It has only been a couple of weeks since the conclusion of awards season for 2022 movies, with Everything Everywhere All at Once taking home the big prize of Best Picture at the 95th Academy Awards. But a film buff never sleeps, and many movie journalists are already looking forward to some releases this year that could be gunning for awards. That includes myself and We Live Entertainment’s awards expert Zoë Rose Bryant, who has already taken a guess with her early predictions for next year’s Oscars.
There are a lot of films coming up this fall with Oscar-grabbing ingredients, from true story biopics to lavish productions based on books. But not all Oscar films come at the end of the year. Everything Everywhere All at Once had a March release in 2022, for example. This year, films like Past Lives and Air have already received rave reviews at festivals and are being discussed for awards potential.
Then there are films that may or may not even come out this year, including Blitz, a Bob Marley biopic, Freud’s Last Session, and The Piano Lesson. I have excluded those and some other projects from my current predictions since they do not have firm 2023 release dates.
So at this point in the season, who knows? But it is fun to guess. Will Christopher Nolan finally get a big prize for Oppenheimer? Will Bradley Cooper make a big splash with his Leonard Berstein biopic Maestro?
Here’s my super early, sight unseen predictions for the nominees for the main eight categories for the 96th Academy Awards.
Best Picture
The Color Purple – Warner Bros.
Dune: Part Two – Warner Bros.
Ferrari – not determined yet
The Holdovers – Focus Features
Killers of the Flower Moon – Apple TV+/Paramount
Maestro – Netflix
Oppenheimer – Universal — WINNER PREDICTION
Past Lives – A24
Poor Things – Searchlight
Saltburn – Amazon
Other Possibilities:
The Killer
Napoleon
Rustin
Best Director
Blitz Bazawule – The Color Purple
Bradley Cooper – Maestro
Christopher Nolan – Oppenheimer — WINNER PREDICTION
Denis Villeneuve – Dune: Part Two
Martin Scorsese – Killers of the Flower Moon
Other Possibilities:
Celine Song – Past Lives
Michael Mann – Ferrari
Yorgos Lanthimos – Poor Things
Best Actress
Carey Mulligan – Maestro
Fantasia Barrino – The Color Purple — WINNER PREDICTION
Greta Lee – Past Lives
Kate Winslet – Lee
Julianne Moore – May December
Other Possibilities:
Annette Bening – Nyad
Emma Stone – Poor Things
Regina King – Shirley
Best Actor
Bradley Cooper – Maestro — WINNER PREDICTION
Cillian Murphy – Oppenheimer
Colman Domingo – Rustin
Jonathan Majors – Magazine Dreams
Paul Giamatti – The Holdovers
Other Possibilities:
Adam Driver – Ferrari
Barry Keoghan – Saltburn
Michael Fassbender – The Killer
Best Supporting Actress
Da’Vine Joy Randolph – The Holdovers
Lily Gladstone – Killers of the Flower Moon — WINNER PREDICTION
Natalie Portman – May December
Penelope Cruz – Ferrari
Taraji P. Henson – The Color Purple
Other Possibilities:
Danielle Brooks – The Color Purple
Elisabeth Moss – Next Goal Wins
Emily Blunt – Oppenheimer
Best Supporting Actor
Matt Bomer – Maestro
Louis Gossett Jr. – The Color Purple
Richard E. Grant – Saltburn
Robert De Niro – Killers of the Flower Moon
Willem Dafoe – Poor Things — WINNER PREDICTION
Other Possibilities:
Colman Domingo – The Color Purple
Jesse Plemons – Killers of the Flower Moon
Tom Hardy – The Bikeriders
Best Adapted Screenplay
The Color Purple
Dune: Part Two
Killers of the Flower Moon — WINNER PREDICTION
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Other Possibilities:
The Bikeriders
Ferrari
The Killer
Best Original Screenplay
Asteroid City
The Holdovers
Maestro
Past Lives — WINNER PREDICTION
Saltburn
Other Possibilities:
Magazine Dreams
May December
Rustin
