Another big night for ‘Oppenheimer’ was sure to tie up the Oscar race as Hollywood stars fresh from a months-long strike gathered Saturday as the prestigious Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony got underway. .
The 30th SAG Awards became the first awards ceremony to be streamed globally on Netflix, potentially increasing viewership and prestige for an event already considered a key indicator of the Academy Awards.
Members of SAG-AFTRA, the union representing about 120,000 performers, including A-list stars, will be in large numbers for the first time since last year’s productions extracted hard-earned profits from studios like Disney and Netflix. The crowd gathered and there was a celebratory mood. Stop.
“After going through a very difficult time with the strike, it is especially meaningful to be here with all of us on this occasion,” Idris Elba said at the beginning of the celebration.
“I would like to take this opportunity to honor and thank everyone who has stepped up in solidarity and support for SAG-AFTRA, and to everyone here watching.”
The actors most likely to give acceptance speeches later Saturday will be actors from Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster drama “Oppenheimer,” about the father of the atomic bomb. The film has consistently won awards throughout the season.
The film has already won top honors at the Golden Globe Awards, Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, Directors Guild of America Awards, and BAFTAs, but is the frontrunner for SAG-AFTRA’s top award, Best Performance by a Cast. It is a candidate.
Winning in this category has led to recent films such as “Parasite,” “CODA” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” to win Best Picture Oscars.
Many of the same actors who vote for the SAG Awards also make up the largest voting bloc at this year’s Oscars, which will be held on March 10th.
“Oppenheimer” will compete for top honors with “Barbie,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “American Fiction” and “The Color Purple.”
In the Best Actress category, Emma Stone (“Poor People”) and Lily Gladstone (“Killers”) are expected to compete for the award, with Cillian Murphy (“Oppenheimer”) and Paul Giamatti (“Holdovers”) is the most likely candidate. Best actor side.
This season’s Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor awards have consistently gone to Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers) and Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer), but Saturday’s gala Few expect an upset in either category.
Unlike other major award shows, the SAG Awards also recognize Best Stunt Performance.
This night we also pay homage to television. The final season of “Succession” dominated the drama nominations, while “The Bear” won the early comedy award for Jeremy Allen White and Ayo Edebiri.
Presenters included Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Emily Blunt, and Billie Eilish.
And Barbra Streisand, who has been busy promoting her recent memoir, “My Name Is Barbra,” will be presented with a lifetime achievement award by Jennifer Aniston.
Netflix has been cautiously moving into the live events space in recent years, including comedy specials with Chris Rock and celebrity golf tournaments.
But the SAG Awards deal marks the first time the platform will host a Hollywood awards show.
Moving from smaller U.S. cable networks TBS and TNT to Netflix gave the SAG Awards access to the streaming giant’s more than 260 million subscriber base and meant no commercial breaks. .
“Personally, I can’t wait to get home and have Netflix recommend this show to me based on all the other stuff I’ve watched myself,” Elba joked.
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