Oscar voters lined up behind a classic studio blockbuster on Tuesday, giving 13 nominations to Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, the most of any movie, and setting up the long-awaited coronation of Nolan as Hollywood’s leading filmmaker.

No film by Nolan has ever been named best picture. He received his second nomination for directing on Tuesday.

The recognition for Oppenheimer had been expected. But the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences threw surprises into all of the other major categories.

Most prominently, Greta Gerwig did not receive a nomination as best director for Barbie. Instead, the increasingly international academy gave a first nomination to the French filmmaker Justine Triet, who directed Anatomy of a Fall, a did-she-or-didn’t-she thriller. Barbie also failed to figure into the best actress category, with Margot Robbie overlooked for bringing the doll to zany life. Instead, Annette Bening was honoured as a best actress candidate for her obsessive, ageing swimmer in the Netflix film Nyad.

In the best picture category, Oppenheimer will contend against American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Past Lives, Poor Things and Zone of Interest. The entries in this field had been widely expected, no surprises.

After a year that found the movie industry hobbled for months by dual strikes by writers and actors, the focus shifts now to an especially strong slate of movies vying for a chance at Academy Awards on March 10.

Bradley Cooper also was left off the best director list for Maestro, though he was nominated for best actor for starring in the film as composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein.

His competitors include Cillian Murphy, who played scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer. In a surprise, voters snubbed Leonardo DiCaprio, star of Killers of the Flower Moon.

Winners will be chosen by the roughly 11,000 actors, producers, directors and film craftspeople who make up the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The golden statuettes will be handed out at a Hollywood ceremony broadcast live on Walt Disney’s ABC on March 10.

Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel will return as host.

Musicals had a rough go this year, with the early favourite The Color Purple not generating much love. The Netflix films Nyad and Rustin landed acting nominations but were left out of the best picture race.