The 2023 Oscars are gearing up for a dramatic finale.
Seemingly everyone, everywhere is talking about the indie hit “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” but it’s going to have to beat big-budget blockbusters and acclaimed films from Steven Spielberg and Martin McDonagh to claim top prizes at the Sunday ceremony.
Here’s everything you need to know before the Academy Awards at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood.
( Oscars 2023: Who will win vs. who should win )
Sunday’s ceremony begins at 8 pm EDT and will air live on ABC. Subscription streaming services including FuboTV, YouTubeTV and Hulu Live TV will also carry the awards show.
ABC will also carry pre-ceremony coverage throughout the day, beginning with “On the Red Carpet Live” from 1-4 p.m.
Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel returns for his third gig as Oscars host and his first since 2018. He was the famous emcee of the 2017 ceremony where Faye Dunaway and Warren Beatty mistakenly announced “La La Land” for best film instead of the actual winner, “Moonlight.”
Kimmel jokingly shared his plan in case an incident like Will Smith slapping Chris Rock last year occurred.
“You mean, if someone comes up on stage and slaps me? Well, I evaluated them and, if I’m bigger than themI beat them up on TV,” Kimmel told The Hollywood Reporter. “And if it is the Rock, I run.”
“Everything Everywhere All at Once,” the genre-defying, multiverse-hopping hit that has dominated awards season so far, tops all movies with 11 nominations.
It enters as the favorite for best picture after winning multiple Oscars, including last month’s Screen Actors Guild Awards. However, the film faces competition from Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans”; McDonaugh’s black comedy “The Banshees of Inisherin”; James Cameron’s titanic splash “Avatar: The Way of Water”; and the visually stunning, directed by Tom Cruise, “Top Gun: Maverick.”
“Everything Everywhere” star Michelle Yeoh is nominated for best actress, as is “Tár” star Cate Blanchett. Brendan Fraser’s portrayal of a severely obese man in “The Whale” and Austin Butler’s performance as the lead musical icon in “Elvis” have them in the mix for best actor.
A big favorite is “Everything Everywhere” star Ke Huy Quan, who has already won honors at the Golden Globes, SAG Awards, Critics’ Choice Awards and Film Independent Spirit Awards.
Spielberg, McDonaugh and “Everything Everywhere” duo Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert are among the best director nominees.
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Fresh off her Super Bowl halftime show last month, Rihanna returns to a national stage to perform “Lift Me Up,” her hit from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which is nominated for best original song.
“Everything Everywhere” star Stephanie Hsu will take the stage with David Byrne and the band Son Lux for their Oscar-nominated “This is a Life,” which was written for the film.
Lenny Kravitz will perform during the “In Memoriam” segment.
Yeoh could achieve several milestones with an Oscar win, including becoming the first artist from Malaysia to do so and the first from Southeast Asia to be named best actress, according to the ActionNetwork.com.
Quan would be the first Vietnamese-born Oscar-winning actor, while Hsu would be the first actress of Chinese descent to take home an Oscar if she is named best supporting actress.
Spielberg would become the fourth filmmaker to win a third best director trophy, and at 76 he would be the oldest to receive the honor.
Angela Bassett, who is nominated for best supporting actress for “Wakanda Forever,” could become the first person to win for a performance in a Marvel Cinematic Universe movie and the first woman to win for a comic book movie.