Guillermo del Toro's lavish monster romance The Shape of Water fished out a leading 13 nominations, Greta Gerwig became just the fifth woman nominated for best director and Mudbound cinematographer Rachel Morrison made history as the first woman to earn a nod in that category in nominations announced Tuesday for the 90th annual Academy Awards.
Oscar voters put forward nine best-picture nominees: The Shape of Water, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Lady Bird, Get Out, The Post, Dunkirk, Call Me By Your Name and Phantom Thread.
The cascading fallout of sexual harassment scandals throughout Hollywood put particular focus on the best director category, which for many is a symbol of gender inequality in the film industry. Gerwig follows only Lina Wertmuller, Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola and Kathryn Bigelow, the sole woman to win (for The Hurt Locker).
Also nominated for best director was Get Out director Jordan Peele. He becomes the fifth black filmmaker nominated for best director, and third to helm a best-picture nominee, following Barry Jenkins last year for Moonlight.
Though all of the front-runners — Frances McDormand (Three Billboards), Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour), Allison Janney (I, Tonya), Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards) — landed their expected nominations, there were surprises.
Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.) was nominated for best actor, likely eclipsing James Franco (The Disaster Artist). Franco was accused of sexual misconduct, which he denied, just days before Oscar voting closed.
Last year's Oscars broadcast, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, drew 32.9 million viewers for ABC, a four percent drop from the prior year. More worrisome, however, was a steeper slide in the key demographic of adults aged 18-49, whose viewership was down 14 percent from 2016.
Though the show ran especially long, at three hours and 49 minutes, it finished with a bang: the infamous envelope mix-up that led to La La Land being incorrectly announced as the best picture before Moonlight was crowned.
This year, the academy has prohibited the PwC accountants who handle the envelopes from using cellphones or social media during the show. The accounting firm on Monday also unveiled several reforms including the addition of a third balloting partner in the show's control room. Neither of the PwC representatives involved in the mishap last year, Brian Cullinan or Martha Ruiz, will return to the show.
The 90th annual Academy Awards will be presented in a March 4 ceremony hosted by comedian Jimmy Kimmel and aired live on ABC.
Here is the complete list of nominees:
Best picture
Call Me By Your Name
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Get Out
Lady Bird
Phantom Thread
The Post
The Shape Of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Directing
Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk)
Jordan Peele (Get Out)
Greta Gerwig (Lady Bird)
Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread)
Guillermo Del Toro (The Shape Of Water)
Actress in a leading role
Sally Hawkins (The Shape Of Water)
Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Margot Robbie (I, Tonya)
Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird)
Meryl Streep (The Post)
Actor in a leading role
Timothee Chalamet (Call Me By Your Name)
Daniel Day-Lewis (Phantom Thread)
Daniel Kaluuya (Get Out)
Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour)
Denzel Washington (Roman J. Israel, Esq.)
Writing (original screenplay)
The Big Sick
Get Out
Lady Bird
The Shape Of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Writing (adapted screenplay)
Call Me By Your Name
The Disaster Artist
Logan
Molly's Game
Mudbound
Animated feature film
The Boss Baby
The Breadwinner
Coco
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent
Music (original song)
Mighty River (Mudbound)
Mystery of Love (Call Me By Your Name)
Remember Me (Coco)
Stand Up for Something (Marshall)
This is Me (The Greatest Showman)
Documentary (feature)
Abacus: Small Enough To Jail
Faces Places
Icarus
Last Men In Aleppo
Strong Island
Documentary (short subject)
Edith + Eddie
Heaven Is A Traffic Jam On The 405
Heroin(e)
Knife Skills
Traffic Stop
Foreign language film
A Fantastic Woman
The Insult
Loveless
On Body And Soul
The Square
Actor in a supporting role
Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project)
Woody Harrelson (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Richard Jenkins (The Shape Of Water)
Christopher Plummer (All The Money In The World)
Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)
Actress in a supporting role
Mary J. Blige (Mudbound)
Allison Janney (I, Tonya)
Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread)
Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird)
Octavia Spencer (The Shape Of Water)
Makeup and hairstyling
Darkest Hour
Victoria And Abdul
Wonder
Film editing
Baby Driver
Dunkirk
I, Tonya
The Shape Of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Visual effects
Blade Runner 2049
Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
Kong: Skull Island
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
War For The Planet Of The Apes
Music (original score)
Dunkirk
Phantom Thread
The Shape Of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Short film (live action)
DeKalb Elementary
The Eleven O'Clock
My Nephew Emmett
The Silent Child
Watu Wote/All Of Us
Short film (animated)
Dear Basketball
Garden Party
Lou
Negative Space
Revolting Rhymes
Sound mixing
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape Of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Sound editing
Baby Driver
Blade Runner 2049
Dunkirk
The Shape Of Water
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Costume design
Beauty And The Beast
Darkest Hour
Phantom Thread
The Shape Of Water
Victoria And Abdul
Cinematography
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
Mudbound
The Shape Of Water
Production design
Beauty And The Beast
Blade Runner 2049
Darkest Hour
Dunkirk
The Shape Of Water
