Predicting the Oscars

Awards season is in full swing, and this year’s Oscars (March 2, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood) are shaping up to be one of the wildest races in years. We’ve got epic blockbusters (Dune: Part Two, Wicked), stylish indies (Anora, The Brutalist), and some seriously bold storytelling (The Substance, Emilia Pérez). The competition is fierce, and let’s be real—this is one of those years where upsets are definitely in the air.

The Best Actor race? Stacked. Best Director? Almost impossible to call. And Best Picture? It’s anyone’s game. Will Emilia Pérez shake things up? Can A Complete Unknown strum its way to victory? And could The Substance be the dark horse we didn’t see coming?

With so many killer performances (Cynthia Erivo! Timothée Chalamet! Sebastian Stan!) and a mix of fresh faces and Hollywood royalty, this year’s Oscars race is wide open. We’ve got our picks for who’s taking home the gold, so why not make things interesting? Set up your Oscars Pool at OfficePools.com, challenge your friends, and get ready for a night of drama, speeches, and shiny golden statues!

97th Academy Award Predictions

Best picture

• Anora (Neon)
• The Brutalist (A24)
• A Complete Unknown (Searchlight)
• Conclave (Focus)
• Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros.)
• Emilia Pérez (Netflix)
• I’m Still Here (Sony Classics)
• Nickel Boys (Amazon/MGM)
• The Substance (Mubi)
• Wicked (Universal

Best Director

• Sean Baker, Anora
• Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
• James Mangold, A Complete Unknown
• Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
• Coralie Fargeat, The Substance

Best Actress

• Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
• Karla Sofia Gascón, Emilia Pérez
• Mikey Madison, Anora
• Demi Moore, The Substance
• Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here

Best Actor

• Adrian Brody, The Brutalist
• Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
• Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
• Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
• Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice

Best Supporting Actress

• Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
• Ariana Grande, Wicked
• Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
• Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
• Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez

Best Supporting Actor

• Yura Borisov, Anora
• Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
• Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
• Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
• Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice

Best Original Screenplay

• Anora, Sean Baker
• The Brutalist, Brady Corbet & Mona Fastvold
• A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg
• September 5, Tim Fehlbaum & Moritz Binder
• The Substance, Coralie Fargeat

Best Adapted Screenplay

• A Complete Unknown, Jay Cocks & James Mangold
• Conclave, Peter Straughan
• Emilia Pérez, Jacques Audiard, Thomas Bidegain & Nicolas Livecchi
• Nickel Boys, RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes
• Sing Sing, Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Clarence Maclin & John “Divine G” Whitfield

Best International Feature

• I’m Still Here (Brazil)
• The Girl with the Needle (Denmark)
• Emilia Pérez (France)
• The Seed of the Sacred Fig (Germany)
• Flow (Latvia)

Best Documentary Feature

• Black Box Diaries
• No Other Land
• Porcelain War
• Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
• Sugarcane

Best Animated Feature

• Flow
• Inside Out 2
• Memoir of a Snail
• Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
• The Wild Robot

Best Cinematography

• The Brutalist, Lol Crawley
• Dune: Part Two, Greig Fraser
• Emilia Pérez, Paul Guillaume
• Maria, Edward Lachman
• Nosferatu, Jarin Blaschke

Best Costume Design

• A Complete Unknown, Arianne Phillips
• Conclave, Lisy Christl
• Gladiator II, Janty Yates
• Nosferatu, Linda Muir
• Wicked, Paul Tazewell

Best Film Editing

• Anora, Sean Baker
• The Brutalist, Dávid Jancsó
• Conclave, Nick Emerson
• Emilia Pérez, Juliette Welfling
• Wicked, Myron Kerstein

Best Production Design

• The Brutalist, Judy Becker
• Conclave, Suzie Davies
• Dune: Part Two, Patrice Vermette
• Nosferatu, Craig Lathrop
• Wicked, Nathan Crowley

Best Original Score

• The Brutalist, Daniel Blumberg
• Conclave, Volker Bertelmann
• Emilia Pérez, Clément Ducol & Camille
• Wicked, John Powell & Stephen Schwartz
• The Wild Robot, Kris Bowers

Best Original Song

• “Never Too Late”, Elton John: Never Too Late (Elton John & Brandi Carlile)
• “El Mal”, Emilia Pérez (Clement Ducol, Camille & Jacques Audiard)
• “Mi Camino”, Emilia Pérez (Clement Ducol & Camille)
• “Like a Bird”, Sing Sing (Adrian Quesada & Abraham Alexander)
• “The Journey”, The Six Triple Eight (Diane Warren)

Best Sound

• A Complete Unknown
• Dune: Part Two
• Emilia Pérez
• Wicked
• The Wild Robot

Best Visual Effects

• Alien: Romulus
• Better Man
• Dune: Part Two
• Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
• Wicked

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

• A Different Man
• Emilia Pérez
• Nosferatu
• The Substance
• Wicked

Best Documentary Short

• Death by Numbers
• I Am Ready, Warden
• Incident
• Instruments of a Beating Heart
• The Only Girl in the Orchestra

Best Animated Short

• Beautiful Men
• In the Shadow of the Cypress
• Magic Candies
• Wander to Wonder
• Yuck!

Best Live-Action Short

• A Lien
• Anuja
• I’m Not a Robot
• The Last Ranger
• The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent

So, who do you think is taking home the gold? Lock in your predictions, set up your Oscars Pool at OfficePools.com, and get ready for a night of glitz, glamour, and acceptance speeches that may or may not get cut off by the music.

Create your pool today, and see you at Oscar night!