AwardsWatch - 2016 Oscar Predictions: Best Director

2016 Oscar Predictions: Best Director – Iñárritu Way Out in Front

With his DGA and Golden Globe wins under his belt there’s very little in the way of Alejandro G. Iñárritu (The Revenant) winning his second Best Director Oscar in a row. This would put him in same group as John Ford and Joseph Mancewicz. He could still do this without The Revenant winning Best Picture but even that is starting to look like a strong possibility (many in the Gold Rush Gang think so).

The BAFTAs are this weekend and that could throw a wrench into matters if Iñárritu doesn’t win. But his only Oscar competition there is Adam McKay (The Big Short). While The Big Short bested The Revenant at the PGA there’s not much reason to think that McKay will triumph here. Last year, BAFTA awarded Boyhood and its director Richard Linklater over the eventual Oscar winners Birdman and Iñárritu. So what if something crazy happens like Todd Haynes (Carol) or Ridley Scott (The Martian) winning? Highly unlikely, to be sure, but Carol is tied for the most nominations at BAFTA. There’s a slight crack in that doorway. What about Steven Spielberg? Bridge of Spies is the other film with the most BAFTA nominations going in but the film has made zero impact at every guild and awards showing so far this season. That seems even less likely.

So, barring a really crazy upset, Iñárritu should be a surefire winner of the next Best Director Oscar.

Here are the predictions and ranking of Best Director by the Gold Rush Gang.

BEST DIRECTOR	Erik Anderson	Evan Kost	Nicole Latayan	James Narvey	Adam Norbury	Jason Osiason	Chris Pepper	Long Pham	Kenneth Polischuk	Jacqui Sutherland	TOTAL POINTS
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, The Revenant	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	50
Adam McKay, The Big Short	2	2	2	3	4	2	2	4	2	2	35
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight	3	3	3	4	2	3	4	2	3	4	29
George Miller, Mad Max: Fury Road	4	4	4	2	3	4	3	3	4	3	26
Lenny Abrahamson, Room	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	10

Author
Recent Posts

Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.