At this year’s Oscars, Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese, two of the finest directors working in Hollywood, will go head-to-head in several categories. Nolan’s Oppenheimer leads the race with thirteen nominations while Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon scored ten nominations at the 96th Academy Awards.
However, despite the fanfare surrounding Nolan and Scorsese’s films at this year’s Oscars, the two acclaimed directors are far away from one record held by Clint Eastwood. Moreover, Eastwood’s run at the Oscars puts him in an elite club of directors, including only two others. Here is the uncanny record Clint Eastwood holds and why Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese might never break it.
Clint Eastwood Shares an Uncanny Oscars Record With Two Other Directors
As a director, Clint Eastwood has proven himself to be one of the best in business. His films have received critical acclaim and have been lauded with several accolades. In his career, Eastwood has been nominated for the Best Director Academy Award four times, winning twice for his work on 1992’s Unforgiven and 2004’s Million Dollar Baby.
Incidentally, Eastwood has also won the Academy Award for Best Picture for both of these movies. As a result, Eastwood has won four Oscars in his career. Only three other directors, namely Francis Ford Coppola, Billy Wilder, and John Ford have more Oscars to their name.
However, what makes Eastwood’s record so special and uncanny is that he is one of the only three directors to win Best Director and Best Picture for two movies. The other two directors in this elite club are John Ford and Frank Capra. While William Wyler won the Best Director Oscar for three of his movies, which also won Best Picture, he wasn’t a recipient of the latter award.
Why Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese Might Never Beat Clint Eastwood’s Oscars Record
In contrast to Clint Eastwood’s success, Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese have often been a bit sidelined at the Oscars despite their remarkable work. For instance, Scorsese has a total of ten nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director. However, he has only won the prestigious award once, for 2006’s The Departed.
Similarly, Scorsese has received four nominations in the Best Picture category and is yet to win the award. Meanwhile, Nolan, whose Oppenheimer is a favorite at this year’s Oscars for both Best Picture and Best Director, is yet to win a single Oscar in his career despite eight nominations across different categories. As a result, both directors are quite far from emulating Eastwood’s Oscars success.
At the 96th Academy Awards, Nolan has three individual nominations and Scorsese has two. Even if either director converts all their nominations to wins, they will still be left one short of Eastwood’s four Oscars. Moreover, with Scorsese’s age and Nolan’s cinema catering more to the masses, it is unlikely that either director will break into the elite club of directors who won Best Picture and Best Director twice in their career, where Eastwood currently sits.