Golden Globes 2024 to cash in on last year's Barbenheimer hype

Barbenheimer dominated Hollywood in 2023 and organisers of the newly reformed Golden Globes hope to cash in on the craze during the upcoming awards ceremony on Sunday. 

Kicking off prize-giving season from the usual swanky Beverly Hills ballroom at 5:00 pm, the Globes boast new owners and new voters -- and have plenty of box-office gold to toast.

The show is expected to celebrate Barbie and Oppenheimer -- two movies that wowed critics and audiences alike when they were released simultaneously in the summer of 2023 and have a whopping 17 nominations between them.

"They are so different than each other, yet they were both successful... We're thrilled that they're both very represented here," said this year's Globes producer Glenn Weiss. "It's been a big reset for the Globes," he told AFP.

Greta Gerwig's Barbie is leading the nomination list with nine nods. The film took a clever satirical spin on the beloved doll's narrative and turned it into a story of female empowerment. 

It is tipped to win the Globes for Best Comedy Film and Best Screenplay and boasts three of the six contenders for Best Song. As the year's highest-grossing movie, it is also likely to claim a newly created award for box office achievement.

Meanwhile, Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer -- the other half of last summer's viral cinematic phenomenon -- tells the story of the inventor of the atomic bomb and has eight nominations.

The favourite to win awards for Best Drama Film, Best Director, and Best Score, Oppenheimer focuses on the rivalry between a brilliant scientist and a powerful politician, played by Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr., respectively.

They are strong contenders for best lead drama actor and supporting actor.

Party 

The Globes -- which for decades have offered huge publicity and a timely boost to Oscars hopefuls -- will be under scrutiny as they aim to bounce back from years of declining audiences. The organisation has been accused of corruption and racism in the recent past and was even taken off air entirely in 2022. 

Since then, the rowdy, obscure group of Los Angeles-based foreign journalists that created the Globes 80 years ago has been disbanded, and a wider net of overseas critics was brought in to choose this year's winners. 

Along with movie stars like Leonardo DiCaprio (Killers of the Flower Moon), nominees include big names from the world of music such as Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa -- both for Best Song -- and Taylor Swift for her recent concert movie.

Cooper eyes double Globes

If Cillian Murphy misses out on Best Actor in a Drama, it will likely go to Bradley Cooper, who plays Leonard Bernstein in Maestro.

Cooper is also nominated for directing and would be the first person ever bestowed acting and directing gongs for the same movie.

Elsewhere, Indigenous actor Lily Gladstone is a firm favourite for lead drama actress in her role in Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, which has seven nominations overall.

On the television side, Succession, The Bear and Beef are expected to dominate the drama, comedy and limited series categories, respectively.

Comedian Jo Koy hosts the 81st Golden Globes, which air in the United States on CBS.