Oscar Nominations Snubs and Surprises: ‘Challengers’ Shut Out, Selena Gomez and Denzel Washington Miss and ‘Nosferatu’ Overperforms

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2025’s Oscar nominations bypassed several prominent figures and potential winners (Angelina Jolie, Denzel Washington, Nicole Kidman, Selena Gomez, Zendaya, Luca Guadagnino, and the rest of the Challengers team) who weren’t acknowledged this time around.

Surprisingly, even though Challengers had been in contention for awards throughout the season, earning Golden Globe nominations for both the film itself and its lead actress Zendaya, as well as winning at the Globes for Best Score, they did not receive a single Oscar nomination on Thursday.

Luca Guadagnino, the director of “Challengers”, found his other potential award-winning film, “Queer” featuring Daniel Craig, overlooked in all categories at the awards ceremonies, even excluding Craig who had been tipped as a possible best actor nominee but was surprisingly not recognized by the BAFTAs.

Additionally, two-time Academy Award winner Washington was also overlooked by the BAFTAs but remained a contender. His performance in Gladiator II, which garnered just one nomination, didn’t make the cut for the Best Supporting Actor category.

The film “Maria,” featuring Angelina Jolie, was anticipated to be nominated in several categories but ended up receiving only one nomination – for the outstanding cinematography work of Ed Lachman, a favorite for Oscars.

Despite predictions suggesting some nods, movies such as “Challengers” and “Queer,” including Nicole Kidman-starrer “Babygirl” and erotic thriller, failed to receive any nominations on Thursday morning. Other notable snubs include “The Last Showgirl,” featuring Pamela Anderson and Jamie Lee Curtis who were SAG Awards nominees, Mike Leigh’s “Hard Truths” with Marianne Jean-Baptiste, a likely contender after acclaim this season, and Ireland’s “Kneecap,” which was overlooked for the best international feature nomination despite strong BAFTA nominations.

Despite the poor performance of other movies, Robert Eggers’ vampire flick Nosferatu surpassed expectations by garnering a total of four nominations. These were for outstanding achievements in cinematography, costume design, makeup and hairstyling, as well as production design.

In other contenders for Best Picture, “Sing Sing, September 5” and “A Real Pain” failed to secure nominations, even though the latter two had previously been nominated by the Producers Guild Awards. Interestingly, “Nickel Boys” and “I’m Still Here” made unexpected appearances among the Best Picture nominees.

In the category for Best Picture, “Sing Sing, September 5” and “A Real Pain” didn’t make the cut for nominations, despite both having been recognized by the Producers Guild Awards. On the other hand, “Nickel Boys” and “I’m Still Here”, unexpectedly, were included in the list of Best Picture nominees.

Following Denis Villeneuve’s Dune impressing the Film Academy, there was significant anticipation for Dune: Part 2. Regrettably, in categories where it was predicted to secure a nomination – such as adapted screenplay, costume design, makeup and hairstyling, and editing – the sequel fell short. However, it managed to secure a nomination for Best Picture instead.

In the category of Best Supporting Actress, Margaret Qualley from “The Substance” and Selena Gomez in “Emilia Pérez” were not nominated as expected, whereas Monica Barbaro from “A Complete Unknown”, playing Joan Baez, did receive a nomination.

In the category of Best Supporting Actor, it came as a surprise that Clarence Maclin from “Sing Sing” wasn’t nominated, as Jeremy Strong from “The Apprentice” was selected instead.

However, even though their films received nominations, directors Edward Berger for “Conclave”, Jon M. Chu for “Wicked”, and RaMell Ross for “Nickel Boys” were not among those nominated in the Best Director category.

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2025-01-23 19:25