Steven Spielberg Says Oscars Were Wrong To Snub 'The Dark Knight' For 2009 Best Picture

Steven Spielberg is still keeping a grudge about the 2009 Oscar nomination choice for Best Picture.

The veteran director recently shared that Christopher Nolan's action, blockbuster, "The Dark Knight," should have made the Oscars list alongside other nominees, including Slumdog Millionaire, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and "The Reader."

However, he acknowledged that including films like "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Avatar: The Way of Water" in this year's nominations was worth celebrating.

The filmmaker was nominated in the Best Director category, while his film, "The Fabelmans," will compete for Best Picture, Best Production Design, Best Original Score, and Best Original Screenplay.

Read below for more details.

In an interview with Deadline, Spielberg reflected on the Oscar's Best Picture and how blockbusters movies are now viewed as deserving of consideration for the prestigious category.

He admitted that it was worth "celebrating" that movies like "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Avatar: The Way of Water" made the list of this year's nominees. However, he did share that the changes were a bit late.

In his opinion, Nolan's action thriller "The Dark Knight" should not have been left out of the category for the 81st Academy Award in 2009.

"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," said the 76-year-old director, who landed a Best Original Screenplay nomination for this year's edition of the Academy Awards, per The New York Post.

He added, "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."

At the time "The Dark Knight" debuted, it was snubbed in the Best Picture category in favor of "Slumdog Millionaire," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "The Reader," "Frost/Nixon," and "Milk."

"Slumdog Millionaire," directed by Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandan and produced by Christian Colson, ultimately took the prestigious award.

The Best Picture category has since been expanded to ten nominees, twice the previous number, partly due to the outcry over blockbusters missing out on the nomination list.

Now, "Top Gun: Maverick" and "Avatar: The Way of Water" will be competing in the highly regarded category alongside a star-packed list that includes "All Quiet on the Western Front," "The Banshees of Inisherin," "Elvis," "Everything Everywhere All at Once," "The Fabelmans," "Tár," "Triangle of Sadness," and "Women Talking."

Meanwhile, Spielberg would be fighting it off in the Best Director category via his coming-of-age drama film "The Fabelmans."

Other directors nominated in the category are Martin McDonagh, Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert, Todd Field, and Ruben Östlund.

"The Fabelmans" was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Production Design, Best Original Score, and Best Original Screenplay. Actress Michelle Williams who starred in the film was nominated for the Best Actress Category.

With 11 overall nominations, "Everything Everywhere All at Once" tops this year's nomination list. "The Banshees of Inisherin" and "All Quiet on the Western Front" took the second spot with nine nominations each.

While most of the films that made it to the Oscar nomination list were expected, there were a few surprises with regard to those that were left out.

Jordan Peele's "Nope" was one of the most blatant snubs. After receiving rave reviews following its debut, it surprisingly did not land a single Oscar nomination this year despite being hyped for several categories, including Original Screenplay, Best Sound, and Best Visual Effects.

Viola Davis and Danielle Deadwyler were left out of the Best Actress category despite their performance in "The Woman King" and "Till," respectively. Tom Cruise in "Top Gun: Maverick" and Adam Sandler in "Hustle" also did not make the Oscars list for Best Actor.

This year's Academy awards will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel on Sunday, March 12, marking the talk show host's third time helming Hollywood's biggest night of glitz and glam. In the meantime, presenters for the upcoming ceremony are yet to be announced.