Oh, we love a Hollywood gossip, don’t we? Particularly during Academy Awards season. And this season, it feels like all the trades and entertainment publications are in the business of seeking out whispers regarding the bevy of 2025 Oscar nominees, and showing off some of the realities and errors (sorry, Ralph Fiennes) in their ways. But wouldn’t you know, there’s more than one Hollywood gossip in this town open to sharing their opinions — and share they did. (Apologies in advance to Emilia Pérez.)
In a new story, four highly-regarded (by Entertainment Weekly) industry professionals dished out the realities of their ballot-casting, breaking down why they voted the way they did, biases, abstentions, and all. Making sure to get a smattering of opinions, the outlet spoke to members from four different branches of the Academy — a director, a writer, a publicist, and a casting director — in order to get a wider sense of how the people who make movies feel about this year’s nominees. And if one thing is certain: no one film is going to sweep this year.
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Curious to know more? Read on below!
Nobody Likes A Long Movie And ‘Emilia Pérez’s Dreams Are Probably Dead
According to EW, their panel included a “beloved” director of studio and cult films alike, an “eclectic” screenwriter from indie film and TV, a publicist “titan,” and a casting director “veteran” of indie international and big-budget studio films — making for a variety of opinions. But there was one thing they could all agree on: Emilia Pérez is, well, f**ked. Whatever goodwill the divisive film had heading into awards season was completely eradicated by the tweets of its star, Karla Sofía Gascón. As the writer put it:
“She seems to be toast, in terms of her chances. I didn’t love the film. I think it’s very bold, and I love that these kinds of films are included in the Academy Awards. … I don’t know if I would’ve voted for her on a creative level; I would’ve totally voted for her on a political level, prior to this. It feels personal, in the sense of saying, girl, you’re one of us, so why would you s— on other people? Her apology — or lack thereof — doesn’t feel that genuine.”
Another consensus does seem to be that the longer movies were harder to get through. “I’m not rushing for another three hours of Dune,” said the director. More than one of the panelists admitted to not getting to, or enjoying films like Dune: Part Two or The Brutalist because of their length. The publicist straight-up said The Brutalist was “too long.” Unrelated: bring back 90-minute movies. (And bring back the big-budget studio rom-com, too, for that matter! But I digress.)
It also seems as though Timothée Chalamet and Demi Moore are all but guaranteed to win the Best Actor and Best Actress trophies, but don’t be surprised if someone like Ralph Fiennes or Mickey Madison sneaks their way onto the stage, either. As seems to be the case across many of the secret ballots, genre fare is a far harder sell for many of the movie-makers casting a vote, meaning many people straight-up abstained from watching a film like Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, or refusing to award blockbuster crowd pleasers, like Wicked. There’s plenty more quotes and dish, but to read the rest you should check out the original story (linked below).
However it shakes out, we’re in for an interesting night when Conan O’Brien hosts the 97th annual Academy Awards on Sunday, March 2, 2025 on ABC (and streaming on Hulu).
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This story originally appeared on Movieweb
