Avatar: Fire And Ash has scooped up a ‘made the most money’ nomination at the Golden Globes, despite having made, er, no money yet. In a move which highlights the meritocratic nature of the season, esteemed awards body The Golden Globes has nominated Avatar: Fire And Ash in its only category which can be objectively ... Golden Globes nominates unreleased film for ‘Cinematic Box Office Achievement’
Avatar: Fire And Ash has scooped up a ‘made the most money’ nomination at the Golden Globes, despite having made, er, no money yet.
In a move which highlights the meritocratic nature of the season, esteemed awards body The Golden Globes has nominated Avatar: Fire And Ash in its only category which can be objectively measured: Best Cinematic Box Office Achievement. This is despite the film having made exactly zero dollars at the box office in 2025. In fairness, that’s because it doesn’t come out until next Friday.
The Globes, owned since 2023 by Penske Media Corporation (who, coincidentally, also owns Variety, Deadline, Billboard and The Hollywood Reporter) has been attempting to avoid controversy since 2021, when the Los Angeles Times noted they hadn’t accepted a new non-white member to their ranks since 2002. Restructuring, “professionalisation and modernisation” ensued and, after a one-year hiatus, the show returned to the small screen to award the nominees of 2022.
This year, the full gamut of nominees were announced at the crack of dawn US-time, celebrating the very best in film and televisual achievement in 2025. Also podcasts and stand-up specials, for some reason.
The Best Cinematic Box Office Achievement award was first given out in the Globes’ 2024 ceremony, in an attempt to feature more popular films in its broadcast. Past winners include (and are limited to) Barbie and Wicked.
Other highlights: One Battle After Another and Blue Moon have grabbed nods for Best Motion Picture: Comedy or Musical (easy mistake to make – the latter is about a musical, in the same way Goodfellas is about an organised crime syndicate while not actually being one). And streaming juggernaut KPop Demon Hunters has joined Avatar in the “made loads of money in cinemas” category – its August singalong theatrical outing made back roughly a quarter of its $100m budget.
That’s before we even get to the new Best Podcast prize, currently under fire for advertising pay-to-win packages to right-wing podcasters, which has successfully skirted controversy by failing to nominate any podcast with political content of any persuasion.
Why include a podcast award at all, you ask? Golden Globes president Helen Hoehne explained back in May: “Podcasts have emerged as a profound medium for sharing narratives and building communities across global borders and generations.” Expect best Tik-Tok, best pop-up book and best apple crumble recipe awards to follow, then.
If the organisers were hoping to attract new audiences with their latest stunt, they’ve done a stand-up job (don’t get me started on the Best Performance in a Stand-Up Comedy Special category): nominees include NPR’s Up First (AKA: The News) and four variations of “50-something celebrity talks to their friends in a tax-deductible setting”. There’s also Alex Cooper’s Call Her Daddy, a comedy advice podcast which at the very least isn’t presented by someone previously nominated for a Golden Globe.
Anyway, congratulations to Avatar: Fire And Ash on a (probably) well-deserved nomination. To save time, shall we give Avengers: Doomsday next year’s award now?
Check out the full list of nominees across film and TV (and podcasts) below:
Motion Picture (Drama)
Frankenstein
Hamnet
It Was Just an Accident
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical)
Blue Moon
Bugonia
Marty Supreme
No Other Choice
One Battle After Another
Pillion
Nouvelle Vague
Actor (Drama)
Joel Edgerton, Train Dreams
Oscar Isaac, Frankenstein
Dwayne Johnson, The Smashing Machine
Michael B. Jordan, Sinners
Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent
Jeremy Allen White, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere
Actor (Comedy or Musical)
Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme
George Clooney, Jay Kelly
Leonardo DiCaprio, One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon
Lee Byung-Hun, No Other Choice
Jesse Plemons, Bugonia
Actress (Drama)
Jessie Buckley, Hamnet
Jennifer Lawrence, Die My Love
Renate Reinsve, Sentimental Value
Julia Roberts, After the Hunt
Tessa Thompson, Hedda
Eva Victor, Sorry, Baby
Actress (Comedy or Musical)
Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked: For Good
Kate Hudson, Song Sung Blue
Chase Infiniti, One Battle After Another
Amanda Seyfried, The Testament of Ann Lee
Emma Stone, Bugonia
Supporting Actor
Benicio Del Toro, One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein
Paul Mescal, Hamnet
Sean Penn, One Battle After Another
Adam Sandler, Jay Kelly
Stellan Skarsgard, Sentimental Value
Supporting Actress
Emily Blunt, The Smashing Machine
Elle Fanning, Sentimental Value
Ariana Grande, Wicked: For Good
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan, Weapons
Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another
Director
Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Guillermo Del Toro, Frankenstein
Jafar Panahi, It Was Just an Accident
Joachim Trier, Sentimental Value
Chloé Zhao, Hamnet
Screenplay
Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another
Ronald Bronstein and Josh Safdie, Marty Supreme
Ryan Coogler, Sinners
Maggie O’Farrell and Chloé Zhao, Hamnet
Jafar Panahi, It Was Just an Accident
Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt, Sentimental Value
Original Score
Alexandre Desplat, Frankenstein
Ludwig Göransson, Sinners
Jonny Greenwood, One Battle After Another
Max Richter, Hamnet
Hans Zimmer, F1: The Movie
Original Song
“Dream as One,” Avatar: Fire and Ash
“Golden,” KPop Demon Hunters
“I Lied to You” Sinners
“No Place Like Home” Wicked: For Good
“The Girl in the Bubble” Wicked: For Good
“Train Dreams” Train Dreams
Animated Feature
Arco
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle
Elio
KPop Demon Hunters
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain
Zootopia 2
Non-English Language Film
It Was Just an Accident (France)
No Other Choice (South Korea)
The Secret Agent (Brazil)
Sentimental Value (Norway)
Sound of Falling (Germany)
The Voice of Hind Rajab (Tunisia)
Sirāt (Spain)
Cinematic Box Office Achievement
Avatar: Fire and Ash
F1: The Movie
KPop Demon Hunters
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning
Sinners
Weapons
Wicked: For Good
Zootopia 2
Best Performance In A Stand-Up Comedy Special
Brett Goldstein, The Second Best Night of Your Life
Bill Maher, Is Anyone Else Seeing This?
Kumail Nanjiani, Night Thoughts
Sarah Silverman, PostMortem
Kevin Hart, Acting my Age
Ricky Gervais, Mortality
Best Podcast
Armchair Expert With Dax Shepard
Call Her Daddy
Good Hang With Amy Poehler
SmartLess
The Mel Robbins Podcast
Up First
Best Drama Series
The Diplomat
The Pitt
Pluribus
Severance
Slow Horses
The White Lotus
Best Actor, TV Drama
Sterling K. Brown, Paradise
Diego Luna, Andor
Gary Oldman, Slow Horses
Mark Ruffalo, Task
Adam Scott, Severance
Noah Wyle, The Pitt
Best Actress, TV Drama
Kathy Bates, Matlock
Britt Lower, Severance
Helen Mirren, 1923
Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us
Keri Russell, The Diplomat
Rhea Seehorn, Pluribus
Best Comedy Series
Abbott Elementary
The Bear
Hacks
Nobody Wants This
Only Murders in the Building
The Studio
Best Actor, TV Comedy
Adam Brody, Nobody Wants This
Glen Powell, Chad Powers
Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building
Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building
Seth Rogen, The Studio
Jeremy Allen White, The Bear
Best Actress, TV Comedy
Kristen Bell, Nobody Wants This
Ayo Edebiri, The Bear
Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building
Natasha Lyonne, Poker Face
Jenna Ortega, Wednesday
Jean Smart, Hacks
Best Limited/Anthology Series or TV Movie
Adolescence
All Her Fault
The Beast In Me
Black Mirror
Dying For Sex
The Girlfriend
Best Actor in Limited/Anthology Series or TV Movie
Jacob Elordi, The Narrow Road to the Deep North
Paul Giamatti, Black Mirror
Stephen Graham, Adolescence
Charlie Hunnam, Monster: The Ed Gein Story
Jude Law, Black Rabbit
Matthew Rhys, The Beast in Me
Best Actress Limited/Anthology Series or TV Movie
Claire Danes, The Beast in Me
Rashida Jones, Black Mirror
Amanda Seyfried, Long Bright River
Sarah Snook, All Her Fault
Michelle Williams, Dying for Sex
Robin Wright, The Girlfriend
Best Supporting Actor TV
Owen Cooper, Adolescence
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show
Walton Goggins, The White Lotus
Jason Isaacs, The White Lotus
Tramell Tillman, Severance
Ashley Walters, Adolescence
Best Supporting Actress TV
Carrie Coon, The White Lotus
Erin Doherty, Adolescence
Hannah Einbinder, Hacks
Catherine O’Hara, The Studio
Parker Posey, The White Lotus
Aimee Lou Wood, The White Lotus
