The 97th Academy Awards are kicking off at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. 'Emilia Pérez' leads the pack Sunday with 13 Oscar nominations, but 'Wicked' and 'The Brutalist' are close behind.
LOS ANGELES — The 97th Academy Awards have kicked off at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. 'Emilia Pérez' leads the pack with 13 Oscar nominations, but 'Wicked' and 'The Brutalist' are close behind. The 2025 Oscars opened with its biggest musical voices.
'Wicked' star Ariana Grande launched into 'The Wizard of Oz' classic 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow,' following a visual package celebrating the city of Los Angeles.Here's the Latest:Adrien Brody clinched his second Oscar for best actor, winning Sunday for his role as a visionary Hungarian architect in “ The Brutalist ” and solidifying his legacy as one of Hollywood’s most compelling talents.Brody took home best actor at the 97th Academy Awards for his powerful portrayal of Lázló Tóth, who escapes the Holocaust and sails to the United States to find his American Dream. The film spans 30 years in the life of Tóth, a fictional character whose unorthodox designs challenged societal norms, and his relentless pursuit of artistic integrity.In some ways, it was teased from the very beginning of the award show, when Cynthia Erivo nailed “Home” from “The Wiz” in the opening performance. Whoopi Goldberg and Oprah introduced a joyful tribute to the late producer Quincy Jones featuring 32 dancers, the Los Angeles Master Chorale, and Academy Award nominee Queen Latifah doing “Ease on Down the Road” also from “The Wiz.”Jones supervised the adaptation of songs from the Broadway musical for the 1978 film starring Michael Jackson. Jones and Jackson met while working on the film, leading to one of the greatest musician-producer partnerships of all time.First-time Academy Award nominee Daniel Blumberg is now an Oscar winner. He won the Oscar for original score his work on “The Brutalist.” Blumberg beat Clément Ducol and Camille , Kris Bowers , Volker Bertelmann and John Powell and Stephen Schwartz on Sunday. “The Brutalist” follows Lázló Tóth, a fictional visionary Hungarian architect who escaped the Holocaust. Earlier in the night, French composer duo Clément Ducol and Camille took home the original song award at the Oscars on Sunday for their track, “El Mal.”Morgan Freeman gave tribute to two-time Oscar winner Gene Hackman, four days after Hackman was found dead.“This week our community lost a giant, and I lost a dear friend, Gene Hackman,” he said.“He received two Oscars and more importantly he won the hearts of film lovers all over the world.”Freeman and Hackman co-starred in the 1992 Clint Eastwood Western “Unforgiven” – the movie that earned Hackman his second Oscar. They were also both in 2000’s “Under Suspicion.”“Rest in peace, my friend,” Freeman said.Firefighters who battled the Palisades and Eaton wildfires received a rousing standing ovation, complete with whistles and roars.“I don’t know why I did this — I just a second ago nodded and said ‘thank you,’” host Conan O’Brien joked after the audience quieted down.They were also honored onstage at the Grammys, in addition to being called out at every major award show this year. Host Conan O’Brien made them read some jokes he’d rather not make himself.“I’m Still Here,” a Brazilian film about a family torn apart by the military dictatorship that ruled Brazil for more than two decades, won the Oscar on Sunday for best international film.The Walter Salles film stars Fernanda Torres as Eunice Paiva, the wife of Rubens Paiva, a former leftist Brazilian congressman who, at the height of the country’s military dictatorship in 1971, was taken from his family’s Rio de Janeiro home and never returned.The film tells the story of Palestinian activists fighting to protect their communities from demolition by the Israeli military. A collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers, it follows activist Basel Adra as he risks arrest to document the destruction of his hometown in the West Banke. “No Other Land” came into Sunday night a top contender after a successful run on the film festival circuit. It did not however find a U.S. distributor. For the Oscar, it beat out “Porcelain War,” “Sugarcane,” “Black Box Diaries” and “Soundtrack to a Coup d’État.”The win Sunday night for her performance in 'Emilia Pérez' adds to a collection of successes for the star this awards season.Saldaña won her first Golden Globe in January, and notched wins at the British Academy Film Awards, the Critics Choice Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Saldaña played down-on-her-luck lawyer Rita Castro who is hired by a Mexican drug lord to help facilitate gender-affirming surgery.“El Mal,″ from the controversial musical “Emilia Pérez,” won original song at Sunday’s Oscars, their first. French duo Clément Ducol and Camille, first-time nominees, took home the trophy for their song, which also won the category at January’s Golden Globes. Ducol and Camille beat Diane Warren for “The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight,” Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Brandi Carlile and Andrew Watt for “Never Too Late” from “Elton John: Never Too Late,” and Abraham Alexander, Brandon Marcel and Black Pumas’ Adrian Quesada for “Like A Bird” from “Sing Sing.” They also beat themselves. Their composition “Mi Camino” from “Emilia Pérez” was also up for the award. Watch in the video player below.The Oscars launched into a four-part tribute to James Bond, opening with “The Substance” actor Margaret Qualley and dancers, followed by Blackpink’s LISA serenade of “Live and Let Die,” Doja Cat with “Diamonds Are Forever” and RAYE with “Skyfall.”The tribute comes on the heels of a shakeup that stirred the film industry: The longtime custodians of the James Bond movies handed over creative control to Amazon MGM in late February. Amazon bought MGM Studios in 2022 for $6.1 billion, a purchase that was significantly motivated by the acquisition of one of the movies’ most beloved and long-running franchises.Watch in the video player below.The papal intrigue film was written by British author-playwright Peter Straughan, based on the 2016 novel of the same name by British novelist Robert Harris.Both Straughan and Harris are veterans of the thriller genre. Straughan's other screenplay credits include 'The Snowman' and an adaptation of John le Carré's 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.'Harris' works — many of them source material for movies — include the World War II novels 'Fatherland' and 'Enigma' and the Russia-based thriller 'Archangel.' He is also known, and somewhat notorious for his 2007 novel, 'The Ghost,' a fictionalized critique of former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Harris and director Roman Polanski co-wrote a well-regarded adaptation, 'The Ghost Writer.'Sean Baker's Brooklyn comedy 'Anora' has won an Oscar for best original screenplay. The film had been widely considered a contender for best picture at the Academy Awards, alongside other categories including best actress for its lauded young star.Iranian filmmakers Shirin Sohani and Hossein Molayemi won their first Academy Award for 'In the Shadow of the Cypress.' It was the second Iranian animated or live-action short film nominated at the Oscars and the first to win. Animation is often thought of as childlike, fun and creative in nature, but it can also elicit deep emotion: 'In the Shadow of the Cypress' takes a creative and artistic approach to the relationship between a father, an old former captain who is dealing with PTSD, and his daughter. The short also won best animated short at the Los Angeles Shorts International Film Festival.Kieran Culkin won the Oscar for best supporting actor Sunday at the 97th Academy Awards, completing a sweep of the category that followed his dominance in television awards last season.The award, for portraying the chaotic but endearing Benji in Jesse Eisenberg's 'A Real Pain', marked his first win and nomination.Host Conan O'Brien got the show and his monologue off to a start filled with his usual sarcastic humor.O'Brien poked fun at the Oscars, Hollywood's biggest night 'which starts at 4 in the afternoon.' He also poked fun at himself. 'I know what you're thinking: 'Did Conan not have work done? Seriously. He looks his age.'' And he jabbed at Netflix for having price increases.He also implored the Oscar audience to sit down — after not getting a standing ovation.The 2025 Oscars opened with its biggest musical voices. 'Wicked' star Ariana Grande launched into 'The Wizard of Oz' classic 'Somewhere Over the Rainbow,' following a visual package celebrating the city of Los Angeles.She ditched her usual Glinda pink for a ruby red gown, channeling Dorothy's iconic shoes. She was followed by Elphaba herself, Cynthia Erivo, nailing 'Home' from the 'The Wiz.' Then Grande and Erivo teamed up for a dynamic duet of 'Defying Gravity.' And yes, they hit the note.There are about 10,500 global members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Some are actors, some directors, some editors, some costume designers, some hair and makeup people ... you get the idea.In 22 of the 23 categories, it's a simple system: The nominee with the most votes wins. Easy. Voting is done online, ballots are not released publicly and only two partners at PricewaterhouseCoopers know the winners before they are revealed to the world.For best picture, the system is different: enter ranked choice voting. Voters rank the nominees in order and the film getting 50% or more of the vote is the winner.Here's where it gets confusing, so we'll let the academy explain it in its own words: 'If one movie doesn't get 50% out of the gate, the one with the fewest votes is eliminated, and the members who voted for that as their top choice have their votes added to the film that was next on their list.'What happens if their second choice was the one that was eliminated? Well, their votes then go to their third choice, and so on. That process continues until one movie gets 50% or more of all the votes.'Demi Moore was making a beeline through the red carpet, waving to fans but also walking with purpose.The one person she stopped for? Her 'Ghost' costar Whoopi Goldberg.The two clasped hands and chatted for a few moments before Moore continued on.
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