With the summer of 2025 coming to a close, the awards season creeps ever closer. The final quarter of the year often is home to the majority of award contenders, as many studios like to keep their films fresh in the minds of voters. So as we enter September, prepare for an influx of films campaigning for awards.
While there is no way to know for sure which films may be nominated for Oscars, there are a handful of ways to predict them. Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter created a prediction list of films that are likely as well as films that have yet to be released but could be in contention. In his article, he writes, “I arrive at my projections by screening many films, analyzing their campaigns, speaking with voters and studying relevant history and stats.”
For Best Picture, the most notable contender as of now would be Ryan Coogler’s Sinners, which was a breakout critical and commercial success earlier this year. Other released films in contention are John Kosinski’s F1, Celine Song’s Materialists, Zach Cregger’s Weapons and Warfare from Alex Garland and Ray Mendoza. In terms of unreleased options, Sentimental Value, Avatar: Fire and Ash, Marty Supreme, No Other Choice, Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere and Wicked: For Good.
For Best Director, Ryan Coogler is a likely candidate. However, there are many prestige directors with films releasing this year, including Richard Linklater, Darren Aronofsky, Josh Safdie, Park Chan-wook, Paul Thomas Anderson, Spike Lee, James Cameron, Guillermo del Toro, Luca Guadagnino, Yorgos Lanthimos and Chloé Zhao. Additionally, directors such as Joachim Trier for Sentimental Value and Lynne Ramsay for Die My Love.
Best Actor and Actress have a lot more options, so there are very few that seem likely at this point. Michael B. Jordan, Joel Egerton and Denzel Washington have been thrown around as potential candidates. However, there are many titan actors with lead performances this year, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Craig, Timothée Chalamet, George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Idris Alba, Dwayne Johnson, Jeremy Allen White and Jesse Plemons. Actress features Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne and June Squibb. Likewise, there are many big names in contention, such as Lucy Liu, Felicity Jones, Dakota Johnson, Cate Blanchett, Laura Dern, Cynthia Erivo, Emma Stone and Julia Roberts.
There is still a lot of time before awards season begins. If history holds, it is more than likely that most of the dominant films have not been released yet. Make sure to pay attention to new releases over the next few months for the awards juggernauts.
Leave a Comment