LOS ANGELES (AP) – Director Christopher Nolan won his first Oscar Sunday night for directing “Oppenheimer,” cementing his status as the awards show's frontrunner.
The 53-year-old British visionary has garnered critical acclaim throughout his career, but has never won an Oscar before. He was nominated for Best Director in 2017 for Dunkirk, Best Original Screenplay for Inception in 2010 and Memento in 2001.
Director Nolan noted on stage that film has been around for just over 100 years and thanked the Academy for the honor. “We don't know where this incredible journey will go from here,” Nolan said. “But knowing that you consider me an important part of it means the world to me.”
Oppenheimer closed with Best Picture, one of seven Oscars, including Best Actor for Cillian Murphy and Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr. The film was nominated in 13 major categories and grossed nearly $1 billion worldwide.
Director Nolan has co-starred Jonathan Glaser (Zone of Interest), Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things), Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon), and Anatomy of the Fall (2017). Defeated Justin Toretto. Scorsese, 81, became the oldest person to do so. Director candidate.
Director Nolan was supported by his wife, Emma Thomas, who was nominated for Best Picture twice with her husband for their work on “Dunkirk'' and “Inception.'' His college sweethearts have produced partners in all of his films since 1997.
Nolan has been a frontrunner throughout awards season, winning Best Director at the BAFTAs and Golden Globes, as well as the top award from the Directors Guild of America.
In addition to directing, Nolan was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Picture for Oppenheimer, an ambitious three-hour R-rated epic about the American physicist who developed the atomic bomb.
The filmmaker is known for his style, which favors documentary-style lighting, handheld cameras, and location shooting over indoor studios. Scorsese has praised Nolan for making “big, beautifully made films” and is regularly praised by many of his contemporaries.
His other credits include the Batman trilogy: Tenet, Interstellar, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises.
For more information on the 2024 Oscars, visit https://apnews.com/hub/academy-awards.
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