This is my updated predictions for this year’s Oscars, exactly a month on from my last predictions. These are likely to continue to wildly change over the coming months, but this how I believe things may currently play out.
Best Picture
This is a hard to predict category as much can change with the reception of these films in the next months, and you never know how many films the academy will actually nominate as they rarely go up to the 10 they are allowed.
Ford v. Ferrari (Fox)
Joker (Warner Bros)
Just Mercy (Warner Bros)
Little Women (Sony)
Marriage Story (Netflix)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Sony)
The Farewell (A24)
The Irishman (Netflix)
The Two Popes (Netflix)
1917 (Universal)
Wildcard = Parasite (Neon)
Best Director
There are many factors that can influence this category but it is rare a director is nominated here if their film is not nominated for Best Picture as well.
Greta Gerwig – Little Women
James Mangold – Ford v. Ferrari
Martin Scorsese – The Irishman
Noah Baumbach – Marriage Story
Quentin Tarantino – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Wildcard = Bong Joon Ho – Parasite
Best Actor
This category is likely to be filled with very high profile actors this year, and in a rare turn for the Oscars, could be filled by performances from some of the year’s biggest box office films as well.
Adam Driver – Marriage Story
Christian Bale – Ford v. Ferrari
Joaquin Phoenix – Joker
Leonardo DiCaprio – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Robert De Niro – The Irishman
Wildcard = Adam Sandler – Uncut Gems
Best Actress
This is a category that looks wide open at this point of the year with very few sure bets, and that should make for a very exciting few months as we see how this unfolds.
Awkwafina – The Farewell
Lupita Nyong’o – Us
Renee Zellwegger – Judy
Saoirse Ronan – Little Women
Scarlett Johansson – Marriage Story
Wildcard = Charlize Theron – Bombshell
Best Supporting Actor
This proves to be another fascinating battle where some actors who really delivered lead performances could be moved into this category as they may be seen as having a better chance of winning here or to get out of the way of a co-star who is viewed as having a better chance as lead.
Al Pacino – The Irishman
Brad Pitt – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Anthony Hopkins – The Two Popes
Jamie Foxx – Just Mercy
Joe Pesci – The Irishman
Wildcard = Robert Downey Jr – Avengers: Endgame
Best Supporting Actress
This category is also a wide open one this year, with a couple of actresses (Margot Robbie/Laura Dern/Nicole Kidman) having the possibility to be nominated for one of a couple of films this year, and it will be interesting to see if this goes against them and they end up splitting the vote.
Florence Pugh – Little Women
Jennifer Lopez – Hustlers
Laura Dern – Marriage Story
Margot Robbie – Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Zhao Shuzhen – The Farewell
Wildcard = Maggie Smith – Downton Abbey