“Poor Things” has been the movie occupying second spot for the majority of this awards season, with “Oppenheimer” reigning supreme in first. But we’ve been here before. “Crash” beat “Brokeback Mountain,” “Green Book” beat “Roma,” and “Moonlight” beat “La La Land,” which coincidentally also starred “Poor Things” actress Emma Stone.
Stone is a producer on “Poor Things” and if her film, from Searchlight Pictures, manages to pull off a shock Best Picture victory over Universal’s “Oppenheimer,” Stone could make Oscars history. So far, only one woman has won both Best Picture and Best Actress in the same year: Frances McDormand for Chloé Zhao‘s “Nomadland,” which was also from Searchlight Pictures.
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Stone is nominated for Best Picture as a producer alongside Ed Guiney, Andrew Lowe, and director Yorgos Lanthimos. The film had a successful night at the BAFTAs, winning five awards in total, but it lost the big prize of Best Picture to “Oppenheimer.” Christopher Nolan‘s movie has triumphed everywhere this awards season and has so far taken home the top prize at the Critics Choice Awards, the Golden Globes, the BAFTAs, the DGAs, the PGAs, and the SAGs. We are, therefore, unsurprisingly, predicting an easy Best Picture win for “Oppenheimer” at the Oscars. “Poor Things” is currently third in our Oscars odds chart for Best Picture, behind “The Holdovers.”
“The Holdovers” might seem like the film that benefits most from the preferential ballot system. It’s a very likable, feel-good movie while “Poor Things” has a distinct, unique style that won’t be to every voter’s tastes. However, “Poor Things” is the second-highest nominated film this year with 11 bids (“Oppenheimer” has the most with 13) so the academy clearly adores this picture. It’s a long shot, but upsets, such as the aforementioned ones at the top of this article, do happen.
What is more likely is a Best Actress win for Stone. She won Best Actress at the Critics Choice Awards and BAFTAs and also took home Best Comedy Actress at the Golden Globes. Her closest rival, Lily Gladstone (“Killers of the Flower Moon”), has only won at SAG. That was a big win for Gladstone, but Stone is still the favorite. She’s just won more and, as a result, she is at the top of our Oscars odds chart for Best Actress. This would be Stone’s second Best Actress Oscar after she won in 2017 for “La La Land.” She was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress twice — in 2015 for “Birdman” and in 2019 for “The Favourite.”
It looks unlikely that Stone will be able to emulate McDormand’s achievement barring a major, major shock in Best Picture. Still, to be nominated for both Best Picture and Best Actress in the same year is a big achievement for Stone. She is already only the second person ever to snag this pair of nominations, with McDormand being the first. Margot Robbie could have matched this feat as she was nominated as a producer on “Barbie” but she was snubbed for Best Actress.
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