Golden Globe Nominations Confirm the Allure of Warner Bros.

The studio’s film “One Battle After Another,” and an HBO show it owns, “The White Lotus,” scored the most nominations for movies and television shows.

Golden Globes voters made it clear on Monday why Netflix and others want to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, as the famed studio scored 16 nominations across both film and television categories for the first of Hollywood’s annual awards shows.

Warner Bros. received multiple nominations for its two big film contenders: “Sinners” and “One Battle After Another,” which received the most nominations of any film, with nine. In television, “The White Lotus,” from the HBO division of Warner Bros., dominated with six nominations. Netflix, which announced its plans to acquire the studio and its streaming business on Friday, pulled in 13 of its own nominations, most notably for “Frankenstein” and “KPop Demon Hunters.”

Yet the big winner on Monday was the little indie studio Neon, which received 21 overall nominations, the most of any studio. Its list includes four best picture nods for films “It Was Just an Accident,” “The Secret Agent,” “Sentimental Value” and “No Other Choice” — all international features.

Their inclusion confirms the international make up of the Globes’ voting body, a group of more than 300 foreign journalists that does not overlap at all with the over 10,000 members that choose the Academy Awards. Yet because the Golden Globes ceremony airs in early January, it is often looked at as a bellwether for the rest of the award season.

This year’s show, which will be televised by CBS on Sunday, Jan. 11, and will stream on Paramount+, will arrive as Hollywood is in the midst of a seismic reorganization, prompted by Netflix’s intent to purchase Warner Bros.’ studio and streaming assets. Directors, producers and theater groups are already expressing concern that Netflix will abandon the studio’s storied history of debuting films in theaters. To complicate matters, on Monday morning Paramount initiated a hostile takeover bid for all of Warner Bros. Discovery.

Neon overwhelmed the drama category with three of the six pictures (“It Was Just an Accident,” “The Secret Agent” and “Sentimental Value”). Only Netflix’s “Frankenstein” and Warner Bros.’ “Sinners” made it into the mix. Focus Features’ “Hamnet” rounded out the category.

In comedy or musical, the Globes omitted “Wicked: For Good” and “Jay Kelly,” which was considered a shoo-in. (Both George Clooney and Adam Sandler were recognized for their roles in Netflix’s “Jay Kelly.”) Rather, the group chose A24’s “Marty Supreme,” Warner Bros.’ “One Battle After Another” and Neon’s “No Other Choice.”

Netflix’s “Wake Up Dead Man,” the third movie in the “Knives Out” trilogy, also received no love from the Globes. Rather, “Blue Moon,” starring Ethan Hawke as the lyricist Lorenz Hart, was nominated, as was Focus Features’ “Bugonia” and Netflix’s “Nouvelle Vague.” Notably, both “Blue Moon” and “Nouvelle Vague” were directed by Richard Linklater, though the director was not nominated for his work on either film.

In television, the Globes ignored two of Netflix’s biggest series, “Wednesday” and “Stranger Things,” opting instead for smaller television shows like the streaming giant’s “The Diplomat” in drama and “Nobody Wants This” in comedy. (Jenna Ortega was nominated in the acting category for “Wednesday.”) Apple TV dominated in drama, with three of the six shows: “Pluribus,” “Slow Horses” and “Severance.” “The Pitt” and “White Lotus,” both from HBO Max, rounded out the drama category.

In comedies, things felt very familiar, with the usual suspects like “Hacks,” “Abbott Elementary” and “The Bear” receiving nominations. “The Studio” from Apple TV and Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” were also recognized.

This year, there is one notable change to the nominations. For the first time, the Golden Globes will honor the podcast industry with a best podcast award. The list of nominees includes a few faces familiar with the Golden Globe stage like Amy Poehler (“Good Hang With Amy Poehler”) and Jason Bateman (“SmartLess”). The influencer Alex Cooper, the host of “Call Her Daddy,” and the self-help guru Mel Robbins of “The Mel Robbins Podcast” were also nominated, along with NPR’s “Up First” and Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert.”

The Golden Globes will also include a cinematic and box office achievement award for the third time, in its continued attempt to reward more populist movies and goose ceremony ratings by luring high-wattage celebrities to attend what they deem “Hollywood’s Party of the Year.” The first winner was “Barbie.” Last year, the first installment of “Wicked” won the prize. This year, “Wicked: For Good” is a contender, along with “F1: The Movie,” from Apple and Warner Bros.; Netflix’s “KPop Demon Hunters”; and two other Warner Bros. movies, “Sinners” and “Weapons.” The Globes chose to honor “Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning” from Paramount Pictures, “Zootopia 2” from Disney and “Avatar: Fire and Ash” from 20th Century instead of “Superman” from Warner Bros.’ DC Studios division.

The 2025 telecast, which honored “Emilia Pérez” and “The Brutalist” in film and “Shogun,” “Hacks” and “Baby Reindeer” in television, drew an average of 9.3 million viewers, a respectable showing compared to a few years earlier, when the show was on life support after a number of controversies threatened to destroy it completely. In January, the comedian Nikki Glaser will return as emcee after her debut appearance earlier this year earned strong reviews.

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