Martin Scorsese Secures 10th Directing Oscar Nomination, Nabbing Record From Steven Spielberg
Killers of the Flower Moon director Martin Scorsese has now been nominated for more directing Oscars than any living filmmaker, per The Hollywood Reporter. The 81-year-old legend secured his record-breaking status on Tuesday morning, when this year’s Oscar nominations were announced.
Scorsese’s Best Director nomination for his true crime epic pushes him past fellow filmmaker Steven Spielberg, who has nine nominations for Best Director. Scorsese has been nominated in the past for directing undisputed classics like Raging Bull and Goodfellas, but has only won the trophy once–for his cops-versus-criminals blockbuster The Departed (2006). There exists some controversy over this win, though, as the film is considered one of Scorsese’s less original efforts.
Spielberg, meanwhile, has won twice: in 1993 for Schindler's List, and again in 1999 for Saving Private Ryan.
Only one director in the Academy Awards history has more directorial nominations than Scorsese now, and he died over 40 years ago. William Wyler, director of Roman Holiday (1953) and Ben Hur (1959), was nominated 12 times during his estimable career, winning three times, before he passed away in 1981.
10 seemed to be Flower Moon’s lucky number, as the film amassed 9 further nominations besides Scorsese’s Best Director nomination. Scorsese’s frequent collaborator Robert De Niro picked up his ninth acting nomination for his turn in the film. Lily Gladstone, the film's soul, became the first Native American actor to be nominated for Best Actress. Four other Indigenous actors have previously been nominated for the honor, the most recent being Yalitza Aparicio for 2018's Roma. (Flower Moon co-star Leonardo DiCaprio was not nominated for his performance.)
Scorsese is nominated in the directing category alongside Christopher Nolan for thunderous biopic Oppenheimer; Justine Triet for courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall; Yorgos Lanthimos for erotic horror-fantasy Poor Things; and Jonathan Glazer for brutal Holocaust examination The Zone of Interest.
Somewhat controversially left out of the nominations were Barbie star Margot Robbie and the film’s director, Greta Gerwig. Both women seemed like sure nominations going into Tuesday, though the film itself (and Ryan Gosling) received some love in other categories.
You can watch Jimmy Kimmel host the 95th Oscars ceremony on Sunday, March 12, at 8 pm EST/5 pm PST.
