Joker Sets New Oscar Record For Comic Book Movies With 11 Nominations

Warner Bros. and DC’s Joker movie has officially made history… again.

This time around, the jet-black origin story set a new Oscar record for comic book film with 11 – count ’em, 11 – nominations across all categories.

Among them are Best Director and Best Actor nods for Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix, respectively, along with a slew of technical nominations – Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing… you name it. Credit must go to Hildur Guðnadóttir, too, whose original Joker score got a thumbs-up from The Academy.

All in all, Joker is very much a frontrunner in this year’s Oscar race. While Marvel’s Black Panther made history in its own right by landing a Best Picture nomination (among six other awards), the Ryan Coogler-directed epic ultimately lucked out to Green Book, but Joker arguably stands a better chance of walking away from the 2020 ceremony with that famous golden statuette in tow.

Here’s the full list of categories in which the pic is up for an award:

• Best Picture
• Best Director (Todd Phillips)
• Best Actor (Joaquin Phoenix)
• Best Adapted Screenplay
• Best Cinematography
• Best Costume Design
• Best Makeup & Hairstyling
• Best Original Score
• Best Film Editing
• Best Sound Mixing
• Best Sound Editing

If you had told us that the standalone (and R-rated) Joker movie from the director of the Hangover franchise would earn a Best Picture nomination – let alone gross $1 billion at the global box office – we wouldn’t have believed you. And that’s putting it mildly.

But despite all the odds, the Todd Phillips-directed Joker film has become something of a cinematic sensation, and the growing momentum may well push Arthur Fleck that little bit closer to the Best Picture award. It would become the first comic book movie to ever win the prestigious Oscar. Fingers crossed…