One Battle After Another gains Oscars traction after early awards season wins | Paul Thomas Anderson
Paul Thomas Anderson’s acclaimed comedy thriller One Battle After Another ranked first in the best picture category as the awards season began.
Thomas Pynchon’s adaptation, in which Leonardo DiCaprio plays a former revolutionary searching for his daughter, was named best film at Monday’s Gotham awards. “I actually wasn’t expecting this,” Anderson said on stage. “I started to think I didn’t know what was going on.”
The writer-director has been nominated for 11 Oscars for films including Phantom Thread and Licorice Pizza, but has yet to win.
Founded to celebrate independent film, Gothams recently removed its $35 million budget cap, allowing studio films like Barbie, Challengers and Poor Things to compete.
Warner Bros. Released by One Battle After Another, the estimated budget is at least $130 million. It grossed $202 million at the worldwide box office.
Other winners from last night’s ceremony included Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù from My Father’s Shadow for her outstanding lead performance and Wunmi Mosaku from Sinners for her outstanding supporting performance. Ryan Coogler’s blockbuster vampire epic is also expected to be a major contender in this year’s Oscar race.
One Battle After Another was awarded best picture by the New York Film Critics Circle on Tuesday. Benicio Del Toro was also named best supporting actor for his role.
Other winners included If I Had Legs I’d Kick You’s Rose Byrne for best actress, The Secret Agent’s Wagner Moura for best actor, and Weapons’ Amy Madigan for best supporting actress.
Both organizations gave directing awards to Jafar Panahi for the critically acclaimed thriller It Was Just an Accident. His awards came the same week he was sentenced in absentia to a year in prison by Iran for “propaganda activities.” The film was also awarded the Palme d’Or at this year’s Cannes film festival.
Panahi said in Gothams: “I hope this dedication will be accepted as a small tribute to all the filmmakers who were denied the right to see and be seen, but continued to create and exist.”
The Golden Globe nominations are expected to be announced next week, before the ceremony on January 11. Oscar nominations will be announced on January 22.
