For superhero, sci-fi, and fantasy films, it’s often an honor just to be nominated for an Oscar. So this year, Dune should feel especially honored. While pundits don’t favor it to win, it scored a Best Picture nomination, along with nine other Academy Award nominations this morning. This makes it the second most-nominated film, after the heavily favored western The Power of the Dog, which got 12. Spider-Man: No Way Home received a bit of a push in recent weeks thanks mainly to its phenomenal box office haul — it looks set to surpass Avatar‘s domestic total gross this week. However, it got just one, for Best Visual Effects. If it wins, it will be the second Spider-Man film to do so in that category, after Spider-Man 2. And the third Spider-Man movie overall, following Into the Spider-Verse‘s Best Animated Feature victory.
Additional nominees in the visual effects category include Dune, Marvel Studios’ Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, the Marvel Easter-egg laden Free Guy, and No Time to Die. Dune additionally picked up nominations for Best Sound, Production Design, Editing, Makeup and Hairstyling, Costume Design, Score, Cinematography, and Adapted Screenplay. For Frank Herbert’s beloved book, this is a cinematic resurrection after the metaphorical crucifixion of David Lynch’s 1984 attempt. Not to mention Alejandro Jodorowsky’s impossibly ambitious mid-’70s preproduction failure.
RELATED: Superhero Hype’s Best Superhero, Sci-fi and Fantasy Movies of 2021
Sci-fi and fantasy dominated the Animated Feature category, with Netflix’s robot attack comedy The Mitchells vs. The Machines heavily favored to win. Raya and the Last Dragon, Encanto, and Luca split the Disney/Pixar vote, with only the refugee documentary Flee not fitting in the genre space.
In a minor surprise, Disney also scored two nominations for its live-action prequel Cruella, up for Costume Design and Hair and makeup. Read the full list of nominations over at People.com.
Do you think Spider-Man was robbed? Does Dune have a shot at the big prize? Let us know in comments.
Recommended Reading: Dune (Penguin Galaxy)
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. This affiliate advertising program also provides a means to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
