Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, musical biopic Elvis and the long-awaited sequels to Top Gun and Avatar will do battle Tuesday at the Golden Globes, as the Hollywood awards show seeks to rebuild its reputation after being tarnished by recent scandals.

The Globes gala, traditionally a raucous celebrity-packed event that kicks off the annual movie awards season, has not had its usual glitz for two years, due to the pandemic and revelations about their organisers’ lack of diversity and alleged ethical lapses.

NBC, which scrapped its broadcast of the show last year after it emerged the Hollywood Foreign Press Association had no Black members, has brought back the 80th Golden Globe Awards on a one-off basis after the organisation scrambled to reform.

Spielberg, whose semi-autobiographical film is a favorite to win best drama, is among the A-listers expected to attend, while Eddie Murphy will receive a career achievement award and comedian Jerrod Carmichael hosts the proceedings.

Pundits still predict a quieter-than-usual showing on the Globes’ red carpet, and most of the usual swanky after-parties – where winners parade their trophies, and losers drown their sorrows with free champagne – are not taking place this year.

Deadline awards columnist Pete Hammond said the event is likely to be more “muted” overall, with major Hollywood studios “not spending big bucks” to fete their nominees as they have in previous years.

Those who walk the red carpet face the prospect of fielding questions from journalists about the Globes themselves, rather than the usual “What are you wearing?” conversations, he added.

Spielberg, Cruise, Cameron

Unlike the Oscars, the pinnacle of awards season on March 12, the Globes movie prizes are split between two categories: “drama” and “comedy or musical”.

On the drama side, The Fabelmans is up for best film against last year’s two biggest box office hits – the blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick starring Tom Cruise, and James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water.

Tar, set in the cut-throat world of classical music, and rock-and-roll biopic Elvis could also spring some surprises.

Their respective stars – Cate Blanchett, who plays a ruthless conductor, and Austin Butler, stepping into Presley’s blue suede shoes – are frontrunners for drama acting prizes.

Brendan Fraser, a nominee for his starring role in The Whale, has ruled out attending Tuesday’s gala. He has previously alleged he was once sexually assaulted by a former HFPA president.

Cruise, a producer on Top Gun: Maverick, is also unlikely to attend, after he returned his three Globes to the HFPA in 2021 in protest.

The Banshees of Inisherin holds the most overall nominations at this year’s Globes with eight, and is a favorite to win best comedy, with co-star Colin Farrell a frontrunner for best comedy actor.

The movie about a shattered friendship on a remote Irish island will contend with surreal, multiverse-hopping sci-fi film Everything Everywhere All At Once – its stars Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan are all up for acting awards.

‘Scandal’

In years past, success at the Globes was a potential bellwether for films hoping to win Oscars and served as a valuable marketing tool.

Indeed, Academy voters will begin casting ballots for Oscar nominations on Thursday, just days after the Globes gala.

But recent controversies have muddied the waters.

The addition of more than 100 new, more racially diverse Globes voters, who are not full HFPA members, has made it even harder to predict who the group of foreign journalists will reward.

While movie billboards and commercials boasting of Globes nominations have returned after last year’s notable absence, few nominees have publicly thanked the HFPA.

According to Hammond, some in the industry privately yearn for the old Globes to return because they think the show is an important “cog in the wheel of awards season”.

“You can’t buy tradition,” he said.

But rows over diversity, alleged corruption and lack of professionalism have “lessened” the Globes’ sheen when it comes to influencing the Oscars, Hammond said.

“When every (Globes) story talks about the scandal... it doesn’t make it as credible, I think, to the Oscar voters,” he said.

List of key Golden Globe nominees

Here are the nominees in key categories for the 80th Golden Globe Awards, which will be handed out on Tuesday.

Comedian Jerrod Carmichael will host the Globes.

FILM

Best film, drama

Avatar: The Way of Water

Elvis

The Fabelmans

Tar

Top Gun: Maverick

 

Best film, musical or comedy

Babylon

The Banshees of Inisherin

Everything Everywhere All at Once

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Triangle of Sadness

 

Best actor, drama

Austin Butler, Elvis

Brendan Fraser, The Whale

Hugh Jackman, The Son

Bill Nighy, Living

Jeremy Pope, The Inspection

 

Best actress, drama

Cate Blanchett, Tar

Olivia Colman, Empire of Light

Viola Davis, The Woman King

Ana de Armas, Blonde

Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans

 

Best actor, musical or comedy

Diego Calva, Babylon

Daniel Craig, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Adam Driver, White Noise

Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin

Ralph Fiennes, The Menu

 

Best actress, musical or comedy

Lesley Manville, Mrs Harris Goes to Paris

Margot Robbie, Babylon

Anya Taylor-Joy, The Menu

Emma Thompson, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande

Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

 

Best supporting actor

Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin

Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin

Brad Pitt, Babylon

Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Eddie Redmayne, The Good Nurse

 

Best supporting actress

Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin

Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Dolly De Leon, Triangle of Sadness

Carey Mulligan, She Said

 

Best director

James Cameron, Avatar: The Way of Water

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Baz Luhrmann, Elvis

Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin

Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans

 

Best non-English language film

All Quiet on the Western Front

Argentina, 1985

Close

Decision to Leave

RRR

 

Best animated feature

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

Inu-Oh

Marcel the Shell With Shoes On

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

Turning Red”

 

TELEVISION

Best drama series

Better Call Saul

The Crown

House of the Dragon

Ozark

Severance

 

Best drama actor

Jeff Bridges, The Old Man

Kevin Costner, Yellowstone

Diego Luna, Andor

Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul

Adam Scott, Severance

 

Best drama actress

Emma D'Arcy, House of the Dragon

Laura Linney, Ozark

Imelda Staunton, The Crown

Hilary Swank, Alaska Daily

Zendaya, Euphoria

 

Best musical or comedy series

Abbott Elementary

The Bear

Hacks

Only Murders in the Building

Wednesday

 

Best musical or comedy actor

Donald Glover, Atlanta

Bill Hader, Barry

Steve Martin, Only Murders in the Building 

Martin Short, Only Murders in the Building

Jeremy Allen White, The Bear

 

Best musical or comedy actress

Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary

Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant

Selena Gomez, Only Murders in the Building

Jenna Ortega, Wednesday

Jean Smart, Hacks

 

Best limited series or TV movie

Black Bird

Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

The Dropout

Pam and Tommy

The White Lotus

 

Best limited series or TV movie actor

Taron Egerton, Black Bird

Colin Firth, The Staircase

Andrew Garfield, Under the Banner of Heaven

Evan Peters, Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

Sebastian Stan, Pam and Tommy

 

Best limited series or TV movie actress

Jessica Chastain, George and Tammy

Julia Garner, Inventing Anna

Lily James, Pam and Tommy

Julia Roberts, Gaslit

Amanda Seyfried, The Dropout

 

FILMS WITH MOST NOMINATIONS

The Banshees of Inisherin - 8

Everything Everywhere All at Once - 6

Babylon - 5

The Fabelmans - 5

Elvis - 3

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio - 3

Tar - 3