2018 Oscar Predictions: BEST DIRECTOR (December Part 1)
Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk) maintains his #1 status in Best Director from last month but with a huge gap between him and his nearest competitor, Steven Spielberg (The Post). Nolan leads by a whopping 27 points this month.
Although Dunkirk hasn’t featured into critics’ groups (yet), a handful of directors have and that impact can be seen on the newest chart. Jordan Peele (Get Out) won the Gotham award for Breakthrough Director, Greta Gerwig won the National Board of Review, The Florida Project‘s Sean Baker won the New York Film Critics Circle (although he weirdly goes down this month) and Luca Guadagnino (Call Me By Your Name) and Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water) tied for the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Best Director prize. Kind of all over the map and, like in our Best Picture predictions, is part of what keeps Nolan in a ‘safe pick’ spot.
Martin McDonaugh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) takes a hit this month, as does Darkest Hour‘s Joe Wright.
2018 Oscar Predictions (December – Part 1): Best Picture
Here are the 2018 Oscar predictions for Best Director for the first half of December 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
| 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 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 98 |
| 2 | Steven Spielberg – The Post | 1 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 71 |
| 2 | Guillermo Del Toro – The Shape of Water | 7 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 71 |
| 4 | Luca Guadagnino – Call Me By Your Name | 3 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 70 |
| 5 | Jordan Peele – Get Out | 4 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 63 |
| 6 | Greta Gerwig – Lady Bird | 5 | 3 | 10 | 8 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 6 | 54 |
| 7 | Martin McDonagh – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri | 8 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 8 | 4 | 45 |
| 8 | Sean Baker – The Florida Project | 6 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 41 |
| 9 | Paul Thomas Anderson – Phantom Thread | 10 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 16 | ||
| 10 | Joe Wright – Darkest Hour | 8 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 | 13 | |||
| 11 | Dee Rees – Mudbound | 9 | 9 | 10 | 5 | |||||||
| 12 | Craig Gillespie – I, Tonya | 9 | 2 | |||||||||
| 13 | Denis Villeneuve – Blade Runner 2049 | 10 | 1 |
OTHER CONTENDERS
Aaron Sorkin – Molly’s Game
Alexander Payne – Downsizing
Angelina Jolie – First They Killed My Father
Clint Eastwood – The 15:17 to Paris
Darren Aronofsky – mother!
Kathryn Bigelow – Detroit
Michael Gracey – The Greatest Showman
Patty Jenkins – Wonder Woman
Richard Linklater – Last Flag Flying
Ridley Scott – All the Money in the World
Scott Cooper – Hostiles
Sofia Coppola – The Beguiled
Stephen Frears – Victoria and Abdul
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.
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