The 96th Academy Awards red carpet kicked off early on Sunday with the biggest awards show in Hollywood beginning an hour earlier this year at 4 pm PST.
Nikki Bella, Laverne Cox and Zuri Hall looked sensational in their gowns as they were the first to walk the long path up to the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood.
Reality TV star Nikki went with a golden gown that was lowcut and had feather fringe on the hem for a coquettish look.
Movie star and TV host Cox was in black and gold as she looked as elegant as ever adding sky-high heels.
And Hall went with a classic sleeveless dress in a rich golden color. She also had a long train for added drama.
The show honors the best films of 2023.
The most hotly anticipated movies of the past year – Barbie and Oppenheimer – lead the nominations.
Oppenheimer has bagged 13 nods, including best picture and best actor for Cillian Murphy – who is favorite to win the major category after scooping a BAFTA, a Golden Globe and SAG award for his role as physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer.
The impressive total – which also includes best supporting actor and actress for Robert Downey Jr. and Emily Blunt, as well as best director for Christopher Nolan – is just one nomination short of the all-time record set by Titanic in 1998.
Last year’s other smash hit movie – Barbie – was nominated for eight awards, but also fell victim to notable snubs from the Academy.
Reality TV star Nikki went with a golden gown that was lowcut and had feather fringe on the hem for a coquettish look
Movie star and TV host Cox was in black and gold as she looked as elegant as ever adding sky-high heels
And Hall went with a classic sleeveless dress in a rich golden color. She also had a long train for added drama
Its star Margot Robbie was not nominated for best actress, while Greta Gerwig was not nominated for best director.
Another surprise saw America Ferrera nominated for best supporting actress over her role in Barbie, with pundits saying her character’s impassioned speech on feminism had sealed the deal.
Barbie’s other nominations include best picture, best supporting actor for Ryan Gosling and two nods for best song – including Gosling’s famed ‘I’m Just Ken.’
The second most-nominated movie was Poor Things, a graphic art house movie starring Emma Stone that has wowed critics but so-far failed to set the box office alight.
Stone plays a sex-crazed young woman, with her performance wowing critics. She previously won best actress in 2017 for her performance in La La Land.
For best actor in leading role Bradley Cooper and Cillian Murphy are set to duke it out for the award. Colman Domingo, Paul Giamatti and Jeffrey Wright received nominations as well.
Leonardo DiCaprio was not recognized for his acting on Killers Of The Flower Moon.
Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer was nominated for best director and a host of other awards
What Was I Made For and I’m Just Ken from Barbie received their expected nominations for best original song
Lily Gladstone is the first Native American nominated for best actress, for her performance in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon
Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things took home 11 Oscar nominations and Killers of the Flower Moon landed 10.
Annette Bening, Lily Gladstone, Sandra Huller, Carey Mulligan and Emma Stone have been nominated for best actress in a leading role.
Gladstone is the first Native American nominated for best actress, for her performance in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon – and is the favorite in the category thanks to her wins at the Golden Globes and SAG Awards,
What Was I Made For by Billie Eilish and I’m Just Ken performed by Ryan Gosling from Barbie received their expected nominations for best original song.
Sterling K. Brown, Robert De Niro, Robert Downey Jr., Ryan Gosling and Mark Ruffalo received nominations for best actor in a supporting role.
Emily Blunt, Danielle Brooks, America Ferrera, Jodie Foster and Da’Vine Joy Randolph received nominations for best actress in a supporting role.
Joy already has Golden Globe, Bafta, Critics Choice and Screen Actors Guild awards and is favorite for an Oscar for her performance as a bereaved cook in The Holdovers.
Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer were nominated for best directing, snubbing Greta Gerwig’s Barbie.
Da’Vine Joy Randolph was nominated for best actress in a supporting role for her part in The Holdovers
Emma Stone and Mark Ruffalo were both nominated for their roles in Poor Things
Bradley Cooper was nominated for best actor, but was snubbed of a directing nod for Maestro
Gerwig was nominated for best director in 2018 for her solo directorial debut, Lady Bird. Only three women have won Oscars for best director – Kathryn Bigelow, Chloe Zhao and Jane Campion.
Though Nolan is regarded as the big-budget auteur of his era, he’s never won an Academy Award, nor have any of his films won best picture.
Bradley Cooper was not nominated for directing Maestro but he was recognized for his acting in that bio movie.
American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Oppenheimer, Past Lives, Poor Things and The Zone of Interest landed best picture nominations.
The 96th Academy Awards will be held on March 10 at 7 pm ET/4pm PT live on ABC, hosted for a fourth time by Jimmy Kimmel.
