Warner Bros Pushing For Joker to Receive Best Picture Oscar Nomination, Among Other Categories

Joker is easily the best film of 2019 so far, at least for this writer. In my review I wrote:

Joker is a joyless and dour character study, melancholic, heartbreaking but always absorbing. It’s a wonderfully written, superbly crafted, unnerving and frankly uncomfortable telling of a sad man. A broken man with a deeply tortured soul. A literal clown (he works at a company called ‘Hahas’) suffering from severe depression and who tries to justify — and perhaps understand — his mental instability by pointing towards the escalating volatility of Gotham City. 

I love the film to pieces. So it brings me nothing but joy that Warner Bros. is pushing for the film to receive Oscar nominations at the 2020 Academy Awards in multiple categories. Today, the studio revealed the list of categories for which they are pushing for Joker to be considered. Unsurprisingly, WB is pushing Joaquin Phoenix to receive a Best Actor nod. They’re also pushing Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz (surprising, given that she was more of a presence than an actual character) and Frances Conroy for Best Supporting Actor/Actress. The studio is also gunning for the entire cast to get a nod in the Best Ensemble category.

Apart from the acting categories, Warner Bros is also hoping for a Best Picture nod, Best Adapted Screenplay (Todd Phillips & Scott Silver) and Best Director (Todd Phillips), not to mention a bunch of technical categories as well.

Here’s the full list of categories on its “For Your Consideration” list:

1. BEST PICTURE
2. BEST DIRECTOR
   • TODD PHILLIPS
3. BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
   • Written by TODD PHILLIPS & SCOTT SILVER
4. BEST ACTOR
   • JOAQUIN PHOENIX
5. BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
   • ROBERT DE NIRO
6. BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
   • ZAZIE BEETZ
   • FRANCES CONROY
7. BEST ENSEMBLE CAST
   • JOAQUIN PHOENIX
   • ROBERT DE NIRO
   • ZAZIE BEETZ
   • FRANCES CONROY
   • BRETT CULLEN
   • GLENN FLESHLER
   • BILL CAMP
   • SHEA WHIGHAM
   • MARC MARON
8. BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
   • LAWRENCE SHER ASC
9. BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
   • Production Designer MARK FRIEDBERG
   • Set Decorator KRIS MORAN
10. BEST FILM EDITING
    • JEFF GROTH
11. BEST COSTUME DESIGN
    • MARK BRIDGES
12. BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
    • Visual Effects Supervisors
      • EDWIN RIVERA
      • MATHEW GIAMPA
      • BRYAN GODWIN
    • Special Effects Coordinator JEFF BRINK
13. BEST SOUND EDITING
    • Supervising Sound Editor ALAN ROBERT MURRAY
14. BEST SOUND MIXING
    • Sound Mixer TOD MAITLAND
    • Re-Recording Mixers
      • TOM OZANICH
      • DEAN ZUPANCIC
15. BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
    • Make-Up Department Head NICKI LEDERMANN
    • Hair Department Head KAY GEORGIOU
16. BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
    • HILDUR GUĐNADÓTTIR

Joker is currently playing in Malaysian cinemas.