Oscars 2025: Netflix Leads Individual Count, Universal Makes History with 25 Nods

A wide range of distributors were represented among this year’s Oscar nominees, including streaming services, creative independent distributors, and well-known Hollywood studios and their speciality departments.

With 16 nominations overall on Tuesday, Netflix led the field and received the most nominations of any single distributor. Emilia Pérez, which won awards in 13 categories—the most of any film this year and setting a new standard for non-English-language films—helped to support this accomplishment. It is only one nomination short of the record set by films like Titanic, La La Land, and All About Eve, which each got 14 nominations.

With 14 nominations, including 10 for The Brutalist, the strong A24 came in second in the Academy’s list of top-nominated distributors. This Golden Globes winner is eager to capitalise on its position as the film’s top pick as it continues to be released in theatres, where it has already made an astounding $5.9 million despite only having been shown in a few hundred theatres.

Wicked, the Universal Pictures adaptation, has received a great deal of attention and received ten nominations, which is noteworthy for a movie that has received both critical and commercial praise. Over the years, the Oscars’ declining audience has frequently been attributed to the nominees’ preponderance of arthouse films, which are typically only shown in a small number of big cities. Wicked is now the highest-grossing candidate for the best picture Oscar, having made over $800 million at the box office worldwide. Both Ariana Grande, who is nominated for best supporting actress, and Cynthia Erivo, who is nominated for best actress, have sizable fan bases that might increase the broadcast’s popularity.

In addition, Universal’s vast picture portfolio, which includes Focus Features and DreamWorks Animation, the studio behind the surprising hit The Wild Robot, achieved a record-breaking 25 nominations on Tuesday. This accomplishment surpasses the record of 18 nominations set by Oppenheimer, the winner of Christopher Nolan’s best picture, last year.

With 13 nominations overall, Universal Pictures lead the field this year, closely followed by Focus Features with 11. Both studios have had a film in the best picture category for the third year in a row. Conclave, the entry from Focus Features, received eight nods, making it the most nominated movie in the studio’s history, along with Milk and Brokeback Mountain. Conclave, which made a smooth transition from arthouse theatres to mainstream multiplexes, also became one of the highest-earning speciality films of 2024, grossing over $76 million worldwide.

With 10 nominations from Searchlight Pictures, Disney’s wide-ranging filmography received a total of 15 nominations. This comprises two nominations for A Real Pain and eight for A Complete Unknown. Disney also includes National Geographic Films and 20th Century Studios, both of which were nominated.

With almost $60 million in box office receipts since its Christmas Day debut, A Complete Unknown is another strong contender for best picture. Furthermore, with around $1.7 billion in worldwide ticket sales, Pixar and Disney’s Inside Out 2, which was nominated for best animated picture, has surpassed all previous animated films in terms of gross.

Anora, the Palme d’Or winner, received six of the seven nominations, demonstrating the remarkable success of the unorthodox independent distributor Noen. This accomplishment outperformed Paramount, which had three nominations, and Warner Bros., which received five. Legendary’s Dune: Part Two, a serious candidate for best picture and a huge box office triumph with $705 million worldwide, was the subject of all Warner Bros. nominations.