Disney is pushing for Black Widow, led by Scarlett Johansson, in the upcoming Oscars ceremony and other awards. Earlier in 2021, Johansson was embroiled in a lawsuit with the company, owing to differences over remuneration, after the film’s hybrid release.
The media giant launched a new website to campaign for its flagship films at the upcoming Oscars, BAFTAs, and other award ceremonies. These include Marvel films, as well as others like Cruella, Free Guy, The King’s Man, The Last Duel, West Side Story, to name a few.
Members of award-curating associations such as, the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts, and Sciences, among others, are invited to attend screenings of the films, that are made available both online as well as in theatres.
While Marvel films enjoy a global fanbase and have raked in huge revenues over the years, they have had a relative absence, in terms of recognition at prestigious award shows. The only superhero film to have garnered a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars is the 2018 Marvel film, Black Panther. However, it did not win the award. Marvel’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse won the Academy Award for the Best Animated Feature in 2019.
Apart from Black Widow, other Marvel films like Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and Eternals feature on the company’s ‘For Your Consideration’ page, in its bid to campaign for international awards. Disney is pushing hard for all three films, in the Best Picture, Best Director, and the leading and supporting performances categories.
Johansson and Simu Liu, who starred in Black Widow and Shang-Chi, respectively, are considerations for the leading performances category, alongside Emma Stone (Cruella), Rachel Zegler (West Side Story), and Ansel Elgort (West Side Story), among others.
Interestingly, while Eternals comprises an ensemble cast, Disney is pushing for only actors Gemma Chan and Richard Madden, who essayed the roles of Sersi and Ikaris, respectively, in the leading performances category, while others like Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie have been considered for the supporting performances category.
Disney is also promoting directors Cate Shortland (Black Widow), Destin Daniel Cretton (Shang-Chi), and Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao (Eternals), for the Best Director nominations.
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The aforementioned Marvel film titles appear in the Oscars shortlist in the Visual Effects category, as announced in December 2021. Meanwhile, Sony and Marvel have also launched a campaign for consideration of Spider-Man: No Way Home, in the Best Picture category. The last film in the Spider-Man: Homecoming trilogy became the biggest film of 2021 and crossed the $1 billion mark, in global collections.
Apart from the above, animated feature films such as Luca, Encanto, Raya and the Last Dragon, and Ron’s Gone Wrong, are being recommended for the Oscars’ Best Animated Feature and Best Director categories.