In an award season with no clear front-runner, "Joker" catapulted to the lead. Director Todd Phillips' villainous origin story scored 11 Oscar nominations, including best picture and best actor for Joaquin Phoenix. "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood," "1917" and "The Irishman" each scored 10 nods.
The 92nd annual Academy Awards, airing Feb. 9 (ABC, 8 p.m. ET/5 PT), won't have a host for the second year in a row but will have plenty of excitement with a stacked best-picture race.
Joker is a 2019 American psychological thriller film directed and produced by Todd Phillips, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scott Silver. The film, based on DC Comics characters, stars Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker and provides a possible origin story for the character.