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Oppenheimer<\/em>, the biographical film about the inventor of the atomic bomb, is the clear favorite going into this year\u2019s Academy Awards ceremony.<\/p>\n The three-hour film from\u00a0Comcast Corp.<\/a>\u2019s Universal<\/a> Pictures\u00a0leads the nominations<\/a>\u00a0with 13. It\u2019s expected to win in several categories, including best picture, cinematography and score, according to the website\u00a0GoldDerby<\/a>, which tracks predictions from critics and other experts.<\/p>\n On the betting site FanDuel,\u00a0Oppenheimer<\/em>\u00a0is such a favorite for best picture that gamblers would need to put up\u00a0$5,000<\/a>\u00a0just to win $100. Other contenders include\u00a0Poor Things<\/em>, from\u00a0Walt Disney Co.\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0Searchlight Pictures, and\u00a0The Zone of Interest<\/em>, from the independent studio A24.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think that there\u2019ll be an upset, not because the other movies aren\u2019t great, but because none of the other movies feel like they\u2019ve captured the consensus vote as an alternative,\u201d said Michael Schulman, the author of\u00a0Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat and Tears<\/em>.<\/p>\n Christopher Nolan\u00a0is the leading contender for best director, while actors Cillian Murphy and\u00a0Robert Downey Jr.\u00a0are favored for their portrayals of physicist\u00a0J. Robert Oppenheimer\u00a0and his nemesis Lewis Strauss.<\/p>\n In Nolan, the industry is rallying behind a director who\u2019s been a\u00a0champion<\/a>\u00a0of showing movies in theaters and shooting them\u00a0on film<\/a>, rather than digitally. He\u2019s been nominated three times before, for directing and best original screenplay, but never won an Oscar.<\/p>\n Oppenheimer<\/em>, a period piece that has grossed $954 million in theaters, harkens back to an era when\u00a0big Hollywood productions<\/a>\u00a0took home the industry\u2019s top awards, and not the smaller budget, art-house films that have dominated more recently. The picture has already picked up multiple trophies leading up to Sunday\u2019s ceremony, including best drama at the Golden Globes and best film from the Producers Guild<\/a> of America and the British film academy.<\/p>\n It\u2019s potentially one of the biggest Oscar sweeps since 2003\u2019s\u00a0The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King<\/em>\u00a0took home 11 trophies. Last year, A24\u2019s\u00a0Everything Everywhere All at Once\u00a0<\/em>was nominated 11 times and won seven.<\/p>\n Read More:\u00a0A24\u2019s Risky Private Equity-Fueled Hollywood Gambit<\/a><\/p>\n The program, hosted this year by late night star\u00a0Jimmy Kimmel, begins at 4 p.m. local time in Los Angeles. It airs on Disney\u2019s ABC network.<\/p>\n The nominations pit two of last year\u2019s highest-grossing films against each other.\u00a0Barbie<\/em>, the biggest box office draw in 2023, is also a contender for best picture, but the\u00a0Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.<\/a>\u00a0film is favored to win only for costume design and best song, according to GoldDerby, underscoring the challenges comedies have in scoring the industry\u2019s top prizes.<\/p>\n The two films were released on the same day last July, sparking a social media frenzy known as \u201cBarbenheimer\u201d that prompted many fans to watch them back-to-back in theaters.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nSubscribe to the new Fortune CEO Weekly Europe newsletter to get corner office insights on the biggest business stories in Europe. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n