The 96th Academy Awards will unveil its latest slate of nominations next Tuesday morning, and we’ve got predictions for all categories (excluding the three shorts competitions).
Juggernauts like Oppenheimer, Barbie, Killers of the Flower Moon, The Holdovers and Poor Things are set to go up against one another in what’s sure to be one of the better rosters of nominations in recent memory.
While there are always surprises and snubs galore, we’ve taken a look at all the precursor nominations and also tried to go with our gut by predicting how these categories might look next Tuesday.
We’re not sure how right we’ll be, but we feel pretty good about most of these predictions.
Best Visual Effects
- The Creator
- Godzilla Minus One
- Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 3
- Poor Things
- Society of the Snow
Possible Surprise: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse
Should’ve Had a Chance: Oppenheimer
Best Film Editing
- Barbie (Nick Houy)
- The Holdovers (Kevin Tent)
- Killers of the Flower Moon (Thelma Schoonmaker)
- Oppenheimer (Jennifer Lame)
- Poor Things (Yorgos Mavropsaridis)
Possible Surprise: The Killer (Kirk Baxter)
Should’ve Had a Chance: Beau is Afraid (Lucian Johnston)
Best Costume Design
- Barbie
- The Color Purple
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Napoleon
- Poor Things
Possible Surprise: Wonka
Should’ve Had a Chance: Asteroid City
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Maestro
- Oppenheimer
- Poor Things
- Society of the Snow
Possible Surprise: Napoleon
Should’ve Had a Chance: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Best Cinematography
- Barbie (Rodrigo Prieto)
- Killers of the Flower Moon (Rodrigo Prieto)
- Oppenheimer (Hoyte van Hoytema)
- Poor Things (Robbie Ryan)
- The Zone of Interest (Lukasz Zal)
Possible Surprise: Saltburn (Linus Sandgren)
Should’ve Had a Chance: Past Lives (Shabier Kirchner)
Best Production Design
- Barbie
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Oppenheimer
- Poor Things
- Saltburn
Possible Surprise: Asteroid City
Should’ve Had a Chance: Priscilla
Best Sound
- Barbie
- Maestro
- Oppenheimer
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- The Zone of Interest
Possible Surprise: Ferrari
Should’ve Had a Chance: Godzilla Minus One
Best Original Song
- “Can’t Catch Me Now,” The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
- “I’m Just Ken,” Barbie
- “It Never Went Away,” American Symphony
- “The Fire Inside,” Flamin’ Hot
- What Was I Made For?” Barbie
Potential Surprise: “Road to Freedom,” Rustin
Should’ve Had a Chance: “Dear Alien (Who Art in Heaven),” Asteroid City
Best Original Score
- Barbie (Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt)
- Killers of the Flower Moon (Robbie Robertson)
- Oppenheimer (Ludwig Göransson)
- Poor Things (Jerskin Fendrix)
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Daniel Pemberton)
Possible Surprise: The Zone of Interest (Mica Levi)
Should’ve Had a Chance: Bottoms (Charli XCX and Leo Birenberg)
Best Documentary Feature
- 20 Days in Mariupol
- American Symphony
- Beyond Utopia
- Four Daughters
- Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
Potential Surprise: The Eternal Memory
Should’ve Had a Chance: Bad Press
Best International Feature
- Perfect Days (Japan)
- Society of the Snow (Spain)
- The Taste of Things (France)
- The Teacher’s Lounge (Germany)
- The Zone of Interest (UK)
Potential Surprise: Totem (Mexico)
Should’ve Had a Chance: Anatomy of a Fall (France)
Best Animated Feature
- The Boy and the Heron
- Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget
- Elemental
- Nimona
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Potential Surprise: The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Should’ve Had a Chance: Robot Dreams
Best Adapted Screenplay
- American Fiction (Cord Jefferson)
- Barbie (Noah Baumbach & Greta Gerwig)
- Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese & Eric Roth)
- Oppenheimer (Christopher Nolan)
- Poor Things (Tony McNamara)
Possible Surprise: All of Us Strangers (Andrew Haigh)
Should’ve Had a Chance: BlackBerry (Matt Johnson & Matthew Miller)
Best Original Screenplay
- Anatomy of a Fall (Justine Triet & Arthur Harari)
- The Holdovers (David Hemingson)
- Past Lives (Celine Song)
- Maestro (Bradley Cooper & Josh Singer)
- Saltburn (Emerald Fennell)
Possible Surprise: May December (Samy Burch & Alex Mechanik)
Should’ve Had a Chance: Beau is Afraid (Ari Aster)
Best Supporting Actress
- Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)
- Emily Blunt (Oppenheimer)
- Penélope Cruz (Ferrari)
- Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)
- Rosamund Pike (Saltburn)
Possible Surprise: Jodie Foster (Nyad)
Should’ve Had a Chance: Patti LuPone (Beau is Afraid)
Best Supporting Actor
- Robert De Niro (Killers of the Flower Moon)
- Willem Dafoe (Poor Things)
- Robert Downey Jr. (Oppenheimer)
- Ryan Gosling (Barbie)
- Dominic Sessa (The Holdovers)
Possible Surprise: Mark Ruffalo (Poor Things)
Should’ve Had a Chance: Glenn Howerton (BlackBerry)
Best Actress
- Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
- Sandra Hüller (Anatomy of a Fall)
- Carey Mulligan (Maestro)
- Margot Robbie (Barbie)
- Emma Stone (Poor Things)
Potential Surprise: Annette Bening (Nyad)
Should’ve Had a Chance: Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla)
Best Actor
- Bradley Cooper (Maestro)
- Leonardo DiCaprio (Killers of the Flower Moon)
- Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)
- Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)
- Jeffrey Wright (American Fiction)
Possible Surprise: Colman Domingo (Rustin)
Should’ve Had a Chance: John Boyega (They Cloned Tyrone)
Best Director
- Greta Gerwig (Barbie)
- Yorgos Lanthimos (Poor Things)
- Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)
- Alexander Payne (The Holdovers)
- Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Possible Surprise: Jonathan Glazer (The Zone of Interest)
Should’ve Had a Chance: Hayao Miyazaki (The Boy and the Heron)
Best Picture
- American Fiction
- Anatomy of a Fall
- Barbie
- The Holdovers
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Oppenheimer
- Past Lives
- Poor Things
- Saltburn
- The Zone of Interest
Possible Surprise: Maestro
Should’ve Had a Chance: Beau is Afraid
