Cillian Murphy and “Oppenheimer” predicted to clean up at Golden Globes

Irish actor Cillian Murphy is predicted to have a great night on Sunday, January 7 at the 2024 Golden Globes, where "Oppenheimer" has eight nominations.

Murphy “will win” in the Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama category for his portrayal of J. Robert Oppenheimer in “Oppenheimer,” according to Variety’s final batch of Golden Globe predictions. 

Variety, however, does caution that Bradley Cooper “could win” the category for his turn in “Maestro."

While the Best Actor category is stacked with Irish talent - Andrew Scott (“All of Us Strangers”) and Barry Keoghan (“Saltburn”) are also nominated - Variety did note that Michael Fassbender, who was raised in Co Kerry, “should have been nominated” for his role in “The Killer.”

Elsewhere, Variety predicts that “Oppenheimer” will take home the Golden Globe in the Motion Picture - Drama, Director - Motion Picture (Christopher Nolan), and Original Score (Ludwig Göransson) categories.

While "Oppenheimer" is predicted to win in four categories, Variety hasn’t ruled it out in two other categories where it “could win” - including Supporting Actor - Motion Picture (Robert Downey Jr) and Supporting Actress - Motion Picture (Emily Blunt).

It's no surprise that "Oppenheimer" has been nominated alongside "Barbie" in the new Cinematic and Box Office Achievement category considering the summertime 'Barbenheimer' phenomenon, but Variety predicts the award will go to “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour."

Over on odds site Gold Derby, "Oppenheimer" is also poised to win the Best Film - Drama and Best Film Director (Nolan) and Best Score categories.

However, unlike Variety, Gold Derby's odds show that Cooper will beat Murphy to win the Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama category and Robert Downey Jr will win in the Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama category.

Elsewhere in the 2024 Golden Globe nominations, the Dublin-based production house Element Pictures nabbed an impressive seven nominations for "Poor Things."

"1923," the prequel series to the hit "Yellowstone," landed two nominations, including one for Helen Mirren, who stars as Irish immigrant Cara Dutton in the drama series.

Meanwhile, Imelda Staunton, whose parents are both from Co Mayo, and Dominic West, whose maternal grandparents were from Ireland, were both nominated for their roles in "The Crown."

Overall, summer blockbuster "Barbie" - which features Irish actress Nicola Coughlan - and the critically acclaimed HBO series "Succession" lead the way at the upcoming awards with nine nominations each. 

"Oppenheimer" follows close behind with a total of eight nominations.

Martin Scorsese's "Killers of the Flower Moon" received seven Golden Globe nominations, level with Yorgos Lanthimos’s fantasy film "Poor Things."

The ceremony for the 81st Golden Globe Awards will be held on Sunday, January 7, 2024, at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles.