Coupled with his film, Dunkirk, landing at #1 in Best Picture this month, Christopher Nolan has secured his first month in the top spot of Best Director. But can he finally get that ever-elusive Oscar nomination? After flirting with nominations that never came to fruition (despite multiple DGA noms) it should be all but assured that the popular director of major box office hits like The Dark Knight and Inception could seal the deal with a more traditionally ‘Oscar-y’ film like a based on a true story World War II film. If he can’t get in for this, he’s never getting in. Luckily, the film is a massive critical hit and a huge box office success so far. By debuting in summer it avoided the glut of winter releases and he and the film will likely be rewarded for it.
This means last month’s tied leaders, Oscar winners Steven Spielberg (The Papers) and Kathryn Bigelow, take a back seat to Nolan’s driver. For Spielberg it’s just a minor bump but for Bigelow it’s a bigger one as she falls to #5 in the face of heavy criticism over her film, Detroit, being too relentlessly dark and her being a white director handling (or mishandling, depending on who you read) an important piece of black American history.
More moves up this month are Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) and, like in Best Picture, The Shape of Water‘s Guillermo del Toro, who pushes his way into the top 3.
A handful of directors near the bottom receive some votes despite their films not landing in Best Picture: Darren Aronofsky (mother!), Alexander Payne (Downsizing), Paul Thomas Anderson (Phantom Thread) and Alfonso Gómez-Rejón (The Current War). Andrew Haigh (Lean of Pete), George Clooney (Suburbicon) and Martin McDonaugh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) fall off the list this month.
Here are the 2018 Oscar predictions in Best Director for August from the Gold Rush Gang. Keep an eye on all of the Gold Rush Gang’s 2018 Oscar predictions updated LIVE throughout the month.
Green – moves up from last month
Red – moves down from last month
Blue – debut/new entry
Orange – re-entry
| 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 | Christopher Nolan – Dunkirk | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 91 |
| 2 | Steven Spielberg – The Papers | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 87 |
| 3 | Guillermo Del Toro – The Shape of Water | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 64 | ||
| 4 | Luca Guadagnino – Call Me By Your Name | 4 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 55 |
| 5 | Kathryn Bigelow – Detroit | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 53 | ||
| 6 | Sean Baker – The Florida Project | 6 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 46 |
| 7 | Dan Gilroy – Roman Israel, Esq. | 8 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 44 | |
| 8 | Joe Wright – Darkest Hour | 7 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 26 | |||
| 9 | Jordan Peele – Get Out | 8 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 6 | 25 | |||
| 10 | Denis Villeneuve – Blade Runner 2049 | 9 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 23 | |
| 11 | Paul Thomas Anderson – Phantom Thread | 7 | 5 | 10 | 11 | |||||||
| 12 | Dee Rees – Mudbound | 10 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 8 | ||||||
| 13 | Todd Haynes – Wonderstruck | 6 | 5 | |||||||||
| 13 | Richard Linklater – Last Flag Flying | 9 | 8 | 5 | ||||||||
| 15 | Darren Aronofsky – mother! | 8 | 3 | |||||||||
| 16 | Alexander Payne – Downsizing | 9 | 2 | |||||||||
| 16 | Alfonso Gómez-Rejón – The Current War | 9 | 2 | |||||||||
| OTHER CONTENDERS | ||||||||||||
| Aaron Sorkin – Molly’s Game | ||||||||||||
| Andrew Haigh – Lean on Pete | ||||||||||||
| Andy Serkis – Breathe | ||||||||||||
| Clint Eastwood – The 15:17 to Paris | ||||||||||||
| David Gordon Green – Stronger | ||||||||||||
| Garth Davis – Mary Magdalene | ||||||||||||
| George Clooney – Suburbicon | ||||||||||||
| Greta Gerwig – Lady Bird | ||||||||||||
| Martin McDonaugh – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri | ||||||||||||
| Michael Gracey – The Greatest Showman | ||||||||||||
| Michael Haneke – Happy End | ||||||||||||
| Reginald Hudlin – Marshall | ||||||||||||
| Ridley Scott – All the Money in the World | ||||||||||||
| Ruben Östlund – The Square | ||||||||||||
| Sebastián Lelio – Disobedience | ||||||||||||
| Sofia Coppola – The Beguiled | ||||||||||||
| Stanley Tucci – Final Portrait | ||||||||||||
| Stephen Frears – Victoria and Abdul | ||||||||||||
| Woody Allen – Wonder Wheel | ||||||||||||
| Yorgos Lanthimos – The Killing of a Sacred Deer |
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