Steven Spielberg says this legendary superhero movie should have been nominated for an Oscar for best picture

Steven Spielberg looks back on an epic superhero film that he thinks should have won an Oscar.

While gushing about some of last year’s biggest hits – Avatar: The Way of Water and Top Gun: Maverick – which were recently nominated for Best Picture, the legendary filmmaker spoke about a particular film he was inspired by still wants a nomination.

In an interview with Deadline on Tuesday, after the Oscar nominations were announced, the director of The Fabelmans said he was “really encouraged” that these hit blockbusters got the recognition they deserved, however, passed insisting that DC’s The Dark Knight “definitely deserved” a Best Picture nomination today.”

Referring to the Academy’s decision in 2020 to guarantee 10 films nominations each year as part of its Justice and Inclusion initiative, the 76-year-old star said: “It came too late for the film that should have been nominated a number of years ago should be before.”

“So that these two blockbusters are solidly on the top 10 list is something we should all celebrate,” he added.

Although The Dark Knight became the highest-grossing film of 2008 at over $1 billion, the gripping tale of the Gotham City crusader received just eight nominations and was overlooked for Best Picture.

Heath Ledger posthumously won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar the following year for his insanely good, off-kilter portrayal of The Joker.

Spielberg, who was nominated for directing West Side Story in 2022, made him the first to receive best director nominations in six different decades, and scored another win with seven Oscar nominations for The Fabelmans.

The semi-autobiographical film also earned the cinema king his first nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

Spielberg quipped to The Hollywood Reporter that his late parents “annoyed” him to bring The Fabelmans, a story based on his parents’ life, to the big screen and revealed that the “coming of age” project was something he “really wanted”. tell.”

“I started thinking seriously, if I had to do a film that I haven’t done before, something that I really want to do on a very personal, atomic level, what would it be? And there was only one story I really wanted to tell,” he said.

The 95th Academy Awards will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and is scheduled for March 12 at 8pm ET / 5pm PT on ABC. Check out the full list of this year’s Oscar nominees here.