Oscars 2025: 'Anora' dominates with best picture, director, and actress wins

LOS ANGELES - The 97th annual Academy Awards kicked off Sunday afternoon in Hollywood. 

This year’s Oscars are unspooling after a turbulent year for the film industry. Ticket sales were down 3% from the previous year and more significantly from pre-pandemic times. The strikes of 2023 played havoc with release schedules in 2024. Many studios pulled back on production, leaving many out of work. The California fires, in January, only added to the pain.

Here are the latest updates:

"Anora" wins best picture 

Anora," a strip club Cinderalla story without the fairy tale ending, was crowned best picture at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday, handing Sean Baker’s gritty, Brooklyn-set screwball farce Hollywood’s top prize.

In a stubbornly fluctuating Oscar season, "Anora," the Palme d’Or-winner at the Cannes Film Festival, emerged as the unlikely frontrunner. Baker’s tale of an erotic dancer who elopes with the son of a Russian oligarch – unusually explicit for a best-picture winner – was made for just $6 million.

Mikey Madison wins best actress for "Anora"

Mikey Madison won best actress for her breakthrough performance in "Anora," a victory that came over the category favorite, Demi Moore ("The Substance").

Sean Baker wins best director Oscar for ‘Anora’

Sean Baker won best director at the Oscars on Sunday for "Anora," bookending a dominant awards season for the American filmmaker whose stories seek to humanize sex workers and immigrants.

Baker, 53, wrote, produced, directed and edited the film, which is also among the top contenders for best picture. The comedy-drama stars Mikey Madison as a Brooklyn exotic dancer who marries the impetuous son of a Russian oligarch. They impulsively tie the knot on a ketamine-induced Las Vegas getaway, angering his parents, who send their bumbling henchmen after the couple to force an annulment.

"If you didn’t cast Mikey Madison in ‘Once Upon a Time,’ there would be no ‘Anora,’" Baker told Quentin Tarantino, who presented the award.

Adrien Brody wins for best actor for his role in "The Brutalist"

Adrien Brody clinched his second Oscar for best actor, winning Sunday for his role as a visionary Hungarian architect in " The Brutalist " and solidifying his legacy as one of Hollywood’s most compelling talents.

Brody took home best actor at the 97th Academy Awards for his powerful portrayal of Lázló Tóth, who escapes the Holocaust and sails to the United States to find his American Dream. The film spans 30 years in the life of Tóth, a fictional character whose unorthodox designs challenged societal norms, and his relentless pursuit of artistic integrity.

Zoe Saldaña wins award for best supporting actress for her role in "Emilia Pérez"

Zoe Saldaña earned her first Academy Award for best supporting actress in "Emilia Pérez," capping an already accomplished awards season Sunday.

The win adds to a collection of successes for the star on the awards circuit: Saldaña won her first Golden Globe in January, and notched wins at the British Academy Film Awards, the Critics Choice Awards and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

Kieran Culkin wins best supporting actor, completing his sweep

Kieran Culkin won the Oscar for best supporting actor Sunday at the 97th Academy Awards, completing a sweep of the category that followed his dominance in television awards last season.

The award, for portraying the chaotic but endearing Benji in Jesse Eisenberg’s "A Real Pain", marked his first win and nomination.

Conan O’Brien gets Oscars off to a snarky start

Host Conan O’Brien got the show and his monologue off to a start filled with his usual sarcastic humor.

O’Brien poked fun at the Oscars, Hollywood’s biggest night "which starts at 4 in the afternoon." He also poked fun at himself. "I know what you’re thinking: ‘Did Conan not have work done? Seriously. He looks his age.’" And he jabbed at Netflix for having price increases.

He also implored the Oscar audience to sit down — after not getting a standing ovation.

A "Wicked"-ly fun opening

The 2025 Oscars opened with its biggest musical voices. "Wicked" star Ariana Grande launched into "The Wizard of Oz" classic "Somewhere Over the Rainbow," following a visual package celebrating the city of Los Angeles.

She ditched her usual Glinda pink for a ruby red gown, channeling Dorothy’s iconic shoes. She was followed by Elphaba herself, Cynthia Erivo, nailing "Home" from the "The Wiz." (The late Quincy Jones supervised the adaptation of songs from the Broadway musical for the 1978 film starring Michael Jackson.) Then Grande and Erivo teamed up for a dynamic duet of "Defying Gravity." And yes, they hit the note.

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