Pink-themed movie phenomenon 'Barbie' leads Golden Globe nominations
CALIFORNIA (Reuters) - Pink-themed movie phenomenon 'Barbie' topped the list of nominees for Hollywood's Golden Globe awards on Monday with nine nods, outpacing the eight for historical drama "Oppenheimer."
The two films - which featured in a summer box office clash dubbed "Barbenheimer" - will compete in different categories at the Globes, a red-carpet ceremony that kicks off Hollywood's awards season in January.
"Barbie," director Greta Gerwig's take on the iconic doll, will vie for best comedy or musical film alongside "American Fiction," "The Holdovers," and others.
"Oppenheimer" is in the running for best movie drama. It stars Cillian Murphy as the man behind the building of the atomic bomb. Competitors include Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon," the story of the murder of Native Americans in Oklahoma in the 1920s.
In television categories, family drama "Succession" led all series with nine nominations, followed by "The Bear" with five.
After criticism for a lack of diversity in past years, an expanded group of Globe voters nominated two female directors - Gerwig and "Past Lives" director Celine Song. Acting nominees included Native American star Lily Gladstone in "Flower Moon," gay Black American "Rustin" actor Colman Domingo and Black American lead Jeffrey Wright in "American Fiction."
"For all of us, that means our work is being seen. So that feels good," Domingo told Reuters.
Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks were nominated for their roles in "The Color Purple," but the story of Black Americans living in the early 1900s was left out of the race for best movie musical or comedy.
"What makes me happy is the fact that I didn't give up, and that's what I want for every girl who sees the movie, every man, woman, Black, white - this movie is not just a Black thing - it's a world thing," Barrino said.
Tim Gray, a former Variety editor who is now executive vice president of the Globes, noted that the nominees reflected more diversity and inclusion than they have in the past.
"Two of the directing nominees are women, half of the screenwriting nominees are women. There's a lot of racial diversity in the nominations," Gray said.
"The Last of Us" star Pedro Pascal and "Past Lives" actor Greta Lee were among 27 first-time nominees. "I've never been nominated before," Lee told Reuters. "I had no idea that these things were announced so early. I was asleep and my phone was activating in a way that was alarming."
