothée Chalamet (“A Complete Unknown”),
Ralph Fiennes (“Conclave”) and Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”). In the best actress race, Demi Moore (“The Substance”) looks strong as does Mikey Madison (“Anora”), Cynthia Erivo (“Wicked”) and Karla Sofía Gascón (“Emilia Pérez”), a Globe nominee who’s primed to make history as the first trans actress ever in the category.
Kieran Culkin leads a supporting actor contingent that could include his old “Succession” co-star Jeremy Strong (“The Apprentice”), newcomer
(“Anora”) and
Edward Norton as Pete Seeger (“A Complete Unknown”), while Zoe Saldaña looks to be in a two-woman race with Ariana Grande (“Wicked”) for supporting actress gold. See more of our Oscar nominations predictions
here.
How can I watch this year’s Academy Awards?
The Oscars, held at Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, will air March 2 on ABC at 7 p.m. ET/4 PT and, for the first time, will be available to stream live on Hulu and also on demand the next day. Before the main ceremony, the official red carpet show will air on ABC starting at 6:30 ET/3:30 PT.
Contributing: Brendan Morrow and Jay Stahl
