New York City entered the 90th Academy Awards on Sunday with a slew of nominees with local ties, but only two were awarded coveted statuettes.
Fret not, fellow New Yorkers: The city still took home a monumental win. Jordan Peele made history as the first black screenwriter to win an Oscar for best original screenplay for “Get Out.”
Peele, who grew up on the Upper West Side, made his directorial debut with the mystery/horror flick that stars Daniel Kaluuya (“Black Mirror”) and Allison Williams (“Girls”). Originally released on Feb. 24, 2017, “Get Out” grossed more than $250 million in worldwide ticket sales. It was up for four Oscars, including best picture, which was awarded to “The Shape of Water.”
“This means so much to me I stopped writing this movie about 20 times because I thought it was impossible I thought it wasn’t going to work,” Peele said during his acceptance speech. “I want to dedicate this to all the people who raised my voice and let me make this movie.”
In the original screenplay category, Peele’s flick beat out “Lady Bird,” “The Big Sick,” “The Shape of Water” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”
The former “Key & Peele” comedian joined fellow 2018 Oscar-winning New Yorkers Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, who were awarded the top honor for their screenwriting work in the animated film “Coco.” The husband-and-wife duo from Park Slope won best original song for “Remember Me,” the emotional song that helped young Miguel (Anthony Gonzalez) uncover the story of his family’s past. Lopez and Anderson-Lopez, told Vanity Fair the lyrics for the song came to them while riding the F train from Brooklyn to Manhattan.
Peele and the “Coco” duo were among seven other nominees with connections to the city up for awards during the Jimmy Kimmel-hosted ceremony. “Lady Bird,” the story of a woman who longs to move to the city, was nominated for several awards, including best picture, but was ultimately snubbed. Though Mary J. Blige lost out on the best supporting actress award for her role in “Mudbound,” the Bronx-born singer still gave a winning onstage performance of the flick’s track “Mighty River.”
The Oscars ceremony aired live from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California. A full list of winners and nominees can be found at oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/2018.
