Mank Leads Oscar 2021 Nominations With 10 Nods

In a strange year where it was never quite clear what the Oscars would look like (or if they'd even happen at all), the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has unveiled the nominations for the 2021 ceremony – long purported to be the “weirdest Oscars in history,” based on the disruption caused by the ongoing pandemic and the closure of cinemas.

In the wake of last week's surprisingly diverse BAFTA nominations, though, how do the Oscar nominations match up? Rather well, actually – and they don't seem “weird” as much as they seem more diverse than usual. The Best Picture nominees, particularly, are a varied bunch: while Mank and The Trial of the Chicago 7 have been – rightly or wrongly – considered shoe-ins in this category, it's great to see Minari, Promising Young Woman, Nomadland and Sound of Metal all receiving Best Picture nods, too.

David Fincher's Mank has amassed the most nominations with a whopping 10 to its name – unsurprising, given the Academy's weakness for films set in Hollywood (even those as vilifying as Mank). Following Mank, with 6 nominations apiece, are The Father, a film that absolutely nobody has seen, and the Riz Ahmed-starring Sound of Metal – not undeserved, but unexpected on account of the film's relative obscurity (it still hasn't been released in the UK!). The Trial of the Chicago 7, Minari and Nomadland also received 6 nominations.

Best Actor nominees this year include Riz Ahmed (The Sound of Metal), Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom), Anthony Hopkins (The Father), Gary Oldman (Mank), and Steven Yeun (Minari). Best Actress nominees include Viola Davis (Ma Rainey's Black Bottom) Andra Day (The United States vs Billie Holiday), Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman), Frances McDormand (Nomandland) and Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman).

Anthony Hopkins has become the oldest actor in history to receive a Best Actor nomination, aged 83, while Frances McDormand could claim her third Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in Nomadland. What's more, two female filmmakers – Chloé Zhao and Emerald Fennell – have been nominated for Best Director, marking the first time that more than one woman has received a nod in the category at the same time in 93 years of Oscar history.

You can read the full list of Oscar nominees below:

Best Picture

The Father
Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
Minari
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Actor in a Leading Role

Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Gary Oldman, Mank
Steven Yeun, Minari

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Andra Day, The United States vs Billie Holiday
Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Leslie Odom, Jr, One Night in Miami
Paul Raci, Sound of Metal
Lakeith Stanfield, Judas and the Black Messiah

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman, The Father
Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari

Best Director

Thomas Vinterberg, Another Round
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
David Fincher, Mank
Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

Best Costume Design

Emma
Mank
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mulan
Pinocchio

Best Original Score

Da 5 Bloods
Mank
Minari
News of the World
Soul

Best Adapted Screenplay

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
The Father
Nomadland
One Night in Miami
The White Tiger

Best Original Screenplay

Judas and the Black Messiah
Minari
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Animated Short Film

Burrow
Genius Loci
If Anything Happens I Love You
Opera
Yes-People

Best Live-Action Short Film

Feeling Through
The Letter Room
The Present
Two Distant Strangers
White Eye

Best Documentary

Collective
Crip Camp
The Mole Agent
My Octopus Teacher
Time

Best Documentary Short

Colette
A Concerto Is a Conversation
Do Not Split
Hunger Ward
A Love Song for Latasha

Best International Feature Film

Another Round
Better Days
Collective
The Man Who Sold His Skin
Quo Vadis, Aida?

Best Sound

Greyhound
Mank
News of the World
Sound of Metal
Soul

Best Production Design

The Father
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
News of the World
Tenet

Best Film Editing

The Father
Nomadland
Promising Young Woman
Sound of Metal
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Cinematography

Judas and the Black Messiah
Mank
News of the World
Nomadland
The Trial of the Chicago 7

Best Visual Effects

Love and Monsters
The Midnight Sky
Mulan
The One and Only Ivan
Tenet

Best Animated Feature Film

Onward
Over the Moon
A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
Soul
Wolfwalkers

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

Emma
Hillbilly Elegy
Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Mank
Pinocchio

Best Original Song

“Husavik,” Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
“Fight For You,” Judas and the Black Messiah
“Io Sì (Seen),” The Life Ahead
“Speak Now,” One Night in Miami
“Hear My Voice,” The Trial of the Chicago 7

The Oscars will take place at a delayed ceremony on 25 April, 2021.