Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg says the Oscars should have shed the brightest light on The Dark Knight as he believes the film would have been in the running for Best Picture.

Speaking with Deadline after his autobiopic, The Fabelmans, received seven Oscar nominations, Spielberg hailed fellow Best Picture nominees such as Avatar: The Way of Water and Top Gun: Maverick for receiving such an honor. While highlighting those films, he felt that The Dark Knight would have garnered the same recognition today. "I’m really encouraged by that. It came late for the film that should have been nominated a number of years ago, Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight," Spielberg said. "That movie would have definitely garnered a Best Picture Nomination today, so having these two blockbusters solidly presented on the top 10 list is something we should all be celebrating."

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A follow-up to 2005's Batman Begins, The Dark Knight was a big hit with fans and critics upon its release, headlined by a star-studded cast including Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne/Batman, Heath Ledger's Joker and Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent/Two-Face. Earning just over $1 billion at the global box office following its theatrical release in 2008, the movie garnered plenty of Oscar buzz, receiving eight nominations at the 81st Academy Awards. Ledger posthumously won Best Supporting Actor for his role as the Joker while the movie also scooped the award for Best Sound Editing. Despite its popularity, The Dark Knight was snubbed for Best Picture, with the award eventually going to Slumdog Millionaire.

The Dark Knight also won Ledger a posthumous Golden Globe Award and a Grammy Award for Best Score Soundtrack Album. Picking up 107 awards to date, the movie enjoyed enviable recognition despite the Best Picture snub. The movie was the second in Christopher Nolan's celebrated trilogy with 2012's The Dark Knight Rises generating just under $1.1 billion at the global box office and also earning its fair share of award-winning success.

Spielberg's Journey With The Fabelmans

Spielberg's The Fabelmans will contend with the aforementioned Top Gun and Avatar sequels for the Best Picture Academy Award alongside The Banshees of Inisherin, Elvis, Tár, All Quiet on the Western Front, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Triangle of Sadness and Women Talking. The film chronicles a young aspiring filmmaker named Samuel "Sammy" Fabelman while growing up in post-World War II Arizona. Fabelman explores how the power of movies helps him discover the truth after finding out a stunning family secret. The coming-of-age drama was loosely based on Spielberg's teenage life and his early filmmaking career.

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Co-written by Spielberg and Tony Kushner, The Fabelmans was a box-office flop, only generating $21.7 million on a $40 million budget. However, it received considerable critical acclaim, with Gabriel Labelle starring as Samuel, Paul Dano as Samuel's father Burt Fableman and Seth Rogen as Burt's best friend and co-worker Bennie Loewy. Michelle Williams, who plays Samuel's mother Mitzi Schildkraut-Fableman, received a Best Actress nomination for her role in the movie while Judd Hirsch, starring as Boris Schildkraut, earned a Best Supporting Actor nod. The Fablemans also notched Spielberg a Best Director Oscar nomination and is also in the running for Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score and Best Production Design.

Fans can stream The Fabelmans and The Dark Knight via Prime Video.

Source: Deadline