Los Angeles, California - The Academy Awards are going down on Sunday night, but what should audiences be on the lookout for? Here are the big issues for this year's Oscars!

Will Oppenheimer end up making Oscars history? Who will win the closely contested Best Actress race? And could iconic director Martin Scorsese go home empty-handed once again?

These and other pressing film industry issues are projected to be the biggest talking points of the Oscars as the various nominees prepare to take over the red carpet on Sunday night in Hollywood, California.

Variety editor and award show expert Clayton Davis suggested the five things viewers should be watching out for at the 96th Academy Awards, and the list goes a little something like this.

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Ready? Here we go!

There is no doubt Christopher Nolan's atomic blockbuster Oppenheimer will win multiple Oscars. But how many?

Even a "really conservative" eight would be the most for a film since Slumdog Millionaire in 2009, explained Davis.

The record of 11 is probably just out of reach. But 10 – achievable if it wins close races like Best Actor and Best-Adapted Screenplay – would put it tied with 1961's West Side Story.

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After years of small, indie hits taking Best Picture, Oppenheimer would be the highest-grossing winner since Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2004, and the third-highest of all time (also behind Titanic).

It seems certain to be the top-grossing film in history to win Oscars for its actors, Robert Downey Jr and – potentially – Cillian Murphy.

It would also be the second film to ever win Best Picture that was produced by a married couple – Nolan and his wife Emma Thomas – after Driving Miss Daisy.

While not likely to win more than a couple of Oscars, the box-office smash that is the Barbie movie will be omnipresent throughout Sunday's gala.

Both Billie Eilish and Ryan Gosling are set to perform Oscar-nominated songs from the movie, and host Jimmy Kimmel is certain to pepper his opening monologue with jokes about the smash hit comedy.

"I can't imagine an entire evening that doesn't reference Barbie multiple, if not hundreds of times," Davis projected.

Expect quips about the so-called "snubs" for Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie, who were not nominated for directing and starring in the year's highest-grossing film, and many references to all things pink.

"It's going to be an avalanche of Barbie content," said Davis. "That might annoy a couple people."

No major race is harder to predict than Best Actress, where Lily Gladstone and Emma Stone are neck-and-neck among the pundits' picks.

Davis is calling it for Killers of the Flower Moon star Gladstone, but admits that his answer changes "at different moments."

Should Gladstone win, she would be the first Native American actor to win the award and would thus provide the gala with a historic moment. Some voters don't see her as the true "lead" of a film, however, as Leonardo DiCaprio dominates the three-and-a-half hours of screen time.

Stone's performance in Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos's Poor Things is popular among the Academy's "international vote," but could suffer if some of them splinter off for Sandra Hueller of French courtroom drama Anatomy of a Fall.

"This is where it comes down to math," said Davis.

Martin Scorsese, one of the greatest living directors, is hardly short of accolades.

The icon hasn't had great luck at the Academy Awards, however.

Killers of the Flower Moon might just become the third of Scorsese's movies to enter an Oscars with a whopping 10 nominations, and yet leave empty-handed.

Scorsese suffered the same with The Irishman and Gangs of New York.

"It's like 'first world problems,' to have 30 Oscar nominations and you didn't win any of them," joked Davis.

"But that is a lot."

As usual, the list of Oscars presenters is a who's who of Hollywood elites.

At a press conference this week, organizers revealed that five previous winners of each acting category will take to the stage to introduce the five nominees this year.

That could mean Jennifer Lawrence introducing Emma Stone, Matthew McConaughey announcing Paul Giamatti, and Tim Robbins praising Robert Downey Jr.

It is an approach borrowed from the 2009 Oscars and brings a "lovely connection and that human interaction," said this year's showrunner Raj Kapoor.

The combination Davis is most hoping for?

"Rita Moreno is a presenter," Davis said. "And putting two and two together, there's no reason why she doesn't introduce America Ferrera's nomination for 'Barbie' and say 'America, America!'"

"I'm gonna cry. I'm gonna be in tears. And I can't wait," the film expert added.

The 96th Academy Awards are happening Sunday, March 10 starting at 7 PM ET at the Dolby Theatre at Ovation Hollywood in Los Angeles.