Steven Spielberg: The Dark Knight would be the best movie right now

According to Steven Spielberg, you either die in a critically overlooked blockbuster or you live long enough to see a Best Picture nomination.

The “Fabelmans” director, who earned his first nomination for best original screenplay at the 2023 Academy Awards, has been considering an expanded best picture category. The semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans” is also up for best picture, with the category expanding from five to 10 nominees in 2009. This year’s contenders are “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “The Banshees of Inisherin,” “Elvis,” “Everything Everywhere at Once,” “LIBRARY,” “Triangle of Sadness,” “Women Speak” and two hit movie sequels: “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Top Gun: Maverick”.

“That really encouraged me,” Spielberg said Deadline The Academy recognizes the two crowd-pleasing features that made history at the box office.

But Spielberg doesn’t want anyone to forget the mistake no nominating a certain film: “It came late to a film that should have been nominated a few years ago, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight. This film would definitely have received a Best Picture nomination today, so we should all be celebrating that these two blockbusters are firmly in the top 10.”

“The Dark Knight” was released in 2008 and was partly the catalyst for the Academy’s decision to expand its list of Best Picture nominations. The film was nominated for eight Oscars, and Heath Ledger was posthumously awarded the Best Supporting Actor award. Joaquin Phoenix later won Best Actor for portraying the same Joker character in Todd Philipps’ eponymous 2019 film.

“Black Panther” became the first superhero film to be nominated for Best Picture in 2019. Its sequel, “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” was not nominated for best picture, but received five nominations, including Angela Bassett for best supporting actress. It was the first time a Marvel actor received an Oscar nomination.

This year, “Top Gun: Maverick” received six nominations, tied with Todd Fields’ “TÁR.” James Cameron’s “Avatar: The Way of Water” received four nominations.

For the full list of 2023 Oscar nominations, click here. Click here for IndieWire’s analysis of the snubs and surprises, similar to “The Dark Knight,” that iced over a decade ago.

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