Denzel Washington’s Gladiator 2 role was rejected for Best Supporting Actor

Since Oscar season The event has become a year-round event catering to industry professionals and film buffs around the world, and there has been a tendency to invisibly eliminate some contenders based on their previous awards success or showbiz fame. If Steven Spielberg has a new film on the way, he’s immediately a blocked candidate for at least a nomination. Meryl Streep in a drama about something timely or socially important? This is probably the most talked about Best Actress nod.

It’s always wrong to think this way. That’s something I learned in 2007, when, as a participant in an Oscar predictions poll, I predicted Oscar nominations across the board for “Charlie Wilson’s War.” How can I not? Drama about US involvement in Afghanistan, directed by Mike Nichols (winner for “The Graduate”) and starring Tom Hanks (winner for “Philadelphia” and “Forrest Gump”) and Julia Roberts (winner for “Erin Brockovich”) . Philip Seymour Hoffman (after winning “Capote”) weighed 800 pounds. Oscar the gorilla. Add in a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin that seemingly everyone in town had read and loved, and there was rare reason to believe this killer talent lineup would fail to deliver.

Then “Charlie Wilson’s War” was screened before critics and members of the Academy. Although I loved the movie, word of mouth from voters was overwhelming. When the Oscar nominations were announced a month later, Hoffman was the film’s sole nominee.

Lesson learned: Proportions don’t matter until the movie is shown. Even then, you have to give the film some time to linger in voters’ minds before you consider it a contender. We learned this again when… Nominations for the 97th Academy Awards It was announced this morning.

Consequences are a difficult proposition For Oscar voters. Yes, “The Godfather Part II” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” won the Academy’s top prize, but both came out within two years of the first part of the saga. While last year’s “Gladiator II” put Ridley Scott back in the director’s chair and brought together a plethora of acting talent, 24 years separated it from Scott’s original Best Picture-winning film of 2000. It never felt necessary or timely.

However, the film had a prominent role in Denzel Washington. As the enormously cunning Macrinus, the two-time Oscar winner (for “Glory” and “Training Day”) delivered a star turn that had all of Hollywood buzzing. Nevertheless Reviews from legitimate (i.e. non-influential) critics. Muted in their general praise of the film, they all agreed that Washington’s dazzling performance was reason enough for the film to exist and, more importantly, for it to remain an outside contender for Best Picture, Director, and many other awards. “Gladiator II” may not have won many Oscars, but Washington felt like the front-runner for best supporting actor.

But as the weeks passed, the film gradually faded from memory. Sure, it was as big a box office hit as the first film, but Washington’s gritty portrayal seemed to shine in a vacuum. Although Paramount brought in Christopher Nolan to host a rave presentation for the Academy (in which he called “Gladiator II” his favorite film of 2024), enthusiasm for the film is all but dead. When Washington failed to receive a Best Supporting Actor nomination from the Screen Actors Guild, it seemed clear that his name would not be mentioned this morning.

After all that spending (the film’s budget was more than $210 million) and advertising campaigns, Gladiator II received only one Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design. Washington was denied his 10th nod, but he will return later this year in Spike Lee’s “Highest 2 Lowest,” the highly anticipated remake of Akira Kurosawa’s “High and Low.” Let’s postpone his Oscar nomination for Best Actor until we watch the damn movie.