2025 Oscars: Universal’s Film Empire Nabs Historic 25 Noms, Netflix Leads Individual List With 16
When it comes to this year’s Oscar nominations, the love was spread across the distributor scoreboard, from legacy Hollywood studios and their specialty divisions, to streamers and maverick indie distributors.
Netflix walked away with the most of any individual distributor on Tuesday with a total of 16 nods after Emilia Pérez landed a spot in 13 categories, the most of any film this year and setting a new record for a non-English-language film. And it’s just one shy of the all-time record for any film (All About Eve, Titanic and La La Land each landed 14).
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Next up on the Academy’s scorecard of top-nominated individual distributors was powerhouse A24 with 14, including 10 for The Brutalist. The movie, which swept the Golden Globes, will use its front-runner status as it continues to expand in theaters, where it has earned a promising $5.9 million despite only playing in several hundred cinemas to date.
Universal Pictures’ Wicked likewise scored 10 noms in a major win for a film that is both an awards darling and a commercial studio hit. For years, many have attributed the declining interest in watching the Oscars telecast to the fact that many of the nominees are arthouse films that may only play in a smattering of top markets. Wicked has grossed north of $800 million to date at the global box office, making it the top-grossing film vying for best picture. Cynthia Erivo, who is up for best actress, and Ariana Grande, who is up for best supporting actress, have huge followings, which could help the telecast.
Universal’s larger film empire, which includes Focus Features and DreamWorks Animation (home of sleeper hit The Wild Robot), made history on Tuesday in nabbing a combined 25 nods, its best showing ever. It surpassed last year’s then-record 18 that was led by Christopher Nolan’s best picture winner Oppenheimer.
This year, Universal Pictures proper led with 13 noms, followed by Focus with 11. This is the third year-in-a row in which both labels have a title in the best picture race. Focus has Conclave, which walked away with eight noms to tie with Brokeback Mountain and Milk to rank as the most nominated film in Focus’ history. And Conclave was one of the top-grossing specialty titles of 2024 after successfully making the leap from the arthouse to the multiplex. To date, it has grossed north of $76 million globally.
Searchlight Pictures, landing 10 nominations, helped Disney’s vast film empire pick up a total of 15 nominations, including eight for A Complete Unknown and two for A Real Pain. Disney is also home of 20th Century Studios and National Geographic Films, which also earned nods.
A Complete Unknown is another best picture contender that is doing real box office business, earning nearly $60 million to date after opening on Christmas Day. And, of course, Pixar and Disney’s Inside Out 2, which is up for best animated feature, is the top-grossing animated film of all time with nearly $1.7 billion in worldwide ticket sales.
Rule-bending indie distributor Noen also made a strong showing in picking up seven noms — six went to Palme d’Or winner Anora. It bested Warner Bros.’ five noms and Paramount’s three. Warners’ noms were all for Legendary’s Dune: Part Two, another best picture contender and box-office heavyweight, which grossed $705 million globally.
Here is the Academy’s nominee count by individual distributor.
Netflix — 16
Emilia Pérez, Maria, Wallace, Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
A24 — 14
The Brutalist
Sing, Sing
*Universal — 13
Wicked, The Wild Robot
Focus Features — 12
Conclave, Nosferatu
Searchlight — 10
A Complete Unknown, A Real Pain
Neon — 7
Anora, The Secret of the Sacred Fig
MUBI — 6
The Substance
Warner Bros. — 5
Dune: Part Two
Paramount — 3
Better Man, September 5
Sony Pictures Classics — 3
I’m Still Here
Briarcliff Entertainment/Rich Spirit — 2
The Apprentice
Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios — 2
The Nickel Boys
Sideshow/Janus Films — 2
Flow
20th Century — 2
Alien: Romulus, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Disney+ — 1
Elton John: Never Too Late
IFC Films — 1
Memoir of a Snail
Kino Lorber — 1
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
MTV Documentary Films — 1
I Am Ready, Warden
National Geographic Documentary Films — 1
Sugarcane
Picturehouse — 1
Porcelain War
**Disney — 1
Inside Out 2
*Universal’s count includes Focus and DreamWorks Animation.
**Disney’s count includes Searchlight, 20th Century Studios, Disney+ and National Geogrpaic and Nat Geographic Documentary Films.
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