'Barbenheimer' sitting pretty as Oscar nominations to be unveiled

LOS ANGELES - Nominations for this year's Oscars will be unveiled on Tuesday, with the  "Barbenheimer" juggernaut expected to roll on to the climax of Hollywood's awards season with multiple chances at glory.

After a combined $2.4-billion global box office take, "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" -- two films linked only by their simultaneous release last July -- are seen as locks for a suite of nods for the 96th Academy Awards, which take place on March 10.

"It continues to be their year, and we expect them to dominate the nominations," Pete Hammond, columnist for industry site Deadline, told AFP. 

With its clutch of five Golden Globes and momentum on its side, "Oppenheimer" -- Christopher Nolan's masterly portrait of the father of the atomic bomb -- appears to have the edge in the race for best picture, the Academy's top prize.

Greta Gerwig's popular "Barbie" -- a sharp satire about misogyny and female empowerment -- is playing catch-up after an initial burst of awards optimism faded.

The film, which had nine nominations for the Globes, left with just two consolation prizes -- best song and a newly created trophy for box office achievement. 

And, said Hammond, it faces an uphill battle to turn its audience gold into major Oscars success.

Rounding out the best picture category, nominations are widely expected for Martin Scorsese's crime saga "Killers of the Flower Moon" and Venice Film Festival winner "Poor Things," a female-focused take on the Frankenstein myth. 

In the acting categories, the two summer blockbusters seem likely to garner nominations for their stars -- Cillian Murphy as scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer, consumed by the devastating consequences of his creation, and Margot Robbie as a perfect doll tormented by morbid thoughts.

The two films' supporting actors could also be recognized -- Robert Downey Jr shines as a foil to Oppenheimer more concerned with his own political fortunes than understanding quantum physics, while Ryan Gosling is remarkable as an emasculated Ken.