'Anora' wins at Producers and Directors Guild Awards

Did a wide-open Oscar contention conscionable get a beforehand runner?

Sean Baker's Brooklyn drama “Anora” took apical honors astatine some the Producers Guild Awards and the Directors Guild Awards connected Saturday night, catapulting it to Oscar favourite presumption with wins from a brace of intimately watched Academy Awards precursors.

Hollywood's grant play has been uncharacteristically up for grabs with fractional a twelve films viewed arsenic morganatic best-picture contenders. Some had pegged “Anora” arsenic the beforehand runner going into the play aft the film, starring Mikey Madison arsenic a Brooklyn exotic dancer who marries the lad of a Russian oligarch, won the Palme d’Or astatine the Cannes Film Festival.

But aft respective films took turns successful the spotlight, including Golden Globe winners “The Brutalist” and “Emilia Perez," “Anora” reemerged successful a large mode implicit the weekend. Baker's movie besides won champion representation astatine the Critics Choice Awards connected Friday.

Both guild ceremonies were held successful Beverly Hills, California. The PGA's apical prize, the Darryl F. Zanuck Award, has matched the Oscar victor for champion representation successful 16 of the past 21 years. Since 2009, erstwhile the guild and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences some adopted a preferential ballot to prime a victor from 10 nominees, they've corresponded each but 3 times.

The DGA is likewise predictive. In the past 74 years, 66 winners person gone connected to triumph astatine the Oscars. That makes Baker the favourite for champion manager successful a tract wholly composed of first-time nominees.

The guild besides named RaMell Ross' “Nickel Boys" champion archetypal film. Ross' movie, nominated for champion representation by the Oscars, is his communicative movie debut.

Oscar voting begins Tuesday. Jacques Audiard's “Emilia Perez" is the pb nominee with 13 nominations, but the Netflix movie has seen its chances crater pursuing aggregate waves of backlash and controversy.

Another Oscar class besides recovered clarity implicit the weekend. On Saturday astatine the Annie Awards, DreamWorks Animation's “The Wild Robot” cleaned up with 9 awards including champion film. “The Wild Robot” volition beryllium the dense favourite to triumph champion animated movie astatine the March 2 Academy Awards.