Universal Pictures will campaign for Anne Hathaway in the supporting actress category for her turn as Penelope in Chris Nolan’s historical  epic, The Odyssey.

My Oscar Book:

It also positions Matt Damon, who plays Odysseus, as the film’s lone above-the-title lead in the acting races and pairs Hathaway with her co-star Samantha Morton, whose Circe has drawn the film’s strongest notices.

With Hathaway, Universal will have two supporting actress nominees from the same film.  Hathaway and Morton (a two-time Oscar nominee for “In America” and “Sweet and Lowdown”) would be competing against each other.

“The Odyssey,” Nolan’s first film since “Oppenheimer,” which won best picture and best director, has crossed $1.7 billion worldwide, making it Universal’s strongest card for the Best Picture.

If both Moore and Hathaway were to win, giving each her second Oscar Award, they would be the first pair of women to do so in three decades.

In 1995, Jessica Lange won lead actress for “Blue Sky,” her second Oscar after “Tootsie,” while Dianne Wiest won supporting actress for “Bullets Over Broadway,” her second after “Hannah and Her Sisters.”

Supporting Actress: Two Double Winners (Winters and Wiest)

Hathaway would become the third woman to win supporting actress twice, joining Wiest and Shelley Winters.

Wiest won for “Hannah and Her Sisters” (1986) and “Bullets Over Broadway” (1994), both directed by Woody Allen, while Winters won for “The Diary of Anne Frank” (1959) and “A Patch of Blue” (1965).

If The Odyssey lands a best picture nomination, Hathaway would be the first woman to win supporting actress twice for films that were both nominated for best picture.

Hathaway opened 2026 as the pop star at the center of A24’s “Mother Mary,” which underperformed at the box office .

She then returned as Andy Sachs opposite Meryl Streep and Emily Blunt in “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” which has grossed $692 million worldwide.

After “The Odyssey” came Warner Bros.’ 1982-set creature adventure “The End of Oak Street,” in which Hathaway plays suburban mother Denise Platt.

Still ahead is the title role in Michael Showalter’s “Verity,” Colleen Hoover’s thriller opposite Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett, which opens October 2. Hathaway also serves as a producer.

Universal is positioning “The Odyssey” for a massive number of Oscar nominations. Beyond the obvious technical categories, including original song for the Travis Scott-penned track — the film is also looking for multiple acting nominations.

Damon for lead actor, while Hathaway and Morton are competing in supporting actress. The film could also land supporting actor bids, with Robert Pattinson in the mix.

Pattinson, like Hathaway, is having a particularly busy year, which also include “Primetime,” “The Drama” and “Dune: Part Three,” the latter two also star “The Odyssey” Zendaya.

Only a few films in Oscar history have landed double-acting nominations across two categories in the same year: “All About Eve” (1950), with Anne Baxter and Bette Davis in best actress and Celeste Holm and Thelma Ritter in supporting actress; “Peyton Place” (1957), with Arthur Kennedy and Russ Tamblyn in supporting actor and Hope Lange and Diane Varsi in supporting actress; “The Last Picture Show” (1971), with Jeff Bridges and winner Ben Johnson in supporting actor and Ellen Burstyn and winner Cloris Leachman in supporting actress; and “Terms of Endearment” (1983), with winner Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger in actress and John Lithgow and winner Jack Nicholson in supporting actor.

Hathaway gives Universal a recognizable contender with a previous Oscar win, a clear path to building a campaign around one of the year’s biggest films.