2024 Oscars as it happened: triumph for Oppenheimer as it wins best picture, actor and director; Barbie wins best song, Japan’s Hayao Miyazaki earns second Academy Award

Christopher Nolan’s epic biopic triumphed at the Oscars, winning the top prize, best director for Nolan and best actor; Hayao Miyazaki earns a second statuette

American cinema

Agence France-Presse

Published: 7:11am, 11 Mar 2024

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Cillian Murphy, winner of the Academy Award for best actor, in a scene from Oppenheimer, Christopher Nolan’s epic about the father of the atomic bomb. Photo: Universal Pictures via AP

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Introduction

Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan’s epic drama about the father of the atomic bomb, and half of last summer’s “Barbenheimer” phenomenon – confirmed its status as overwhelming favourite to win best picture honours on Hollywood’s biggest night.

The film also won best director for Nolan, best actor for Cillian Murphy, best supporting actor for Robert Downey Jnr, best cinematography, best original score and best film editing.

Among the other winners announced at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles was legendary Japanese filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, 83, whose latest anime feature The Boy and the Heron won best animated feature.

Emma Stone accepts the bes actress award for Poor Things. Photo: Getty Images via AFP

Emma Stone, who previously won an Academy Award for La La Land, and is considered one of the finest actresses of her generation, earned the best actress Oscar for her stunning, brave performance in Poor Things.

And what about Barbie, released on the same weekend last summer as Oppenheimer, prompting a bizarre and highly meme-able double bill that collectively grossed US$2.4 billion worldwide?

The surreal feminist comedy was never likely to leave the Oscars empty-handed and, as widely expected, won best original song for Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For?”.

A scene from Barbie with Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie. Photo: Warner Bros

Another song, the movie’s show-stopping “I’m Just Ken”, which had also been in the running for the award, was performed during the Oscars ceremony by Ryan Gosling, a nominee for best supporting actor but who lost out to Downey Jnr for that award.