'Mank' leads Academy Awards nominations with 10 nods

NEW YORK — David Fincher's "Mank" has led nominations to the 93rd Academy Awards with 10 nods, and for the first time, two women — Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell — were nominated for best director.

Eight films were nominated for best picture. "Mank" was joined by Fennell's "Promising Young Woman," Zhao's "Nomadland," "Judas and the Black Messiah," "Sound of Metal," "Minari," "The Father" and "The Trial of the Chicago 7."

History was made in the best director category. Only five women have ever been nominated in the category before. Zhao is the first woman of Asian descent nominated. The other nominees were Lee Isaac Chung for "Minari," David Fincher for "Mank" and Thomas Vinterberg for "Another Round."

Nominations were announced Monday from London by presenters Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. The Academy Awards would typically have happened by now but this year were postponed by two months due to the pandemic. They will instead be telecast April 25. The film academy on Monday confirmed that the show will be held at both its usual home in the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles and Los Angeles' railway hub, Union Station.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas and husband Nick Jonas announced the nominees during a livestream presentation Monday morning.

The nominees for best picture are: "The Father"; "Judas and the Black Messiah"; "Mank"; "Minari"; "Nomadland"; "Promising Young Woman"; "Sound of Metal"; "The Trial of the Chicago 7."

The nominees for best actress are: Carey Mulligan, "Promising Young Woman"; Frances McDormand, "Nomadland"; Viola Davis, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"; Vanessa Kirby, "Pieces of a Woman"; Andra Day, "The United States vs. Billie Holiday."

READ MORE: Andra Day on portraying Billie Holiday's signature voice and power

The nominees for best actor are: Chadwick Boseman, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"; Riz Ahmed, "Sound of Metal"; Anthony Hopkins, "The Father"; Gary Oldman, "Mank"; Steven Yeun, "Minari."

The nominees for best director are: Chloé Zhao, "Nomadland"; Lee Isaac Chung, "Minari"; David Fincher, "Mank"; Emerald Fennell, "Promising Young Woman"; Thomas Vinterberg, "Another Round."

The nominees for best supporting actress are: Maria Bakalova, "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm"; Glenn Close, "Hillbilly Elegy"; Olivia Colman, "The Father"; Amanda Seyfried, "Mank"; Yuh-Jung Youn, "Minari."

The nominees for best supporting actor are: Sacha Baron Cohen, "The Trial of the Chicago 7"; Leslie Odom Jr., "One Night in Miami"; Daniel Kaluuya, "Judas and the Black Messiah"; Paul Raci, "Sound of Metal"; LaKeith Stanfield, "Judas and the Black Messiah."

The nominees for best documentary feature are: "Collective"; "Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution"; "The Mole Agent"; "My Octopus Teacher"; "Time."

The nominees for best international film are: "Quo Vadis, Aida?", Bosnia and Herzegovina; Denmark, "Another Round"; "Better Days," Hong Kong; "Collective," Romania; "The Man Who Sold His Skin," Tunisia.

The nominees for best original song are: "Husavik" from "Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga"; "Fight for You" from "Judas and the Black Messiah"; "Io Sì (Seen)" from "The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se)"; "Speak Now" from "One Night in Miami…"; and "Hear My Voice" from "The Trial of the Chicago 7."

The nominees for best animated feature: "Onward"; "Over the Moon"; "A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon"; "Soul"; "Wolfwalkers."

The nominees for best original screenplay are: "Judas and the Black Messiah," Shaka King and Will Berson; "Minari," Lee Isaac Chung; "Promising Young Woman," Emerald Fennell; "Sound of Metal," Darius Marder and Abraham Marder; "Trial of the Chicago 7," Aaron Sorkin.

The nominees for best costume design: Alexandra Byrne, "Emma"; Ann Roth, "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"; Trish Summerville, "Mank"; Bina Daigeler "Mulan"; Massimo Cantini Parrini "Pinocchio."

After a pandemic year that shuttered most movie theaters, the expected best-picture nominees will have hardly any box office to speak of. It will be an Oscars not just without blockbusters but with many movies that have barely played on the big screen. Streaming services are set to dominate Hollywood's biggest and most sought-after awards.

The film academy and ABC, which will telecast the Oscars on April 25 (delayed two months due to the pandemic), will hope that the nominees can drum up more excitement than they have elsewhere. Interest in little golden statuettes has nosedived during the pandemic. Ratings for a largely virtual Golden Globes, with acceptance speeches by Zoom, plunged to 6.9 million viewers — a 64% drop from 2020 — last month.

With the notable exception of fueling streaming subscriber growth, the pandemic has been punishing for the movie industry. Production slowed to a crawl, blockbusters were postponed or detoured to streaming and thousands have been laid off or furloughed.

But the outlook for Hollywood has recently brightened as coronavirus cases have slid and vaccines have ramped up. Movie theaters are reopening in the U.S.'s two largest markets, New York and Los Angeles. And several larger movies — including the Walt Disney Co.'s "Black Widow" (May 7) — are scheduled for May and beyond.

Film academy president David Rubin said Monday that the April 25 show will play out at Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre as well as its transportation hub, Union Station. Expect the broadcast to do its best to pitch viewers on going back to the movies.