Oppenheimer: After a string of indie winners, a blockbuster takes the biggest prize in cinema

Anatomy of a haul

‍Christopher Nolan’s explosive epic Oppenheimer cleaned up at the 96th annual Academy Awards last night, taking home 7 statues, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor, in the joint-most successful Oscars haul since Slumdog Millionaire won 8 in 2009.

While Nolan’s movie dominated proceedings, Poor Things scooped a not-inconsiderable 4 gongs, among them another Best Actress award for Emma Stone, while Greta Gerwig’s Barbie picked up just 1 Oscar: Best Original Song for Billie Eilish’s emotional ballad “What Was I Made For?”.

‍Expensive things

‍The sweeping nature of Oppenheimer’s Oscars success this year wasn’t the only impressive aspect of the movie’s awards-storming performance either — it also became the highest-grossing film to take home Best Picture since the final installment in the Lord of the Rings trilogy swept the awards show 20 years ago.

Indeed, the 2023 biopic grossed just shy of $961 million worldwide, in a clear sign that — despite recent years suggesting otherwise — the eyes of the Academy can still be drawn by unapologetically barnstorming blockbusters, and not just low-budget or independent arthouse pictures.

‍Big selluloid: Barbenheimer accounted for some 88% of the 10 Best Picture nominees’ collective domestic haul.