Christopher Nolan's historic blockbuster will take home the top honor for its outstanding cast ahead of next month's Oscar ceremony.
Oppenheimer won three awards at the Hollywood Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards, including top honors, increasing the chances that the historical blockbuster will win the Best Picture Oscar next month.
At a star-studded ceremony in Los Angeles on Saturday, director Christopher Nolan, who played the father of the atomic bomb, Robert Oppenheimer, won the award for Best Motion Picture Cast, historically a leading Oscar predictor.
Cillian Murphy, who plays the title character, won the award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture, while his co-star Robert Downey Jr. won for Best Supporting Actor for his role as a bitter rival.
“This is very special to me because it was given to me by all of you,” Murphy said while accepting the award.
The ceremony was the first celebration hosted by SAG-AFTRA, which represents approximately 160,000 entertainment industry professionals, since last year's longest strike in its history.
The show was also live-streamed on Netflix, a first for Tinseltown's ceremony.
Kenneth Branagh, who played Danish physicist Niels Bohr in Oppenheimer, recalled how the film's cast went on strike at the London premiere last July, just as the strike was about to begin. .
“We were happy to move forward in solidarity with your good nature,” Branagh said. “This is a full-circle moment for us,” he said, to loud applause.
Oppenheimer has already won a Golden Globe and a BAFTA, and is a strong candidate for Best Picture at the Oscars on March 11th.
The film was nominated for 13 Oscars, including Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actor, with Yorgos Lanthimos's steampunk fantasy Poor Things receiving 11 nominations.
At the past two SAG Awards, the top five winners all predicted the eventual Oscar winner.
Other winners on Saturday included Lily Gladstone, Best Actress for Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon, and Davin Joy Randolph, Best Supporting Actress for The Holdovers. Award-winning.
Barbra Streisand, winner of two Oscars and 10 Grammys, received a Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her 60-year career in entertainment.