2018 Oscar Predictions: BEST DIRECTOR (April)

Erik Anderson April 3, 2017

Top: Kathryn Bigelow, Alexander Payne Bottom: Steven Spielberg, Todd Haynes, Joe Wright — Top: Kathryn Bigelow, Alexander PayneBottom: Steven Spielberg, Todd Haynes, Joe Wright

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Kathryn Bigelow remains at #1 with her still Untitled Detroit Riots Project but her competitors are starting to chip away at that lead. Strong word of mouth from the 10-minute clips shown at CinemaCon keeps Alexander Payne (Downsizing) at #2 and Todd Haynes (Wonderstruck) at #3.

The big debut entry this month is two-time Best Director Oscar winner Steven Spielberg for The Post. In the month since March predictions, he dropped production of The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara to fast-track the Pentagon Papers film that is set to star Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks. This bumps the never-nominated Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk) out of the top five.

LISTEN: Oscar Podcast #53 – CinemaCon Buzz; the Oscars in a post-Moonlight world

Despite the assurance that Paul Thomas Anderson’s fashion project with Daniel Day-Lewis will be a Christmas Day release, PTA’s stock plummets all the way down to #15. On the flip side, Call Me By Your Name‘s Luca Gaudagnino jumps up from the bottom to land at #8 this month.

Piqued interest in Darron Aronofsky’s very secretive mother! starring Jennifer Lawrence and Michelle Pfeiffer moves him up a bit, to #11.

George Clooney enters the list at #13 this month with Suburbicon. He joins Richard Linklater (Last Flag Flying, #15) as the other newcomers.

Green – moves up from last month
Red – moves down from last month
Blue – debut/new entry

MARCH Best Director Predictions

Keep an eye on all of the Gold Rush Gang’s 2018 Oscar predictions updated LIVE throughout the month.

	BEST DIRECTOR	ERIK ANDERSON	BRYAN BONAFEDE	GREG HOWARD	EVAN KOST	JASON OSIASON	KENNETH POLISHCHUK	DENIZCAN SÜRÜCÜ	RICHARD ANTHONY	ŞÜKRÜ SÖĞÜT	MATT DINN	TOTAL POINTS

1	Kathryn Bigelow – The Untitled Detroit Riots Project	1	3	1	1	8	2	1	2	1	1	89
2	Alexander Payne – Downsizing	3	1	8	3	1	4	2	3	2	3	80
3	Todd Haynes – Wonderstruck	2	2	4	4	2	1	3	8	5	2	77
4	Steven Spielberg – The Post	4	5	3	2	9	3	4	1	3	5	71
5	Joe Wright – Darkest Hour	6		2	7	5	5	5	5	4	6	54

6	Christopher Nolan – Dunkirk	10	4	5	5	3	8	6	7	10	4	48
7	Andrew Haigh – Lean on Pete	8	6	10	10		6	9	4	6	8	32
8	Luca Guadagnino – Call Me By Your Name		7			4			6		7	20
9	Dee Rees – Mudbound	7		7	9			7		7		18
10	Denis Villeneuve – Blade Runner 2049	9	8	9		7	7			9		17
11	Darren Aronofsky – mother!		10	6	8	10		8	10			14
12	Michael Haneke – Happy End		9		6		9					9
13	George Clooney – Suburbicon	5					10					7
13	Dan Gilroy – Inner City (possibly 2018)					6		9				7
15	Paul Thomas Anderson – Untitled Fashion Project									8	10	4
15	Richard Linklater – Last Flag Flying								9		9	4

	OTHER CONTENDERS
	Aaron Sorkin – Molly’s Game
	Alfonso Gómez-Rejón – The Current War
	David Gordon Green – Stronger
	Garth Davis – Mary Magdalene
	Guillermo Del Toro – The Shape of Water
	Jordan Peele – Get Out
	Martin McDonaugh – Three Bilboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
	Michael Gracey – The Greatest Showman
	Reginald Hudlin – Marshall
	Sebastián Lelio – Disobedience
	Stephen Frears – Victoria and Abdul
	Woody Allen – Wonder Wheel

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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.