'Dune: Part Two' leads movie nominations at the Saturn Awards

I expected to be busy with the Saturn Awards later this month. Later turned out to be now.

Tentpoles Dune: Part Two, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Deadpool & Wolverine and TV series including Fallout and Agatha All Along lead nominations for the 52nd Saturn Awards, which recognize the year’s best genre movies and series.

Warner Bros’ Dune: Part Two topped the overall noms list with 14 including Best Science Fiction Film and acting noms for Timothée Chalamet and Zendaya among others, followed by studio stablemate Beetlejuice 2 with 13 noms including Best Fantasy Film; Warner Bros topped all studios with 35 noms.

Disney’s Deadpool & Wolverine had 10 nominations.

The Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films published that excerpt from Deadline yesterday after announcing the nominations on their main website Wednesday, where they also declared voting had opened and would close December 15th. Time to get cracking on covering these awards, beginning with Best Science Fiction Film!

Best Science Fiction Film:
Dune: Part Two
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Megalopolis
Venom: The Last Dance

As the Deadline excerpt above stated and I double-checked, Dune: Part Two earned 14 nominations to lead not only science fiction films, but all movie nominees. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes ranked second with eight nominations, followed by The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes with five, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga with three, and Megalopolis and Venom: The Last Dance with one each. Those totals alone make Dune: Part Two the favorite to win this category. I already penciled this movie in as my vote in this category and its lead in nominations just made me ink it in.

Speaking of double-checking, I wanted to see if Deadline not including 20th Century Studios and Searchlight productions in Disney's total nominations would have had an effect. It didn't; all Disney properties together have 28 movie nominations. Warner Brothers still leads with 35 film nominations. That's one less error than usual.

Before I go on to the rest of Dune: Part Two's nominations, I'm making an observation about the inclusion of Venom: The Last Dance among science fiction film nominees. It's a comic-book/superhero movie, and would usually have been in that category. This year, there is no Best Superhero Film category. If it still existed, it would probably have had a full field of six nominees, Deadpool & Wolverine, Venom: The Last Dance, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Joker: Folie à Deux, Madame Web, and The Marvels, so lack of superhero films is not the issue; lack of quality superhero films is. In addition to the two Saturn Awards nominees, two were good or at least O.K. films with so-so box office numbers, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and The Marvels, and two are likely Razzie nominees, Joker: Folie à Deux and Madame Web. I'm pretty sure both of them will be nominated for Worst Remake, Rip-off or Sequel and one of them will almost certainly win. I suspect the Saturn Awards didn't want to recognize such mediocrity during a down year for superhero films. That didn't stop them from nominating other potential Razzie nominees, such as Megalopolis, but the absence of a superhero movie category stands out.

Follow over the jump for the rest of the nominations for Dune: Part Two and the other science fiction films.

Best Actor in a Film:
Tom Blyth (The Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes)
Nicolas Cage (Dream Scenario)
Timothee Chalamet (Dune: Part Two)
David Dastmalchian (Late Night with the Devil)
Kyle Gallner (Strange Darling)
Michael Keaton (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice)
Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool & Wolverine)

The two science-fiction film nominees are Tom Blyth and Timothee Chalamet and Chalemet is the better actor and the professional choice, but that doesn't mean much for the Saturn Awards, which "are about entertainment not art, they don't care for subtle, and they love to stick it to the experts," as I've written for years. On that basis, I think that Michael Keaton and Ryan Reynolds are favored — Reynolds is my current choice — but I can't rule out Nicolas Cage, who surprised me by winning Best Supporting Actor in a Film earlier this year for his hammy portrayal of Dracula in Renfield.

Best Actress in a Film:
Willa Fitzgerald (Strange Darling)
Demi Moore (The Substance)
Lupita Nyong'o (A Quiet Place - Day One)
Winona Ryder (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice)
Naomi Scott (Smile 2)
June Squibb (Thelma)
Anya Taylor-Joy (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga)

No Dune: Part Two nominees in this category, but Anya Taylor-Joy is representing science fiction films here. She's a good professional choice, but she's not the best professional choice. That would be Lupita Nyong'o, who I have penciled in for my vote. Just the same, Winona Ryder would be a better vote for people who care about entertainment over artistry.

Best Supporting Actor in a Film:
Josh Brolin (Dune: Part Two)
Austin Butler (Dune: Part Two)
Nicolas Cage (Longlegs)
Willem Dafoe (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice)
Hugh Jackman (Deadpool & Wolverine)
David Johnsson (Alien: Romulus)
Owen Teague (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes)

I suspect fans of Dune: Part Two will likely split their votes between Josh Brolin and Austin Butler, which leaves the door open for Cage or Hugh Jackman to win. Right now, I'm voting for Jackman in what is now his final turn as Wolverine.

Best Supporting Actress in a Film:
Emma Corrin (Deadpool & Wolverine)
Rebecca Ferguson (Dune: Part Two)
Barbara Hershey (Strange Darling)
Juliette Lewis (The Thicket)
Margaret Qualley (The Substance)
Cailee Spaeny (Alien: Romulus)
Zendaya (Dune: Part Two)

I think the choice between Rebecca Ferguson and Zendaya is even starker than between Brolin and Butler for Dune: Part Two. The only hope is that they coalesce around one of them as the better actress. Otherwise, Emma Corrin, who is an Emmy winner, will sneak through as the villain of Deadpool & Wolverine. I don't know who I'm voting for yet, so stay tuned.

Best Younger Performer in a Film:
Freya All[a]n (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes)
McKenna Grace (Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire)
Kaylee Hottle (Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire)
Calah Lane (Wonka)
Jenna Ortega (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice)
Alisha Weir (Abigail)
Rachel Zegler (Hunger Games: Ballad of Son[g]birds & Snakes)

No Dune: Part Two nominees in this category, either, but Freya Allan and Rachel Zegler are representing science fiction films for their roles in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, respectively. I'm not optimistic about either of their chances, especially because Zegler didn't earn a Saturn Awards nomination for West Side Story and this is the second time Allan has competed against Jenna Ortega for a Best Younger Performer award. Ortega won, and I think she has the advantage this time, too. I have her penciled in as my vote. The dark horses would be McKenna Grace, who I thought was snubbed for Ghostbusters: Afterlife two years ago, and Alisha Weir, the titular character of Abigail. Both deserve their nominations.

Best Film Direction:
Fede Alvarez (Alien: Romulus)
Wes Ball (Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes)
Tim Burton (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice)
Shawn Levy (Deadpool & Wolverine)
JT Mollner (Strange Darling)
Takashi Yamazaki (Godzilla: Minus One)
Denis Villeneuve (Dune: Part Two)

Denis Villeneuve and Wes Ball are the science fiction film directors in this field and I think Villeneuve is the better professional choice, so he has my vote. The popular choice might be Tim Burton, who directed the more entertaining, if less artistic, film, and he would be more in tune with the Saturn Awards electorate. So would Shawn Levy, who isn't as big a director as either Burton or Villeneueve.

Best Film Screenwriting:
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Alfred Gough Miles Millar)
Deadpool & Wolverine (Shawn Levy Ryan Reynolds)
Dune: Part Two (Denis Villeneuve Jon Spaihts)
Godzilla Minus One (Takashi Yamazaki)
King[dom] of the Planet of the Apes (Josh Friedman Rick Jaffa Amanda Silver)
Longlegs (Osgood Perkins)
Strange Darling (JT Mollner)

Villeneuve would also be the professional choice here over Josh Friedman, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver, but Levy and Reynolds managed to thread the needle of being respectful of the source material while integrating two versions of the Marvel Universe and still being funny. Villeneuve just had to adapt the source material creatively while being true to the spirit of the novel. I'll get back to my readers with my vote, which I haven't decided on yet.

Best Film Visual / Special Effects:
Alien: Romulus
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Deadpool & Wolverine
Dune: Part Two
Godzilla Minus One
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Twisters

Godzilla Minus One won the Oscar earlier this year, but I'm not committed to voting for it yet.

Best Film Music:
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Danny Elfman)
Dune: Part Two (Hans Zimmer)
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Dario Marianelli)
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (John Paesano)
Smile 2 (Cristobal Tapia de Veer)
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (James Newton Howard)

I'm glad Hans Zimmer earned a nomination after being snubbed two years ago. Just the same, I'm holding off on deciding until I listen to all the soundtracks, so stay tuned for that decision. In the meantime, I'm embedding music from Dune: Part Two, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes at the end of the post.

Best Film Production Design:
Alien: Romulus (Naaman Marshall)
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Matt Scruton)
Deadpool & Wolverine (Ray Chan)
Dune: Part Two (Patrice Vermette)
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (Daniel T. Dorrance)
Longlegs (Danny Vermette)

I voted for Dune: Part One two years ago, so I'm predisposed to vote for it again, but I want to see Beetlejuice Beetlejuice first.

Best Film Make Up:
Alien: Romulus
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice
Dune: Part Two
Longlegs
Smile 2
The Substance

Dune: Part One won this category two years ago. While I didn't vote for it, that makes me want to vote for it again, pending watching Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. I'm hoping the horror movies split the rest of the vote.

Best Film Editing:
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Jay Prychidny)
Civil War (Jake Roberts)
Deadpool & Wolverine (Dean Zimmerman & Shane Reid)
Dune: Part Two (Joe Walker)
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga (Eliot Knapman & Margaret Sixel)
Strange Darling (Christopher Robin Bell)

I like the editing in action films, so I'm predisposed to vote for Deadpool & Wolverine or Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, which is as much an action film as a science fiction film, over Dune: Part Two. I'm not committing to that just yet, as I appreciated the editing of the trailers for Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.

Best Film Costume Design:
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Colleen Atwood)
Deadpool & Wolverine (Graham Churchyard & Mayes C. Rubeo)
Dune: Part Two (Jacqueline West)
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (Alexis Forte & Ruth Myers)
Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (Trish Summerville)
Wonka (Linday Hemming)

Dune: Part One earned a nomination in this category, so it has a leg up on the field. Still, the people who pick the nominees are superhero cosplayers and the voters like pretty and spectacular costumes, so Deadpool & Wolverine, Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, and Wonka all are legit contenders. Maybe Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is, too.

Now the music, beginning with the least viewed of all the nominees on YouTube, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Here's the most popular of all the tracks from that movie, We Will Rebuild by John Paesano.


That is spectacularly beautiful and moving.

Next, the two strongest nominees, beginning with Dune: Part Two Soundtrack | Kiss the Ring - Hans Zimme from Water Tower Music, Warner Brothers in-house movie music label.

About Dune: Part Two: The saga continues as award-winning filmmaker Denis Villeneuve embarks on “Dune: Part Two,” the next chapter of Frank Herbert’s celebrated novel Dune, with an expanded all-star international ensemble cast. The film, from Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures, is the highly anticipated follow-up to 2021’s six-time Academy Award-winning “Dune.” “Dune: Part Two” will explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a warpath of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family. Facing a choice between the love of his life and the fate of the known universe, he endeavors to prevent a terrible future only he can foresee.

This is deeply moving and sophisticated in ways that Paesano's music can't match. This reminds me that this score has two wins and two nominations already, including a Golden Trailer Award, a Hollywood Music in Media Award, and a Grammy nomination. That's more than can be said about the most of the rest of the nominees. The exception is Can’t Catch Me Now (from The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) by Olivia Rodrigo, which has multiple wins and nominations, also including a Grammy nomination.


This got snubbed at the Oscars and I think that was a mistake. Then again, the Music Branch loves Diane Warren and nominated her again for "The Fire Inside" from Flamin' Hot. As I'm fond of writing, electorates matter.

Stay tuned for Best Fantasy Film and Best International Film nominees tomorrow. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice vs. Godzilla!