With seven wins, 'Oppenheimer' nearly swept the Oscars 2024 on Sunday. The biopic of J Robert Oppenheimer, the American physicist who went on to be the Father of the Atomic Bomb, was nominated for a total of 13 awards.
While the success of 'Oppenheimer' may look unprecedented in recent years, it is neither the most successful so far nor the most nominated film. The film, however, eclipsed all others at the Oscars 2024 and outshone 'Barbie', which released around the same time as 'Oppenheimer' last year and became the year's highest-grossing film. The two films together revived the fledgling theatre industry reeling from the downturn of the Covid-19 pandemic and led to a phenomenon called 'Barbenheimer'.
In the nearly century-long history of the Oscars, some films, filmmakers, and performers have stood out — like 'Oppenheimer' this year. While Walter Disney, Meryl Streep, and 'Titanic' are household names, other big winners and nominees from the yesteryears may come as a surprise.
Here we share the biggest Oscars and nominees of all time and shine the light on this year's Oscars.
'Oppenheimer' Sweeps Oscars
Of the 13 categories that 'Oppenheimer' was nominated in, it won seven, creating a record in recent years.
'Oppenheimer', the latest Christopher Nolan film, won three of the 'Big 5' categories. Besides the Best Film, Cillian Murphy won the Best Actor for his haunting performance of the titular character's tryst with history, travails with the politics of the time, and moral dilemma of building the most devastating weapon for humankind. For 'Oppenheimer', Nolan also won the first Best Director award of his career that includes the likes of cult hits 'Inception', 'Tenet', 'Interstellar', and the 'The Dark Knight' trilogy.
Reflecting the sombre theme of the film, in his post-award speech, Murphy said, "You know, we made a film about the man who created the atomic bomb and for better or for worse we’re all living in Oppenheimer’s world, so I’d really like to dedicate this to the peacemakers everywhere."
The other awards that 'Oppenheimer' won are: Best Supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr, Best Original Score: Ludwig Göransson, Best Cinematography: Hoyte van Hoytema, Best Film Editing: Jennifer Lame.
Writing in The New York Times, Brooks Barnes noted that the success of 'Oppenheimer' marked a break from years of superhero films and independent films like the 'Parasite' and 'Moonlight' that dominated the space in recent years.
"By showering 'Oppenheimer' with honors, Hollywood was awarding the film as much for its artistry as for its against-all-odds performance in theaters. In an era when superheroes, paint-by-numbers franchise sequels and movies based on toys have blotted out traditional filmmaking at the box office, 'Oppenheimer', a drama with nearly $1 billion in ticket sales, gave the film elite hope that traditional cinema has not been entirely lost. 'Oppenheimer' marked a shift for the Academy Awards. Call it the revenge of the studio movie. In recent years, Hollywood's top prize has gone almost exclusively to independent movies like 'Everything Everywhere All at Once', 'CODA', 'Parasite' and 'Moonlight'. 'Oppenheimer', made by Universal Pictures, is something of a throwback — an expensive film from an old-line studio," noted Barnes in his commentary.
Besides 'Oppenheimer', the other film that swept the awards was 'Poor Things'. Emma Stone won Best Actress for 'Poor Things'. The film also won the Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, and Best Makeup and Hairstyling awards.
The other key awards are as follows:
Best Supporting Actress : Da’Vine Joy Randolph for 'The Holdovers',
Best Animated Feature : 'The Boy and the Heron'
Best International Feature : 'The Zone of Interest'
Best Documentary : '20 Days in Mariupol'
Best Original Song : Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell for 'What Was I Made For?' from 'Barbie'
Best Original Screenplay : Justine Triet and Arthur Harari for 'Anatomy of a Fall'
Best Adapted Screenplay : Cord Jefferson for 'American Fiction'
Biggest Individual Oscar Winners And Nominees Of All Times
The record for the most wins and nominations at Oscars ever is with Walt Disney, the pioneer animator and the co-founder of the entertainment and media giant The Walt Disney Company.
Disney received a total of 26 awards. Of these awards, 22 were competitive awards and four were honorary awards, according to CBS News. He was also nominated for a total of 59 times in his long career, which is also an all-time record.
Among the actresses, Katherine Hepburn has the most wins with four awards: 'Morning Glory' (1933), 'Guess Who's Coming to Dinner' (1967), 'The Lion in Winter' (1968), 'On Golden Pond' (1981). She also received a total of 12 nominations.
Among the actors, Walter Brennan, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Jack Nicholson are tied for most Oscars with three each. Among them, Day-Lewis is the only one with three Best Actor awards, according to CBS.
Day-Lewis is the only man with three Oscars for best actor, according to CBS. He won the awards for 'My Left Foot' (1989), 'There Will Be Blood' (2008), and 'Lincoln' (2013).
Among performers overall, Streep has the most nominations at 21. She also has two Best Actress awards ('Sophie's Choice', 1982; 'The Iron Lady', 2012).
Biggest Oscar Winners And Nominee Films
Three films are tied at the first position for the biggest Oscars winners of all times with 11 awards each. These are: 'Ben-Hur' (1959), 'Titanic' (1997), 'The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King' (2003).
Among the most-nominated films, three films are tied with 14 nominations each: 'All about Eve' (1950), 'Titanic' (1997), and 'La La Land' (2016). While 'Titanic' won 11 awards, the other two won six awards each.
The most special achievement of a film, however, is to win the 'Big 5' category of awards. These categories are: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay (original or adapted). In the 96 editions of Oscars, only three films have swept the Big 5 list, according to Screenrant. These three films are 'It Happened One Night' (1934), 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' (1975), and 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991).
Among the international films, 'Parasite' (2020) is the most successful with four wins. The film was the first international film to win the Best Film award, according to Collider. Of the total six nominations, the film also won the Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best International Feature awards, meaning that the film won the two of 'Big 5' awards.
