Film editor Thelma Schoonmaker could make Oscar history with ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’

Best Film Editing and Best Picture have had an important relationship throughout Oscars history. While the two awards don’t always necessarily go to the same film, it is rare that a Best Picture winner isn’t at least nominated for Best Editing. Only two out of the last 20 Best Picture champs were snubbed by the editors’ branch: “Birdman” in 2015 and “CODA” in 2022.

One of the best cutters in the business is Thelma Schoonmaker. This longtime collaborator of Martin Scorsese reunites with him for this year’s red-hot Oscar contender, “Killers of the Flower Moon.” This story tells the true tale of the murder of several Osage tribe members in the USA in the 1920s, which led to an FBI investigation involving J. Edgar Hoover. Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Lily Gladstone star and we fully expect “Killers of the Flower Moon” to be nominated for Best Picture.

Currently, Schoonmaker is on eight nominations. They came in 1971 for “Woodstock,” 1981 for “Raging Bull,” 1991 for “Goodfellas,” 2003 for “Gangs of New York,” 2005 for “The Aviator,” 2007 for “The Departed,” 2012 for “Hugo,” and 2020 for “The Irishman.” She won for “Raging Bull,” “The Aviator,” and “The Departed.” You’ll notice that seven out of those eight bids came for Scorsese-directed movies. The only exception was her first nomination — “Woodstock,” which was directed by Michael Wadleigh (although, coincidentally, Scorsese did also work on “Woodstock”). All three wins came for Scorsese films. Those eight nominations and three wins are a record. Well, a joint record.

Only Michael Kahn has as many nominations as Schoonmaker in this category. He also has eight bids, which came in 1978 for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” 1982 for “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark,” 1988 for “Fatal Attraction” alongside Peter E. Berger, 1988 again for “Empire of the Sun,” 1994 for “Schindler’s List,” 1999 for “Saving Private Ryan,” 2006 for “Munich,” and 2013 for “Lincoln.” He won for “Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark,” “Schindler’s List,” and “Savings Private Ryan.”

There’s a curious parallel here. While Schoonmaker is known for her collaboration with Scorsese, Kahn has the same relationship with Steven Spielberg. Seven out of those eight bids came for Spielberg movies, with the exception being “Fatal Attraction,” a film helmed by Adrian Lyne. And all three wins came for Spielberg flicks.

Daniel Mandell and Ralph Dawson have also won three Best Editing awards each. Mandell won for “The Pride of the Yankees” in 1943, “The Best Years of Our Lives” in 1947, and “The Apartment” in 1961. Meanwhile, Dawson won for “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” in 1936, “Anthony Adverse” in 1937, and “The Adventures of Robin Hood” in 1939.

However, it’s the parallel of Schoonmaker and Kahn that is most interesting. They both have the same number of nominations, the same number of wins, and the same long-standing collaborations with two titans of film directing. The only difference is… Schoonmaker has “Killers of the Flower Moon” coming out this year while Kahn doesn’t have another film coming out for at least a couple of years. That will be Spielberg’s next project, “The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara,” which is a movie Spielberg has been working on for a considerable number of years.

For now, however, the opportunity is there for Schoonmaker to take the record for herself. Currently, we predict that “Killers of the Flower Moon” will be nominated for Best Picture, Best Director for Scorsese, Best Actor for DiCaprio, Best Supporting Actor for Robert De Niro, Best Supporting Actress for Gladstone, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Scorsese and Eric Roth. Once more of our Oscars odds charts are released, you can expect to see many people predicting Schoonmaker to break the record and become the most nominated and awarded editor in Oscars history.

PS: That wouldn’t be the only record Schoonmaker would break. If she were to win, she’d become the oldest winner in this category at 84 years old come the time of the Academy Awards next year (her birthday is in January). The current record is held by Mandell, who was 65 years old when he won for “The Apartment.”

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