Following a flurry of great reviews and a trail of broken box office records in its path, Warner Bros. Pictures is setting their sights on the next goal for their hit film Wonder Woman: an Oscar.
RELATED: Warner Bros. Considering Oscar Campaign for Wonder Woman
Variety reports that the studio is considering a “formidable awards-season campaign” for the film, targeting both a Best Picture nomination for the film and Best Director nomination for Patty Jenkins. To date, only four women have been nominated for the Best Director Oscar: Lina Wertmüller (Seven Beauties), Jane Campion (The Piano), Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation), and Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty), with Bigelow being the only winner. Jenkins’ first film, Monster, secured Charlize Theron her own Best Actress Academy Award.
This news should come as no surprise, however, as Warner Bros. has put their weight behind many of their superhero films throughout the years, including “For Your Consideration” campaigns for Superman Returns, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, and Man of Steel. These campaigns produced mixed results, with The Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel securing no nominations, and Superman Returns and Batman Begins both earning one each (Visual Effects and Cinematography, respectively). The Dark Knight went on to land eight total nominations, including Cinematography, Editing, Art Direction, Make-Up, Sound Mixing, and Visual Effects, while winning two awards for Sound Editing and Heath Ledger’s posthumous Best Supporting Actor win.
The visual effects and Make-Up Oscars are par for the course for many comic book based movies with only a few (and specifically, cape free adaptations) gaining more. Notable adaptations to gain Oscar attention include Ghost World, American Splendor, and A History of Violence, which all received Best Adapted Screenplay nominations (in addition to a Best Supporting Actor nomination for William Hurt in the later).
Ever since the Best Picture rules change in 2009 (arguably done in response to The Dark Knight‘s nomination snub), up to ten features are capable of being nominated for the top prize and some blockbuster films have managed to make their way into the race, including District 9, Inception, Gravity, American Sniper, The Martian, and Mad Max: Fury Road.
Would you like to see Wonder Woman become an Oscar nominee next year? Sound off in the comments below!
