Leonardo DiCaprio’s One Battle After Another leads Hollywood’s Golden Globe nominations

LOS ANGELES – Dark comedy One Battle After Another racked up a leading nine Golden Globe nominations on Dec 8, positioning the Leonardo DiCaprio thriller as an early favourite on Hollywood’s road to the Academy Awards.

The movie, directed by American film-maker Paul Thomas Anderson, stars DiCaprio, 51, as a washed-up revolutionary who springs into action when his daughter’s life is in danger.

The Warner Bros film will compete in the best movie musical or comedy category against Marty Supreme and Bugonia, among others.

Norwegian family drama Sentimental Value claimed eight nominations, just ahead of supernatural horror film Sinners with seven.

Both were nominated for best movie drama alongside Mexican film-maker Guillermo del Toro’s take on Frankenstein, and Hamnet, a story about the family of English playwright William Shakespeare.

“Frankenstein is a film I have been wanting to make for as long as I can remember, and to have it embraced in this way means so much to me,” del Toro, 61, said in a statement.

Acting nominees included DiCaprio and his One Battle co-stars Benicio Del Toro, Sean Penn, Chase Infiniti and Teyana Taylor, who said the nominations left her “speechless and teary-eyed”.

American actors George Clooney and Adam Sandler received nods for Jay Kelly, as did American actor Dwayne Johnson for The Smashing Machine and Irish actress Jessie Buckley for Hamnet.

American singer-actress Ariana Grande and English actress Cynthia Erivo earned nominations for their roles in Wicked: For Good, though the second part of Universal Pictures’ The Wizard Of Oz prequel failed to make it into the musical or comedy field.

The Globes are one of the first Hollywood awards ceremonies leading up to the film industry’s top honours, the Oscars, in March. The Globes telecast is scheduled for Jan 11.

International films recognised

Voters for the Globes are entertainment journalists from around the world. Their choices in 2025 reflected their affection for films made outside of Hollywood, said Ms Debra Birnbaum, editor of awards website Gold Derby.

Beyond Sentimental Value, they nominated revenge thriller It Was Just An Accident from Iranian director Jafar Panahi and Brazilian drama The Secret Agent.

“The biggest surprise over everything is the big showing for all the international films,” Ms Birnbaum said. “I think those are the films we’re going to be watching, not just at the Golden Globes, but throughout all the film (awards) season.”

In a new podcast category, Globes voters nominated Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard, Call Her Daddy, Good Hang With Amy Poehler, The Mel Robbins Podcast, Smartless and National Public Radio’s Up First.

HBO’s vacation mystery The White Lotus (2021 to present) led TV categories with six nominations, ahead of Netflix limited series Adolescence (2025) about a 13-year-old accused of murder.

Netflix – the streaming pioneer attempting to remake Hollywood by purchasing TV, film and streaming assets, including HBO from Warner Bros Discovery – outpaced all networks with 22 nominations in television categories. Paramount Skydance

made a hostile bid for Warner Bros Discovery

on Dec 8.

Independent distributor Neon, the studio behind Sentimental Value, It Was Just An Accident and The Secret Agent, landed the most film nominations with 21.

Globe winners are chosen by more than 300 entertainment journalists, compared with the roughly 9,000 voters who select the Oscars. The Globes voting body was expanded in recent years, and organisers instituted reforms after criticism over ethical lapses and a lack of diversity.

American comedienne Nikki Glaser will return to host the Globes ceremony for a second time. The show will be broadcast live on CBS and streamed on Paramount+. REUTERS