It’s been a long and bumpy road for Netflix when it comes to the Academy Awards. Their primary rival, Amazon Studios, landed its first Best Picture nomination two years ago for “Manchester by the Sea” and then saw Casey Affleck and Kenneth Lonergan win Best Actor and Original Screenplay Oscars. The Amazon division even has a Foreign Language Film statue with Asghar Farhadi’s “The Salesman.” Netflix may be the streaming king, but its highest-profile nominations were Supporting Actress and Adapted Screenplay for “Mudbound” last year. Fast forward 12 months later and things have completely changed.
READ MORE: Full list of 2019 Oscar nominations as “Roma” and “The Favourite” lead with 10 each
Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma,” a Participant Films production and Netflix acquisition, earned a monster 10 nominations including Best Director (Cuaron), Original Screenplay (Cuaron), Editing (Cuaron and Adam Gough), Cinematography (Cuaron), Actress (Yalitza Aparicio), Supporting Actress (Marina De Tavira) Foreign Language Film, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and, most notably, Best Picture. The latter is a huge win for Netflix who has battle members of the Academy (and industry overall) who feel the streaming service has not adequately supported theatrical releases in the past. Netflix changed its strategy this year, however, and put “Roma” in theaters over two weeks before its service debut. The company didn’t release box office figures, but word did get out of numerous “sell-outs” in major markets across the country. In fact, “Roma” is still playing in theaters across the world and has done so longer than any Netflix film to date.
“Roma’s” achievements weren’t necessarily a surprise considering the accolades it received as, arguably, the most critically acclaimed film of the year. That being said, hearing the film’s name in the Best Picture category had to be a huge relief for the Netflix team which has gone above and beyond this season for a film already without a recognizable star and not in the English language.
Netflix also landed a second Best Original Song nominee for “When A Cowboy Trades His Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs.” The Coen Bros. feature also earned Costume Design and Adapted Screenplay nominations. The service also earned two Documentary Short nods taking their overall tally to 15, the same as Fox Searchlight who also landed 10 nods for “The Favourite.”
The 91st Academy Awards will be handed out on Sunday, Feb. 24 live on ABC at 5 PM PT, 8 PM ET.