Oppenheimer surprisingly fails to make final shortlist in Oscars category

Barbie and Wonka among 20 films to make shortlist

Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer (Universal)

Christoper Nolan’s Oppenheimer will miss out on an Oscar nomination in the Visual Effects category, as it has been revealed the Cillian Murphy-starring blockbuster was not among the films to make the final shortlist.

AsVariety reports, a total of 20 films will move on to the next round of voting, which is due to begin next week.

Those films are: Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Barbie, The Boys in the Boat, The Creator, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Godzilla: Minus One, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Killers of the Flower Moon, The Marvels, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, Napoleon, Nyad, Poor Things, Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire, Society of the Snow, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and Wonka.

That list will be reduced to 10, with the new shortlist announced on 21 December. The final five nominees will be announced on 23 January, ahead of the Oscars ceremony on 10 March.

Along with Oppenheimer, other high-profile snubs in the Visual Effects category include Blue Beetle, The Little Mermaid, The Flash, Ferrari and Shazam! Fury of the Gods.

The 2024 Academy Awards will take place on 10 March (Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)

It was recently announced that the 96th Oscars will begin one hour earlier than usual, with the official show starting at 7pm eastern for the first time.

The official pre-show will also begin earlier, at 6.30pm eastern.

The show has traditionally begun at 8pm. Despite various experiments to keep the runtime to three hours, the broadcast has sometimes stretched past 11pm.

The Oscars are broadcast globally in more than 200 territories and film academy membership has also become more international in recent years. Those involved in the show, from the film academy to the network, have also been working to get ratings back to pre-pandemic levels and making modest gains.

Jimmy Kimmel is returning to host the show for the fourth time, with Raj Kapoor serving as executive producer and showrunner alongside Katy Mullan and director Hamish Hamilton.

Additional reporting by Associated Press