Breaking News January 10, 2024: ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ Tie for the Most SAG Awards Film Nominations, Angela Bassett Finally Gets Her Oscar
Barbenheimer is poised to dominate another awards ceremony as Barbie and Oppenheimer tie for the most SAG Awards film nominations with four apiece. The 30th Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards often predict the nominations for the Academy Awards.
Barbie got nominated for SAG's Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role (Margot Robbie), Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role (Ryan Gosling), and Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture. Oppenheimer received SAG nominations for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture, Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (Cillian Murphy), Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role (Robert Downey Jr.), and Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role (Emily Blunt).
Unlike the Barbenheimer phenomenon that benefitted both Barbie and Oppenheimer in theaters, the two movies are now competing against each other in a couple of the same categories at the SAG Awards.
The SAG Awards will stream live globally on Netflix for the first time this year. Click here for a full list of SAG nominees.
Will ‘Cheers' Actress Shelley Long Return as Diane on the ‘Frasier' Reboot Starring Kelsey Grammer?
There is one Cheers character Kelsey Grammer would like to see on his Frasier reboot: Diane Chambers, played by Shelley Long. Cheers introduced Frasier Crane in season three as a love interest for Diane. Long later made several appearances on the original Frasier series.
Entertainment Weekly reports that while Grammer guested on The Kelly Clarkson Show, the actor talked about Frasier “putting something to bed” and making nice with Diane after all of these years. “When I first got the role, the key to Frasier for me was that he loved her with his whole heart, that he loved with all of his being,” said Grammer. “And that actually defined who he is. He’s been that way ever since. He just goes in wholeheartedly with everything — and that’s what makes him funny.”
Paramount+ has yet to renew the rebooted Frasier for a second season.
Warner Bros. Yanks Robert Pattinson Movie ‘Mickey 17’ from Schedule, Moves Up ‘Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire’
Warner Bros. has removed the Bong Joon-ho sci-fi film Mickey 17 starring Robert Pattinson from its schedule. The studio also bumped up the release date of Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire to March 29.
Sources reportedly told Variety that “the decision to move the highly anticipated sci-fi movie [Mickey 17] from the Korean filmmaker was made to allow more time to finish the project, which had been affected due to last year’s strikes and other various production shifts. Thus, the latest installment in Warner Bros. and Legendary Entertainment’s Godzilla x Kong franchise, which was previously scheduled to hit theaters on April 12, will now debut two weeks earlier.”
Mickey 17 is Joon-ho's first movie since Parasite, which became the first non-English language movie to win the Best Picture Oscar.
Angela Bassett Finally Gets Her Oscar
As we wait to see how the just-announced SAG nominations influence Oscar voting, the 14th Governors Awards handed out honorary Oscars at a private dinner in Hollywood last night. One of the recipients, Angela Bassett, was nominated for two acting Oscars during her long career.
According to the Associated Press, “The annual event is put on by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize contributions to the industry and a life’s achievement. It used to be part of the Oscars telecast but shifted to a separate occasion in 2009, where there would be no time constraints on the speeches.”
During Bassett's moving speech, she described acting as a calling, not a career. She said that the honorary Oscar was “a testament to my legacy” and noted that she is only the second Black actress to receive an honorary Oscar. “The stakes are extremely high because history depends on us,” said Bassett. “My prayer is that we leave this industry more enriched.”
Referring to Bassett, host John Mulaney said, “She got an Oscar nomination for a Marvel movie…that’s like getting a Pulitzer Prize for a Reddit comment.”
‘Saltburn’ Star Barry Keoghan Nearly Died from Flesh-Eating Bacteria
Everyone who has seen Saltburn knows that actor Barry Keoghan lets it all hang out and frequently appears without clothes. What viewers may not know is that Keoghan almost died after a nasty battle with flesh-eating bacteria right before the filming of The Banshees of Inisherin commenced.
In an interview with GQ, The Banshees of Inisherin writer-director Martin McDonagh recounted how necrotizing fasciitis — aka flesh-eating bacteria — left Keoghan facing possible arm amputation or worse. “I’m not sure if he was on a lot of meds, but he seemed to shrug it off,” McDonagh said. “We were only about four days out from shooting, and his arm was puffed up. But he was like, ‘Yeah, no, I’m going to be fine—I’ll see you on Tuesday.’ I went to the hospital thinking, Is he going to die? Let alone, is he going to make the movie. But I came out of there energized and looking forward to it.”
Keoghan remembers hearing the heart monitor in the background and McDonagh saying, “Just remember this when you’ve been nominated for an Oscar.” Later, Keoghan did receive a Best Supporting Actor nomination but lost to Ke Huy Quan. Although Keoghan did not receive a SAG nomination this morning for Saltburn, he could still get another shot to think about an Oscar once those nominations are announced in a few weeks.
‘The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live' Trailer: Rick Grimes and Michonne Are Back
AMC has dropped the first trailer for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. The latest Walking Dead spin-off features the return of Rick Grimes (Andrew Garfield) and Michonne (Danai Gurira). Terry O’Quinn plays Civic Republic Military Major General Beale.
Rick appears to work for the CRM in the trailer. “I'm just going to ask you a question, Grimes,” says Beale in the trailer. “Look in your eyes. Why are you here? Do you want to kill, or do you want to die?” Grimes responds, “Look at my eyes, sir. You tell me.”
As reported by Entertainment Weekly, “Named after a seminal line from the original show, The Ones Who Live will see Rick and Michonne attempt to reunite after years of separation. Rick exited the original series after he was presumed dead during season 9, while Michonne departed the show during season 10, leaving the group as she searched for Rick. Both Rick and Michonne appeared in the TWD series finale — but not together.”
The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live premieres February 25 on AMC.
Paul Thomas Anderson Set To Shoot Warner Bros. Movie Starring Leonardo Dicaprio, Sean Penn, and Regina Hall
Paul Thomas Anderson will direct a yet-untitled movie for Warner Bros. starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and Regina Hall. Anderson also wrote the script for the film, which will start production in California sometime this year.
Deadline reports, “The film is currently untitled and they’re keeping the logline under wraps. We have learned that it is a contemporary setting and it is the most commercial one PTA has attempted, with commensurate budget.”
Anderson directed Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Hard Eight, and Licorice Pizza. DiCaprio is an Oscar winner for The Revenant and one of the highest-paid actors in the world. Penn won Oscars for his performances in Mystic River and Milk. Regina Hall is best known for her role as Brenda Meeks in the Scary Movie franchise and for her critically acclaimed performance in the 2018 comedy Support the Girls.
Selena Gomez To Play Linda Ronstadt in Upcoming Biopic
Selena Gomez will play iconic singer Linda Ronstadt in an upcoming biopic. Both Gomez and Ronstadt share Mexican heritage.
According to Rolling Stone, Ronstadt’s manager, John Boylan, and Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice documentarian James Keach are coproducing the biopic that is already in preproduction.
Linda Ronstadt has 11 Grammys and is known for genre-bending hits such as “Blue Bayou” and “You're No Good.” According to IndieWire, “Ronstadt officially retired from singing after her 2012 Parkinson’s disease diagnosis. In March 2021, Ronstadt sold her recorded-music assets, including royalty streams from her master recordings and ownership of some masters, to Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artist Group.”
Singer-actress Selena Gomez became a teen idol for her role on the Disney Channel's Wizards of Waverly Place. She opened up about her mental health struggles in the documentary My Mind & Me. She currently stars on the Hulu series Only Murders in the Building.
Both Greta Gerwig and Christopher Nolan Nominated for DGA Awards
Barbie director Greta Gerwig and Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan will face off at the DGA Awards. Both are nominated for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2023. Earlier today, the SAG Awards nominations found the Barbenheimer movies competing in several of the same categories.
As reported by Variety, in addition to Gerwig and Nolan, other directors nominated in the category of Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Theatrical Feature Film for 2023 are Yorgos Lanthimos for Poor Things, Alexander Payne for The Holdovers, and Martin Scorsese for Killers of the Flower Moon.
The DGA will announce the winners on February 10 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.
‘House of the Dragon' Actress Milly Alcock Among Those To Test for ‘Supergirl'
Milly Alcock — who played young Rhaenyra Targaryen on House of the Dragon — is on a short list of actresses to test for the title role in Supergirl.
Deadline reports that DC will start testing actresses in the next month or so for the role, including Alcock, Emilia Jones, and Meg Donnelly. According to Deadline, “James Gunn, with co-DC chief Peter Safran, first announced a Supergirl movie, Supergirl, Woman of Tomorrow, during DC’s studio press day just more than a year ago. The movie is based on Tom King’s comic book series from 2022.” No director is currently attached to the project.
Gunn reportedly said, “In our series we see the difference between Superman, who was sent to Earth and raised by loving parents from the time he was an infant, versus Supergirl who was raised on a rock, a chip off Krypton, and watched everyone around her die and be killed in terrible ways for the first 14 years of her life, and then came to Earth when she was a young girl. She’s much more hard-core; she’s not exactly the Supergirl we’re used to seeing.”
