Nominees for the 2023 Academy Awards are here, which means that odds for the Oscars are here too.
Everything, Everywhere All At Once claimed the most nominations with 11 and looks like the favorite to win at least a few awards. In the acting categories, Angela Bassett was nominated for Best Supporting Actress, making her the first actor or actress to earn a nomination for their work in a Marvel movie. Bassett was fantastic in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and apparently the Academy thought so, too.
Best Actor looks like a wide-open race between three contenders, She Said and Nope got completely blanked in nominations, and Andrea Riseborough is on the rise after earning a surprise nomination.
Meanwhile, we’re all a bit mad about Jonathan Majors and Viola Davis being snubbed.
Anyway, a lot of sportsbooks are going to offer betting lines as we inch toward the 95th Academy Awards on March 12.
Here’s what the odds-on favorites (via DraftKings) look like for Best Picture, Best Director and the acting categories:
Supporting Actress: Angela Bassett (-250)
It feels like Bassett has this one wrapped up, and this certainly feels like one of those “it’s time” awards the Oscars hands out to actors who have been working for a while. Bassett first started acting in 1985. You might remember seeing her for the first time in 1991’s Boyz n the Hood. Two years later, she was nominated for Best Actress for What’s Love Got To Do With It, but lost to Holly Hunter for her work in The Piano.
Three decades later, Bassett, 64, is still at the top of her game and delivered an emotional and gripping performance as Ramonda, the Queen Mother of Wakanda. Bassett’s character has to juggle her duties of leading a nation with grieving the death of her son and being a mother to her daughter Shuri. For her performance, Bassett was also nominated for a BAFTA, SAG and Satellite award, and won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.
Running just behind Bassett is Kerry Condon (+225, DraftKings) for her work in The Banshees of Inisherin. Fans of Better Call Saul know her as Stacey Ehrmantraut, and MCU fans know her as the voice of FRIDAY. In this film, she plays the caring sister to Colin Farrell’s lead character.
Supporting Actor: Ke Huy Quan (-1000)
This is another category where the favorite feels like they’re running away with it. With the Academy included, Quan has now either been nominated for or won an award for his work in Everything Everywhere All at Once 66 times, from organizations ranging from the Indiana Film Journalists Association to the Golden Globes. Quan has been widely celebrated for his performance and the odds say he is likely to win again.
Just behind Quan is Brendan Gleeson (+550, DraftKings) for his work in The Banshees of Inisherin as Colm Doherty. Gleeson’s character decides that his best drinking buddy, played by Farrell, is dull and boring. From there, without spoiling too much, let’s just say some things happen and Gleeson learns how to play the fiddle without a few fingers.
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett (-175)
Blanchett earned her eighth acting nomination from the Academy for her work in Tár as the titular character, a fictional composer and conductor. It’s been tabbed as the best – or one of the best – films on a bunch of lists for 2022 movies and has received a ton of accolades, including a Golden Globe win for Blanchett. Should she win an Oscar for this performance, Blanchett will join Frances McDormand, Ingrid Bergman, Meryl Streep and Katharine Hepburn as actresses with at least three acting Oscars. Blanchett previously won for Blue Jasmine (2013) and The Aviator (2004).
Michelle Yeoh (+125, DraftKings) is just behind Blanchett for her work in Everything Everywhere All at Once. Like Blanchett, her performance won her a Golden Globe.
Best Actor: Brendan Fraser (-165)
It seemed like every few weeks last year, a video would surface online of an audience giving Brendan Fraser a standing ovation after watching his performance in The Whale. Just a few weeks ago, the crowd at the Critics’ Choice Awards rose to its feet as Fraser tearfully accepted the best actor award.
Colin Farrell (+250, DraftKings) and Austin Butler (+300, DraftKings) are also in contention after winning Golden Globes for their performances in The Banshees of Inisherin and Elvis, respectively. Paul Mescal and Bill Nighy are the other two nominees, but this feels like a competitive race between the top three here.
The standing ovation for #TheWhale was so enthusiastic, Brendan Fraser tried to leave the theater but the crowd’s applause made him stay. #Venezia79 pic.twitter.com/ZZ0vbFX7Rl
— Ramin Setoodeh (@RaminSetoodeh) September 4, 2022
Best Director: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (-140)
After years of working together on short films and the 2016 full-length feature Swiss Army Man, the Daniels returned to the big screen with a bang last year with Everything Everywhere All At Once, a sci-fi action-adventure film that is hilarious, weird and awesome. It took home five Critics’ Choice Awards and two Golden Globes.
While this is the first Oscar nomination for the Daniels, it’s the ninth for Steven Spielberg (+110, DraftKings), who has now been nominated for Best Director in six different decades. Spielberg’s two previous Best Director wins came in the 1990s for Schindler’s List (1994) and Saving Private Ryan (1999). His latest work, The Fabelmans is a semi-autobiographical coming of age story loosely based on Spielberg’s upbringing, his beginnings as a filmmaker and his parents’ marriage. It’s got a score from the great John Williams and some terrific acting performances too.
Best Picture: Everything Everywhere All at Once (-200)
Usually, getting 11 Oscar nominations is a good indicator that the Academy likes your movie and that you’re a frontrunner for Best Picture. But it’s worth remembering that The Power of the Dog got 12 nominations last year and just one win. In 2021, Mank received 10 nominations and just two wins, and in 2020, Joker got 11 nominations and two wins. And none of those films won Best Picture. The last time a film with the most nominations in a year won Best Picture was The Shape of Water in 2018. Before that was 2015’s Birdman.
So, if you’re betting, it might be worth taking a flier on a non-favorite. Top Gun: Maverick has the third-best odds at +1000 (DraftKings) and you can find the rest of the Best Picture odds here. And you can find out where to stream them all here.
