'Oppenheimer' steals show at Golden Globes with 5 victories

"Oppenheimer," Christopher Nolan's drama about the inventor of the atomic bomb, has topped the Golden Globes but its fellow summer smash hit "Barbie" missed out on best comedy film honours to "Poor Things."

"Oppenheimer" took five prizes including Best Drama, Best Director for Nolan, Best Score on Sunday, as well as acting trophies for Cillian Murphy and Robert Downey Jr.

Nolan told journalists backstage he was drawn to the "tragedy" of J. Robert Oppenheimer, a scientist who remained loyalty to his country and never apologised for his actions, yet was "wracked by tremendous guilt."


Emma Thomas, the film's producer and Nolan's wife said his work about "one of the darkest developments in our history" was "unlike anything anyone else is doing."

In winning best director, Nolan fended off Greta Gerwig, who helmed "Barbie" — the other half of the "Barbenheimer" phenomenon that grossed a combined $2.4 billion last year at the box office.

"Barbie" won the award for best song, for a tune written by Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas. And as the year's highest-grossing movie, it claimed a newly created trophy for box office achievement.

But "Barbie" lost out on best comedy to "Poor Things" — a surreal bildungsroman which also earned Emma Stone best actress for her no-holds-barred turn as Bella Baxter.

Comeback after strikes

After an annus horribilis in which the industry was crippled by strikes, A-listers turned out in force to celebrate Sunday.


Stars who were unable to promote their movies during the months-long Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) walkout made up for lost time on the Oscars campaign trail.

Attendees also included big names from the world of music such as Bruce Springsteen and Dua Lipa — both nominated for best song — and Taylor Swift representing her recent concert movie.

The wins for high-profile films like "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer" were a welcome boon to the new owners of the Globes, which have suffered years of controversy and declining audiences.

'Historic' wins

Indigenous actor Lily Gladstone won best actress in a drama for her role in Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon," delivering some of her emotional speech in the native language of the Blackfeet Nation.

"This is a historic win, it doesn't belong to just me," she said."This is for every little res kid," she also added.

Paul Giamatti and Da'Vine Joy Randolph bolstered their Oscars campaigns with wins for "The Holdovers," in which they starred as a curmudgeonly history teacher and cook of a 1970s prep school, respectively.

Best screenplay and best non-English language film went to French courtroom drama "Anatomy of a Fall."

The film's director and co-writer Justine Triet said it was "sort of unreal" to win two prizes, especially in the screenplay category, which included Scorsese, Nolan and Gerwig.

Hayao Miyazaki's "The Boy and the Heron" won best animated film. The Globes also honoured the best in television, just a week before the strike-delayed Emmys.

"Succession" dominated, claiming best drama series, and acting wins for stars Kieran Culkin, Sarah Snook and Matthew Macfadyen. "The Bear" swept the comedy categories, while road-rage saga "Beef" did the same in limited series.

Past Globes host Ricky Gervais, who did not attend, won best stand-up comedy performance, a new category.