Hollywood is abuzz after the Academy Awards released its nominees for Best Actress. They are: Karla Sofía Gascón (Emilia Perez), Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here), Cynthia Erivo (Wicked), Mikey Madison (Anora), and Demi Moore (The Substance).
Fans of Zendaya are disappointed that she was not nominated for her role as tennis-player-turned-coach Tashi in the movie Challengers, especially since Zendaya and Challengers were nominated for Golden Globes.
(Challengers didn’t receive a single Oscar nomination, inspiring this dissenting take from Time magazine: “Challengers should have been showered with awards based on director Luca Guadagnino’s creative use of phallic foods alone. But the Academy doesn’t always reward genius in its time.”)
While Zendaya fans continue to complain about the snub (“she was robbed”), they can look forward to her new Oscar-worthy film based on Homer’s epic poem, The Odyssey.
Zendaya is working with Oscar-winning director Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer) who will tell the story of Odysseus in his perilous journey home after the Trojan War, which includes encounters with Polyphemus, the Sirens, Circe, and a reunion with his wife, Penelope. (Famously, only his dog, Argos, recognizes the adventurer upon his return.)
Oscar winners in the cast include Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting), Charlize Theron (Monster), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave), Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables), and Zendaya’s fiance, Tom Holland, who plays the lead, Odysseus. (No word yet on who’s playing Penelope.)
The Odyssey, which has a $250 million budget (surpassing Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises) and uses new IMAX technology, is scheduled for a July 17, 2026 release.
Note: The 97th Academy Awards are scheduled to take place in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 2nd.