2025 Oscars Best Picture Predictions

Selection Awards Circuit part is the house for all awards information and associated content material all year long, that includes the next: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Selection senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages replicate the present standings within the race and don’t replicate private preferences for any particular person contender. As different formal (and casual) polls recommend, competitions are fluid and topic to vary based mostly on buzz and occasions. Predictions are up to date each Thursday.

Go to the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies by way of the hyperlinks under:

OSCARS | EMMYS | GRAMMYS | TONYS

2025 Oscars Predictions:
Finest Image

Weekly Commentary (Up to date July 1, 2024): As we navigate the cinematic waters of 2024, the horizon shimmers with the promise of charming movies vying for Oscar glory. The 12 months’s second half has formally set sail, bringing a tantalizing array of potential award contenders. It’ll observe first-half standouts equivalent to Luca Guadagnino’s “Challengers” and Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune Part Two,” every hoping to keep up their buzz by means of 12 months’s finish.

The panorama of this 12 months’s contenders is an enchanting tapestry. Large-budget studio productions, franchise entries, and sequels are all vying for one of many coveted ten Finest Image slots, creating an area notably missing within the standard indie darlings. But, the autumn festivals—Telluride, Toronto, and Venice—all the time have a knack for unveiling darkish horses that may surge to the forefront of the Oscar race in a single day.

Among the many heavyweight contenders is Paramount Footage’ “Gladiator II,” a follow-up to the 2001 Finest Image winner. This movie, rumored to be a technical marvel that would put the 87-year-old veteran filmmaker within the operating for his first trophy, boasts a star-studded forged that includes Paul Mescal, Pedro Pascal, and the legendary Denzel Washington. These promising performances might dominate the awards season.

Warner Bros. brings a formidable sequel trio to the desk: Denis Villeneuve’s much-anticipated “Dune Part Two,” Todd Phillips’ upcoming jukebox musical “Joker: Folie à Deux,” and Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.” The latter might shock many, from early murmurs suggesting “it’s an awards movie.” It might earn Michael Keaton a spot within the performing classes, maybe mimicking an identical run to Sylvester Stallone (“Creed”), relying on how the competitors shapes up.

The attract of sequels on this Oscar race is intriguing, particularly contemplating the latest success of “Avatar: The Way of Water” and “Top Gun: Maverick,” each of which had been nominated simply two years in the past however misplaced to the groundbreaking “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

Streamers are additionally gearing up for an exciting season. Apple is betting massive on “Blitz,” a movie directed by “12 Years a Slave” helmer Steve McQueen and starring Saoirse Ronan and Harris Dickinson, already being hailed as a presumptive favourite. Netflix juggles a number of high-stakes tasks, together with “The Piano Lesson,” tailored from August Wilson’s work directed by first-timer Malcolm Washington. They’ll even be steering the Cannes acquisition “Emilia Pérez” by Jacques Audiard, which might proceed the pattern of non-English language performances garnering greatest image consideration.

Neon is using excessive on the success of Sean Baker’s “Anora,” which received the Palme d’Or at Cannes. They’re additionally pinning hopes on “The Seed of the Secret Fig,” which nabbed a particular screenplay quotation at Cannes, and “The End,” a post-apocalyptic musical from Joshua Oppenheimer that would flip heads.

Late-year releases might additionally shake issues up if their filmmakers wrap up in time. Pedro Almodóvar’s English-language debut “The Room Next Door,” starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton, and James Mangold’s Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown,” that includes Timothée Chalamet, are each on the radar.

In the meantime, different intriguing tasks are nonetheless searching for distribution. Guadagnino’s drama “Queer,” starring Daniel Craig, has been making a buzz amongst distributors. Pablo Larraín’s “Maria,” a poignant portrayal of opera singer Maria Callas’ remaining days with Oscar winner Angelina Jolie, additionally holds important potential.

I’m to see how movies of particular genres that always get ignored can carry out within the Oscar race. That features DreamWorks Animation’s “The Wild Robot,” which will probably be searching for extra exterior of greatest animated function, Mubi’s “The Substance,” a body-horror riot that includes a career-best flip from Demi Moore and Focus Options’ “Piece by Piece,” an animated-documentary on the lifetime of music mogul Pharrell Williams.

Because the second half of 2024 unfolds, the race is on. Every movie, from blockbuster sequels to intimate dramas, is positioning itself to seize the Academy’s consideration. Buckle up for an exhilarating awards season, the place surprises lurk round each nook, and each reel spun may very well be a ticket to cinematic immortality.

Learn: All Primetime Emmy predictions in each class on Selection’s Awards Circuit.

The 97th Oscars will probably be held on Sunday, March 2.

The total rankings are under. All film listings, titles, and distributors should not remaining and are topic to vary.

** denotes the movie continues to be undated.