‘One Battle After Another’ blows up Golden Globes race, will compete in comedy/musical categories

Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, which draws plenty of laughs despite its serious subject matter, will be submitted in the comedy/musical categories at the Golden Globes, Gold Derby has confirmed.

The decision, which had been expected, comes after much deliberation by the studio. By keeping One Battle in the comedy categories, the studio avoids going head-to-head against its other awards juggernaut, Ryan Coogler‘s Sinners.

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Variety first reported the news.

Inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s 1990 novel Vineland, the Warner Bros. film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob Ferguson, a former counterculture radical turned pot-addicted recluse. His life is thrown into chaos when his daughter, Willa (played by newcomer Chase Infiniti), is abducted by an ultra-conservative Army colonel bent on revenge, Steve Lockjaw (Sean Penn). The ensemble cast also includes Teyana Taylor, Benicio del Toro, and Regina Hall.

Before Friday’s news, Gold Derby had been tracking the film in the drama categories, where it had been predicted to be nominated for Best Film Drama, Best Film Drama Actor (DiCaprio), and Best Film Drama Actress (Infiniti). The decision won’t impact director, supporting actor/actress, or screenplay, which are genre-agnostic categories. One Battle is on track to score nominations in each of those, per Gold Derby data.

One Battle is expected to immediately shift the odds for the musical/comedy races once there’s a critical mass of prediction data. With six slots available, the Best Film Comedy/Musical race had consisted of Wicked: For Good, Marty Supreme, Bugonia, Wake Up Dead Man, Jay Kelly, and No Other Choice. The Best Film Comedy/Musical Actor slate comprised Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme), Jesse Plemons (Bugonia), George Clooney (Jay Kelly), Daniel Craig (Wake Up Dead Man), Brendan Fraser (Rental Family), and Hugh Jackman (Song Sung Blue). And the Best Film Comedy/Musical Actress field included Emma Stone (Bugonia), Cynthia Erivo (Wicked: For Good), Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I’d Kick You), Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue), Eva Victor (Sorry, Baby), and Olivia Colman (The Roses).

One Battle After Another leads Gold Derby’s predicted Best Picture Oscar nomination predictions and DiCaprio currently tops the Best Actor nominee field. Infiniti has been steadily climbing in the Best Actress category and now ranks seventh. Meanwhile, Taylor remains the frontrunner for Best Supporting Actress, and Penn holds the top spot for Best Supporting Actor.

Best Picture

Contender

Odds

1.

One Battle After Another

97.6%

2.

Sinners

97.1%

3.

Hamnet

96.8%

4.

Sentimental Value

95.5%

5.

Marty Supreme

92.6%

The film marks a career-best for Anderson, and debuted at number one at the weekend box office with $22.4 million and grossing $48.5 million worldwide.

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