‘Challengers’ to submit in comedy/musical at the Golden Globes (Exclusive)

“Challengers” will submit in the comedy/musical category at the Golden Globe Awards, Gold Derby has learned exclusively.

Zendaya, who won a Globe last year for “Euphoria,” will aim for her first film nomination in Best Comedy/Musical Actress. Josh O’Connor, a Globe champ himself for “The Crown,” and Mike Faist are running in supporting, so the categorization does not affect them since the Globes have genre-neutral supporting categories.

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Ostensibly a sports drama, “Challengers” follows the 13-year love triangle between tennis wunderkind-turned-coach Tashi (Zendaya), her Grand Slam champion husband Art (Faist), and her ex-boyfriend, journeyman player Patrick (O’Connor), who was also Art’s one-time doubles partner and BFF. The film opened in April at No. 1 and eventually grossed $94.2 million worldwide, with $50.1 million domestic.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and simmering with sexual tension, “Challengers” is not a straightforward comedy (and obviously not a musical at all), but it certainly has humorous moments. It was unclear whether the film would submit in the stacked drama field or the more open comedy/musical one. In the past, the former Hollywood Foreign Press Association had sometimes rejected studios’ requests for the Globes and placed films and actors at its own preference. But that has not been the case in recent years as the HFPA was plagued with and eventually disbanded amid diversity and ethics scandals. Last year, “Air” — which, like “Challengers,” is a sports drama from Amazon with some funny moments — submitted in comedy/musical, ultimately receiving two nominations for Best Comedy/Musical Film and Best Comedy/Musical Actor for Matt Damon.

In comedy/musical, “Challengers” will compete alongside the likes of Oscar frontrunners “Anora” and “Emilia Pérez,” which sit in first and second place, respectively, in the Globe odds for the top prize. Rounding out the top six are “Saturday Night,” “A Real Pain,” Wicked,” and “Nightbitch.”

Golden Globe nominations will be announced Monday, Dec. 9.

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