Barbie actor Ryan Gosling has released a searing statement after his co-star Margot Robbie missed a key Oscars nomination.

“There is no Ken without Barbie,” Gosling declared on Wednesday (Australian time), just hours after the nominations were released.

Barbie, last year’s highest-grossing movie, received eight nominations. They included Gosling for best supporting actor and co-star America Ferrera) for best supporting actress.

There were also two nominations for best song – Gosling’s lament I’m Just Ken and Billie Eilish’s What Was I Made For?.

But Robbie – who starred and co-produced the blockbuster – and director Greta Gerwig missed out. The exclusion has also sparked reaction online.

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Oppenheimer, the epic film about the race to build the first atomic bomb, landed a leading 13 Oscar nominations and cemented its role as frontrunner for the prestigious best picture trophy.

The three-hour drama directed by Christopher Nolan outpaced gothic comedy Poor Things, another best picture contender that scored 11 nominations for the film industry’s highest honours.

“I am extremely honoured to be nominated by my colleagues alongside such remarkable artists in a year of so many great films,” Gosling said.

“And I never thought I’d be saying this, but I’m also incredibly honoured and proud that it’s for portraying a plastic doll named Ken.”

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But he said Gerwig and Robbie were the biggest drivers behind “this history-making, globally celebrated film”.

“But there is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie … No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius. To say that I’m disappointed that they are not nominated in their respective categories would be an understatement,” he said.

“Against all odds with nothing but a couple of soulless, scantily clad, and thankfully crotchless dolls, they made us laugh, they broke our hearts, they pushed the culture and they made history. Their work should be recognized along with the other very deserving nominees.”

Gosling finished by saying he was happy for Ferrera and others involved in making Barbie.

Oppenheimer is considered the favourite for best picture this year, based on early awards season wins and polling of experts by the Gold Derby website.

The remaining best picture nominees are American Fiction, The Holdovers, Past Lives, The Zone of Interest and French film Anatomy of a Fall.

Oppenheimer has a lead actor nomination for Cillian Murphy, who played scientist J Robert Oppenheimer, and for supporting cast Emily Blunt and Robert Downey Jr.

With Barbie and Oppenheimer in the mix, the Oscars telecast on March 10 will showcase two big-screen blockbusters.

The films collected nearly $US2.4 billion ($3.6 billion) combined in a summer box office battle dubbed Barbenheimer.

Winners of the gold Oscar statuettes will be chosen by the roughly 11,000 actors, producers, directors and film craftspeople who make up the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Late-night talk show’s Jimmy Kimmel will for the fourth time host the Oscars ceremony.

-with AAP