The 2024 Oscars host has enlisted the help of the Barbie cast as he gears up to host film’s biggest night next month. In the first promo for this year’s ceremony, which aired on Jimmy Kimmel Live Monday night, Helen Mirren narrates the tale of a man (Kimmel) lost on his way to the Oscars. Having landed in Barbieland, he asks for help from Weird Barbie (Kate McKinnon), who takes him through all of the Best Picture nominees to get to “Oscarsland.”
The duo travels through nominees Poor Things, Maestro, and Oppenheimer, where they run into Matt Damon’s character and eventually run him over. (A new slant to the decades-long gag in which Kimmel has made a tradition of ending his broadcasts with, “Apologies to Matt Damon, but we ran out of time,” even though Damon was not scheduled to appear on the show.)
Once they arrive in Los Angeles, America Ferrera offers an inspirational monologue to calm Kimmel’s nerves — much like her character Gloria’s viral speech in the film.
Even Ryan Gosling comes along for the ride while wearing a Kenough sweatshirt and toting a bag of In-N-Out, which he says is a “cool social media trend, where you get it before the Oscars.”
But when Kimmel says the trend is to have it after you’ve won the Oscar, Gosling says, “Well, that’s not going to happen. Good thing Greta’s got director in the bag.” A sly, if painful reminder for fans that Barbie director Greta Gerwig was snubbed for Best Director, despite the film becoming the No. 1 movie of the year at the box office, grossing more than $1.4 billion, and earning critical acclaim.
Leading lady Margot Robbie was also overlooked for the Best Actress category.
Barbie is still nominated for eight awards at the Oscars, including Best Picture, with Gosling and Ferrera both nominated for their supporting performances.
Watch the full Oscars promo below.
Kimmel will host the host 96th Academy Awards for a fourth time and second year in a row live at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, California, on March 10.
