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After a pandemic year that hobbled movie theaters and saw streaming services make new inroads into Hollywood, the Academy Awards put its strongest support Tuesday behind two films made with big-screen grandeur that were also streamed into homes: Jane Campion鈥檚 gothic western 鈥淭he Power of the Dog鈥� and Denis Villeneuve鈥檚 sci-fi epic 鈥淒une.鈥�

Netflix鈥檚 鈥淭he Power of the Dog鈥� led nominations to the 94th Academy Awards with 12 nods, including best picture, best director, and recognition for all of its top actors: Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, Jesse Plemons, and Kodi Smit-McPhee.

Ms. Campion, a nominee for 1993鈥檚 鈥淭he Piano,鈥� became the first woman to ever be nominated twice for best director. Last year, Chlo茅 Zhao became just the second woman to ever win the award. Ms. Campion鈥檚 director of photography, Ari Wegner, also became the second woman ever nominated for best cinematography.

鈥淒une鈥� followed closely behind with 10 nominations spread out largely in the technical categories that rewarded the gargantuan craft of Mr. Villeneuve鈥檚 adaptation of Frank Herbert鈥檚 1965 novel, yet unexpectedly bypassed Mr. Villeneuve鈥檚 direction. The Warner Bros. release debuted simultaneously in theaters and聽鈥� against the strenuous objections of its director聽鈥� on HBO Max.

The nominees for best picture were: 鈥淏elfast,鈥� 鈥淐ODA,鈥� 鈥淒on鈥檛 Look Up,鈥� 鈥淒rive My Car,鈥� 鈥淒une,鈥� 鈥淟icorice Pizza,鈥� 鈥淜ing Richard,鈥� 鈥淣ightmare Alley,鈥� 鈥淭he Power of the Dog,鈥� and 鈥淲est Side Story.鈥�

No streaming service has ever won best picture, but half of the 10 nominees were released by streamers. This year, the odds may be better than ever that Netflix or another service will finally barrel through one of the last walls of Hollywood tradition.

Apple notched its first best-picture nomination with the deaf drama 鈥淐ODA,鈥� which also made history as supporting-actor nominee Troy Kotsur became only the second deaf actor ever nominated. (His 鈥淐ODA鈥� co-star Marlee Matlin was the first.) Netflix backed 鈥淭he Power of the Dog鈥� and Adam McKay鈥檚 apocalyptic comedy 鈥淒on鈥檛 Look Up.鈥� And both 鈥淜ing Richard鈥� and 鈥淒une鈥� launched on HBO Max. Even the academy for the first time ruled out hard-copy DVD screeners for its members, who instead could watch submissions on the academy鈥檚 streaming platform.

In pulling from films released in myriad ways, the Oscar nominations reflected the tumult of a movie year that began with many theaters shuttered and ended with Sony Pictures鈥� 鈥淪pider-Man: No Way Home鈥� smashing box-office records. While some had urged the Oscars to embrace its most popular blockbusters and return some populism to the awards, Spidey ultimately landed only a single nomination, for visual effects.

A largely virtual awards season added some unpredictability to this year鈥檚 nominations, which were announced by actors Leslie Jordan and Tracee Ellis Ross. This year鈥檚 Oscars will be delayed to make way for the Olympics, the Oscars will be held March 27 and will return to their usual venue, the Dolby Theatre.

And there were surprises all around. Lady Gaga, star of 鈥淗ouse of Gucci,鈥� was overlooked in the uber-competitive best actress category. Nominated instead were Jessica Chastain (鈥淭he Eyes of Tammy Faye鈥�), Olivia Colman (鈥淭he Lost Daughter鈥�), Pen茅lope Cruz (鈥淧arallel Mothers鈥�), Nicole Kidman (鈥淏eing the Ricardos鈥�) and Kristen Stewart for 鈥淪pencer鈥� 鈥� whose hopes for her first Oscar nomination were set back after she was snubbed by the Screen Actors Guild.

鈥淒rive My Car,鈥� Japanese director Ryusuke Hamaguchi鈥檚 masterful three-hour drama, scored major nominations including best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay. The academy, which in 2020 made Bong Joon Ho鈥檚 Korean thriller 鈥淧arasite鈥� the best picture winner, has drifted overseas in recent years, as more international members have been added to help diversify the organization.

Other underdogs celebrated, too. The small, remote Himalayan country Bhutan received its first Oscar nomination in its first-ever submission: 鈥淟unana: A Yak in the Classroom,鈥� for best international film.

In many ways, the nominations kept one foot in Hollywood鈥檚 past and one in its future. Steven Spielberg, whose 鈥淲est Side Story鈥� landed seven nominations, became the first filmmaker nominated for best director in six different decades. His 11 best picture nominations are the most ever. Another remake that harkened back to another era of the movie industry, Guillermo del Toro鈥檚 carnival noir 鈥淣ightmare Alley,鈥� also fared better than expected, scoring a best picture nomination over streaming titles like Netflix鈥檚 鈥渢ick, tick ... Boom!鈥� and Amazon鈥檚 鈥淏eing the Ricardos.鈥� No release is more old-school than Paul Thomas Anderson鈥檚 鈥淟icorice Pizza,鈥� nominated for Mr. Anderson鈥檚 direction and screenplay. It has slowly expanded in theaters over the past 10 weeks.

Will Smith, who plays the father of Venus and Serena Williams in 鈥淜ing Richard,鈥� notched his third Oscar nomination. Also up for best actor are Mr. Cumberbatch, Andrew Garfield (鈥渢ick, tick ... Boom!鈥�) Javier Bardem (鈥淏eing the Ricardos鈥�) and Denzel Washington (鈥淭he Tragedy of Macbeth鈥�). Mr. Washington, a seven-time best-actor nominee, remains the most-nominated Black man ever.

Ms. Dunst and Mr. Plemons, who have two children together, both landed their first nominations for 鈥淭he Power of the Dog.鈥�

鈥淚 knew I鈥檇 have so much more joy if we were both nominated,鈥� Ms. Dunst said by phone Tuesday with the sounds of their children in the background. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like a storybook, like a fairytale. It feels very special. I thought, it would be really cute if they did that. I felt like a grandma about it.鈥�

The other couple celebrating Tuesday was Mr. Bardem and Ms. Cruz, whom Dunst granted are 鈥渄efinitely the sexier couple.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e pretty fun, though,鈥� she added.

Along with Ms. Dunst, the nominees for best supporting actress were a trio of first-timers 鈥� Jessie Buckley (鈥淭he Lost Daughter鈥�), Aunjanue Ellis (鈥淜ing Richard鈥�) and Ariana DeBose, in the 鈥淲est Side Story鈥� role Rita Moreno won for 1962 鈥� and one veteran: Judi Dench. She earned her eighth Oscar nod for her performance in Kenneth Branagh鈥檚 black-and-white family drama 鈥淏elfast.鈥�

鈥淏elfast,鈥� which Mr. Branagh based on his own childhood, received seven nominations, including best director for Mr. Branagh and best supporting actor for Ms. Dench鈥檚 鈥淏elfast鈥� husband, Ciar谩n Hinds. The film was one of the first shot in Britain after lockdown in 2021.
鈥淲e spent hundreds of thousands of pounds on COVID protection,鈥� said Mr. Branagh. 鈥淲e relished the opportunity to do this so much. Nobody knew then if there was even going to be a film industry when we were done.鈥�

鈥淩icardos鈥� co-star J.K. Simmons rounded out the best supporting actor category that saw Mr. Kotsur make history.

鈥淚 feel a bit lighter. This chip is off my shoulder,鈥� Mr. Kotsur said Tuesday through an interpreter. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like a step forward for everyone.鈥�

With $400 million in worldwide ticket sales, 鈥淒une鈥� is the biggest box-office hit in the best-picture race, but Mr. McKay鈥檚 鈥淒on鈥檛 Look Up鈥� could make the case for being the most-watched nominee. Netflix counts it as its second-most popular movie ever with some 359,790,000 hours watched, according to the company.

鈥淣o Time to Die,鈥� one of the most successful blockbusters of the pandemic but still a possible money-loser for MGM, came away with three nominations including the sixth Bond theme nominated for best song. The Billie Eilish title-track will have to best Lin-Manuel Miranda鈥檚 blockbuster 鈥淓ncanto鈥� soundtrack and its best-song nominee 鈥淒os Oruguitas.鈥�

鈥淓ncanto鈥� also landed in the best animated feature category which is especially competitive this year. The other nominees are Pixar鈥檚 鈥淟uca,鈥� Netflix鈥檚 鈥淭he Mitchells vs. the Machines,鈥� Disney鈥檚 鈥淩aya and the Last Dragon鈥� and 鈥淔lee,鈥� the first documentary ever nominated in the category. The Danish animated documentary by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, about an Afghan migrant sharing his story for the first time, was also nominated for best documentary and best international film.

Also nominated for best documentary were 鈥淎ttica,鈥� 鈥淎scension,鈥� 鈥淲riting With Fire鈥� and the category favorite, 鈥淪ummer of Soul (Or... When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised).鈥� Questlove鈥檚 documentary chronicles the 1969 Harlem Culture Festival and its long-buried legacy.

鈥淢y only intention with this film was to restore history,鈥� said Questlove.

Joining 鈥淔lee,鈥� 鈥淒rive My Car鈥� and 鈥淟unana鈥� in the best international film category were Paolo Sorrentino鈥檚 鈥淭he Hand of God鈥� (Italy) and Joachim Trier鈥檚 Norwegian thirtysomething drama 鈥淭he Worst Person in the World,鈥� which also earned a best original screenplay nomination.

The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences will hope Tuesday鈥檚 nominees can help lift its ABC telecast, which last year featured a socially distanced ceremony at Los Angeles鈥� Union Station. Ratings plummeted to an all-time low of 9.85 million viewers.
This year, the academy has yet to map out plans for its show, except that it will include a host for the first time since 2018.

This story was reported by The Associated Press. AP writers Andrew Dalton, Jonathan Landrum Jr., and Jocelyn Noveck contributed to this report.