The nominees for the 89th annual Academy Awards are in and it seems La La Land has hit all the right notes with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The film, which Damien Chazelle wrote and directed, earned 14 nods, tying records held by Titanic and All About Eve.
La La Land is up for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay, while Damien Chazelle is poised to become the youngest Best Director Oscar winner in history. Its stars, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, are nominated for their roles and Chazelle’s former Harvard roommate Justin Hurwitz has been recognized for three awards, including Best Original Score.
“This has been a dream project for me and Damien. It’s something we started years ago, so just getting it made was a miracle. Having people like it was so fulfilling and to end up here is really kind of wild,” Hurwitz told The Hollywood Reporter.
Variety were bold with their predictions for Oscars night. “You have to assume [La La Land] is the frontrunner in nearly every single one of these races,” they wrote. Certainly, Stone appears to be a favorite after winning the Best Actress award at the 2017 SAG Awards.
Chazelle was much more humble about the film’s potential Oscars glory. “I never expected any of this for this movie, which any nominee can probably say sincerely,” he said. “I’m just honored to be in the conversation this year, which was such a good year for film — from my point of view, there’s really been an amazing crop of American movies this year. But yeah, I’m just trying not think past today too much. No matter what happens, I’m just honored to be in the same room as those other nominees.”
The 2017 Academy Awards will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel on February 26. We’ll find out then if La La Land can match its historic number of nominations with a historic number of wins.