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It’s all come down to this. Ninety-four years of Oscar history have been digested and cross-examined to help yield the critical answer: Which films and performances will win Academy Awards on March 27?

By the sheer scope of its nomination tally, Netflix is the closest it’s ever been to taking home the statuette for the Academy’s most prestigious prize. Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog” has won the most critics’ awards for best picture, and the film has walked away with the top honor at the BAFTA and DGA ceremonies, which have Oscar-voter crossover. However, in what feels like an even divide, some Academy members told Variety they were ranking it at No. 1 on their preferential ballot, while others were putting it toward the bottom of that category.

Read more: Variety’s Awards Circuit Predictions Hub

Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” sat as the presumptive front-runner for...

The 37th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards were handed out Sunday at the Santa Monica Pier, with comedy power couple Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally serving as hosts.

There weren’t too many surprises throughout the night. Troy Kotsur won the first award of the evening, Best Supporting Male Actor for “Coda,” very much as predicted. Taylour Paige took home Best Female Lead Actor, for “Zola,” while Simon Rex, of “Red Rocket,” walked away with Best Male Lead. Ruth Negga won Best Supporting Female Actor for “Passing,” beating out Jessie Buckley from “The Lost Daughter.”

But Maggie Gyllenhaal’s adaptation of the Elena Ferrante book won the three other categories in which it was nominated — Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Feature — and was the night’s biggest victor. Gyllenhaal gave three effusive thank you speeches, spreading her appreciation around to her cast, crew, financiers, publicist, husband and mother. “Women in film!

The Latino Entertainment Journalists Association announced its annual nominations where Steven Spielberg’s “West Side Story” leads the way with 13 nominations, including best picture, director, supporting actor, supporting actress, and adapted screenplay.

Lin-Manuel Miranda received the most individual nominations of any person with seven: best picture for “In the Heights,” best director for “Tick, Tick … Boom!,” voice or motion capture performance for “Vivo” and a trio of song mentions from the animated film “Encanto” including “Dos Oruguitas,” “Surface Pressure” and “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” The Leja membership also selected Miranda as the recipient of the Latino Activism Award. Past winners of that award include America Ferrera, Eva Longoria, Rosie Perez.

John Leguizamo is being honored with the 2022 Rita Moreno Lifetime Achievement Award for this year’s special honorees. For decades, the Special Tony and Emmy-winning actor, producer, and comedian have been a tireless force in the Latino community.

As with his past features Beginners and 20th Century Women, writer-director Mike Mills focused his latest effort, C’mon C’mon, on family—this time honing in not on his relationship with his father or mother, but instead on that between an adult and a child.

“The story, the heart of it came from me having a kid, and living with my kid, and experiencing the world with them,” Mills said Sunday during Deadline’s Contenders Film: Los Angeles even, “and having someone need you so fully. It’s so intimate, being a parent.”

In the A24 pic, Joaquin Phoenix plays Johnny, a radio journalist whose latest project has him interviewing children across the U.S. about the state of affairs in the world. Johnny forges a tenuous but transformational relationship with his 8-year-old nephew Jesse (Woody Norman)—the son of his sister Viv (Gaby Hoffmann)—when he winds up...

A24 released a trailer for “C’mon C’mon,” which premiered at the Telluride Film Festival and will open in theaters later this year.

Helmed by Mike Mills, the Oscar-winning director behind “20th Century Women,” the films stars Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny, a middle-aged radio journalist who, when left to take care of his nephew (Woody Norman), embarks on a trip across the country to interview kids, asking them what they think about their lives and where the world is headed.

Rounding out the cast are Gaby Hoffmann as Johnny’s sister Viv, Scoot McNairy as Viv’s high-maintenance ex-husband Paul, Molly Webster as Roxanne and Jaboukie Young-White as Fernando.

In his review, Variety’s chief film critic Peter Debruge called the film “a small, soft-spoken yet casually profound family drama,” while film awards editor Clayton Davis wrote in his column, “Mills’ film is not going to appeal to everyone, but I...

Exclusive: A24 is heading to the Efm in Berlin with Joaquin Phoenix’s first movie post-Joker.

As we revealed late last year, the untitled drama has been written and directed by 20th Century Women and Beginners filmmaker Mike Mills. A24 is producing and financing and will launch sales next week. The project is likely to be in-demand.

Oscar-winner Phoenix will play an artist left to take care of his precocious young nephew as they forge an unexpected bond over a cross country trip.

Also starring are Gaby Hoffman (Transparent), Woody Norman (Poldark) and Kenneth Kynt Bryan (Claws). The project, budgeted in the $10m range, recently wrapped in New Orleans.

Producers are Chelsea Barnard (Booksmart), Lila Yacoub (Eighth Grade) and Andrea Longacre-White (20th Century Women). Robbie Ryan (The Favourite) is DoP. We hear a script is due to be sent out to buyers this week.

Phoenix is coming off rave...

A24 is nearing a deal on a new project that would pair director Mike Mills with Joaquin Phoenix. (Via Deadline.) The project would be Phoenix’s first role following his celebrated performance in the forthcoming Todd Phillips-directed “Joker.” The movie will be written and directed by Mills, best known for his films “20th Century Women” and “Beginners.” Production is set to begin this fall. The project is a boon for A24, especially as Phoenix heads into this year’s awards season with a much-hyped performance.

Reception to “Joker” has been mostly ecstatic, with critics praising Phoenix’s performance as the notorious Batman foil as one of the actor’s best. Critics are divided on the actual film, with many hailing “Joker” as the new hallmark for superhero movies and others calling it the death knell of cinema. The Warner Bros. project has been the talk of the fall festival circuit,...

Exclusive: A24 is in final negotiations for an untitled drama that will be the next film for Joker star Joaquin Phoenix. The movie has been written and will be directed by 20th Century Woman and Beginners filmmaker Mike Mills.

Production begins in the fall, and the deal is a coup for A24 to land the first film vehicle for Phoenix coming off his tour-de-force performance in the Todd Phillips-directed Joker.

Phoenix’s performance in becoming the supervillain from the DC Batman universe has been widely touted at the fall festivals — it won the Golden Lion at Venice — and he is considered an Oscar Best Actor front-runner for a role that is as physically and emotionally profound as I can remember seeing since Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot.

Producers on the new pic are Chelsea Barnard, Lila Yacoub and Andrea Longacre-White.

Phoenix, a three-time Oscar nominee, is repped by Wme and Sloane,...