- Will musical films win big at the 2025 Oscars?
- A look back at La La Land and Chicago’s success
- Biggest musical film Oscar nomination snub
With the 2025 Oscars just around the corner and Jon M. Chu’s dazzling musical film adaptation of Wicked hotly tipped for success, we’re taking a look at how musical films have fared at the academy awards in recent history.
10 categories and its shortlists for the 97th ceremony were announced on December 17 – early key indicators of who might get nominated ahead of the March ceremony – and judging by the shortlists Jacques Audiard’s musical crime thriller Emilia Pérez and Wicked are leading the charge.
Read more: Oscar nomination key dates
Emilia Pérez received six mentions, the most of any film overall, including the international feature film category as the French submission, original score, makeup and hairstyling, sound and two contenders in original song for El Mal and Mi Camino.
Wicked was a close second with four shortlist mentions, which came in original score, makeup and hairstyling, sound and visual effects – springing no surprises, for some have labelled it the best live-action Hollywood musical since Chicago.
The big categories of best picture, leading actors, screenplay and directing do not have shortlists, but the nominations for these will be announced on January 17, along with the nominees whittled down to a list of five in the other categories.
Can Wicked defy gravity?
The hype around Wicked is monumental and it’s received glowing film reviews, but will Ariana Grande & co win at the Oscars? Variety seems to think so, not only does it have Ariana tipped for a nomination, but predicts she will win the Oscar for best supporting actress for her portrayal as Glinda, opposite Cynthia Erivo‘s Elphaba.
This would be quite the turnaround for Ariana, since she faced some backlash from fans of the musical who couldn’t imagine her in the role. Variety’s predictions also go as far as listing Wicked as the winner for best picture, but it faces strong competition from Conclave, The Brutalist, Anora and fellow musical film, Emilia Pérez.
What musical films achieved success at the Oscars?
Musical films have seen a resurgence in popularity since the turn of the 21st century, with Chicago kicking off the cultural shift and shining a light on musicals again in Hollywood.
The broadway show was adapted for cinema in 2002 and instantly became both a critical and commercial juggernaut all around the world. At the Oscars, Chicago took home 6 academy awards for best supporting actress (Catherine Zeta-Jones as Velma Kelly), best art direction, best costume design, best film editing, best sound, and the big one, best picture, which marked the first musical to win best picture since Oliver! In 1968.
Chicago was also nominated for further 7 academy awards, including best actress for Renée Zellweger, but she lost out to Nicole Kidman for The Hours.
Read more: How to watch the 2025 Oscars live
In 2016, music comedy drama La La Land matched Chicago’s win of 6 academy awards. It had 14 nominations in total, which tied the record for most nominations ever (with Titanic and All About Eve). The film also broke a long standing record at the Oscars that had stood for 86 years, when director Damien Chazelle won the Oscar for best director and became the youngest ever to do so at 32.
Director Norman Taurog previously held the record for being the youngest best director when he won for 1931’s Skippy. Whilst La La Land didn’t win best picture, the mix-up over the award with Moonlight became one of the most talked about moments of the ceremony that year.
Other notable successes from musical films at the Oscars include Disney’s 2013 animated musical Frozen, which won best animated feature and best original song for its earworm, Let It Go. The film adaptation of Les Misérables in 2012 scooped 3 awards, including best supporting actress for Anne Hathaway, and whilst Hugh Jackman and The Greatest Showman didn’t win any Oscars, they did get an nomination for best original song and the film achieved massive commercial success grossing over $460,00,000 worldwide.
Oscar snubs for musical film
Steven Spielberg’s 1985 drama The Color Purple went empty handed despite getting 11 nominations, but there was hope again for the story, as in 2023 Blitz Bazawule adapted the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical version into a musical film.
However, The Color Purple was overlooked again, with only one nomination, for best supporting actress for Danielle Brooks, which she did not win. This result sparked a lot of discussion about lack of recognition for black performances and debates about gender and race in Hollywood.
Into The Woods (2014) was another popular adaptation of a Broadway musical that came away from the Oscars without a win, despite its 3 nominations, and whilst not a surprise, 2019’s Cats had one nomination and no win. It has been widely regarded as one of the most unsuccessful and criticized adaptations of a Broadway show in history.
Not even Daniel Day-Lewis, serial winner at the Oscars – he is the only actor in history to win three best actor Oscars – could help 2009’s film musical Nine to an Oscar win. In fact, he didn’t even get nominated. Rob Marshall’s romantic musical set in 1960’s Italy was nominated for 4 Oscars, including best actress for Penélope Cruz and whilst her performance received high-praise, she or the film didn’t win anything.
