Hollywood A-listers set to shine at Golden Globes

Hollywood's best and brightest from film and television will hit the red carpet Sunday for the Golden Globes, the year's first major showbiz awards gala, with surreal narco-musical "Emilia Perez" leading the movie pack.

French director Jacques Audiard's genre-defying film about a Mexican drug lord who transitions to life as a woman, which first made waves at the Cannes festival last year, earned 10 nominations -- the most ever for a comedy/musical.

"Emilia Perez" -- which is almost entirely in Spanish -- is hoping a big night at the Globes, which are seen as a bellwether for the Academy Awards, could propel it to Oscars success in early March.

"It's a true musical that wowed people," Deadline awards columnist Pete Hammond told AFP.

"I think it's got the international thing going for it, and it just swept the European Film Awards."

The Golden Globes offer separate awards for dramas and comedies/musicals, widening the field of movie stars in contention -- and thus highlighting more performances for Academy voters, who will soon cast ballots for the Oscar nominations.

"Emilia Perez" earned nominations across the board, including three acting nods for Karla Sofia Gascon, who plays the title character, as well as Selena Gomez and Zoe Saldana.

It will compete for top musical-comedy honors with smash hit "Wicked," Cannes darling "Anora," tennis love-triangle film "Challengers," Jesse Eisenberg's "A Real Pain," and body horror film "The Substance" starring Demi Moore.

"Wicked," the movie adaptation of the hit Broadway musical, earned four nominations, including for Tony winner Cynthia Erivo as the green-skinned Elphaba and pop sensation Ariana Grande as the bubbly pink-clad Glinda.

Hammond said he believed "Wicked" would be at a "disadvantage" at the Globes, given its lack of nominations in key categories, but favors Erivo to take home the prize for best lead actress.

She will compete with Gascon, "Anora" star Mikey Madison, Amy Adams of "Nightbitch," Moore and "Challengers" star Zendaya.

- 'Brutalist' vs 'Conclave' -

The Globes are in year two of a revamp, following a Los Angeles Times expose in 2021 that showed that the awards' voting body -- the Hollywood Foreign Press Association -- had no Black members.

Now under new ownership, and with the HFPA disbanded, organizers are hoping to capitalize on a ratings bump registered last January, and perhaps even burnish the gala's status as a predictor of Oscars success.

Hammond says the reorganization shines through with nominees like "The Brutalist," starring Oscar winner Adrien Brody as a Hungarian Jewish architect who survives the Holocaust and emigrates to the United States.

The Globes are "definitely more international. They're more open to different kinds of movies," he said, citing "The Brutalist" -- which earned seven nominations -- as an example.

It will do battle for best drama film with "Conclave," a fictionalized account of high-stakes Vatican horse-trading, depicting how the death of a pope sends the church's various factions into battle for its future.

Beyond the two favorites, others vying for the best drama prize include Bob Dylan biopic "A Complete Unknown," sci-fi epic "Dune: Part Two," 1960s reform school tale "Nickel Boys" and 1972 Munich Olympics thriller "September 5."

The Globes also honor the best in television, with comedy "The Bear" earning five nominations, and historical epic "Shogun" and comedy "Only Murders in the Building" tied at four.

Comedian Nikki Glaser will host the gala in Beverly Hills, which begins at 5:00 pm Pacific time (0100 GMT Monday).