‘Oppenheimer’ Predictably Closes Out 2024 Oscars With Best Picture Win

Oppenheimer wins Best Picture at 2024 Academy Awards – Credit: PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP/Getty Images

Oppenheimer was awarded Best Picture at the 2024 Academy Awards on Sunday, March 10. A slightly disoriented Al Pacino presented the award to the producers, cast, and crew who took the stage in celebration.

Oppenheimer was always the favorite heading into Oscar night. The film — which became the highest-ever grossing biopic last year — stars Cillian Murphy as Robert J. Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb. It chronicles not just the creation of the bomb, but examines Oppenheimer’s guilt over this weapon of mass destruction, his complex personal life and extramarital affairs, and a McCarthy-era effort to revoke his security clearance.

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Along with Murphy, the film stars Emily Blunt as Kitty Oppenheimer and Robert Downey Jr. as Lewis Strauss. Earlier in the night, Murphy won Best Actor for his performance, while Robert Downey Jr. took home Best Supporting Actor. The film’s director, Christopher Nolan, was also awarded Best Director.

“Movies are just a little bit over 100 years old,” Nolan shared in his speech. “We don’t know where this incredible journey is going from here. But to know that you think I’m a meaningful part of it means the world to me.”

Oppenheimer went in to the 2024 Academy Awards with 13 nominations, the most of any film this year. It ultimately took home seven, including prizes for Best Editing, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score.

The Best Picture win not only capped off a big Oscar night for Oppenheimer but a dominant awards season run. The film was also feted with numerous awards at the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards, the Golden Globes, and even the Grammys, where composer Ludwig Göransson won Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.

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