‘Barbenheimer,’ ‘Succession’ Dominate Golden Globe Nominations

The summer box-office sensation known as “Barbenheimer” — the concurrent releases of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” — led the film nominations announced Monday for the revamped 81st Golden Globe Awards, while HBO’s “Succession” topped the television nominees.

“Barbie” and “Succession” each earned nine awards to claim the prizes as the leading film and television nominees. “Oppenheimer” was a close second on the film side, collecting eight nominations.

Greta Gerwig’s film that brought Mattel’s iconic American toy doll to the big screen scored nominations for best motion picture-musical or comedy; best director-motion picture for Gerwig; best female actor in a musical or comedy for Margot Robbie; best male supporting actor in any motion picture for Ryan Gosling; best screenplay-motion picture (Gerwig); three nods for best original song-motion picture; and cinematic and box office achievement, a new category this year.

Joining “Barbie” in the best motion picture-musical or comedy category were “Air,” “American Fiction,” “The Holdovers,” “May December” and “Poor Things.”

“Oppenheimer,” the story of atomic bomb mastermind Robert J. Oppenheimer, garnered eight nominations, including best picture-drama; best director-motion picture for Christopher Nolan; best male actor in a motion picture-drama for Cillian Murphy; best female supporting actor in any motion picture for Emily Blunt; best male supporting actor in any motion picture for Robert Downey Jr.; best screenplay; best original score; and cinematic and box office achievement.

“Oppenheimer” will compete in the best motion picture-drama category with “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro,” “Past Lives” and “The Zone of Interest.”

Joining Gerwig and Nolan in the best director category were Bradley Cooper for “Maestro,” Yorgos Lanthimos for “Poor Things,” Martin Scorsese for “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Celine Song for “Past Lives.”

“Succession,” which concluded its much-decorated four-year run this year, is going out in style with its nine nominations — breaking the single-season record of eight nods previously established by “The Thorn Birds” in 1984 and “L.A. Law” in 1990.

The tale of a family’s internal battles to succeed an aging media mogul, “Succession” took nominations for best drama series; three for best male actor (Brian Cox, Jeremy Strong and Kieran Culkin); best female actor for Sarah Snook;  best female supporting actor for J. Smith-Cameron; and three more for best male supporting actor (Alan Ruck, Alexander Skarsgard and Matthew Macfadyen).

In the film categories, “Killers of the Flower Moon” and “Poor Things” scored seven nominations each, while “Past Lives,” took five.

On the TV side, following “Succession,” FX’s “The Bear” and Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building,” each received five nominations.

Now under new management following a June sale to Dick Clark Productions and the dissolution of the scandal-scarred Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Golden Globes mark the official opening of the 2024 Hollywood awards season.

 The 2024 winners will be revealed Jan. 7, with the show broadcast on CBS. There has been no announcement of who will host the event.

City News Service contributed to this article.