2018 Oscar Predictions: BEST DIRECTOR (September)

Erik Anderson September 4, 2017

The top 4 here remains the same as last month so either we’re doing something right or terribly wrong.

It’s a close race for #1 though, as Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water) bolts up to #2 and lands just a single point behind Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk) this month. Venice and Telluride gave the Mexican director the biggest boost here and in Best Picture.

Dan Gilroy (Roman J. Israel, Esq.) heads into the top 5 for the first time, up from #7 last month. He leapfrogs over Sean Baker (The Florida Project) to do it. Jordan Peele (Get Out) is gaining more traction each month, he’s now at #7.

Previous Best Director nominees Richard Linklater, Paul Thomas Anderson and Alexander Payne inch their way up the list this month. Considering our current top five would be four first-timers and one previous winner there could be room for another veteran here.

As in Best Picture, Kathryn Bigelow (Detroit) plummets. Denis Villeneuve (Blade Runner 2049) and Todd Haynes (Wonderstruck) also fall and Darren Aronofsky (mother!) falls off the list despite the cool and cryptic buzz from his film, which hits Venice on the 5th.

READ: 2018 Oscar Predictions – BEST PICTURE (September)

With Bigelow out, it seemed like it was going to be up to Dee Rees (Mudbound) to represent for female directors this awards season but two new contenders popped up at Telluride: Angelina Jolie with First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers and Greta Gerwig with Lady Bird. Both films were raved with their directorial efforts singled out. Those are two in the Other Contenders section to absolutely keep an eye on.

Here are the 2018 Oscar predictions in Best Director for September from the Gold Rush Gang. Follow all predictions as they are updated live throughout the month right here.

Green – moves up from last month
Red – moves down from last month
Blue – debut/new 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	2	2	2	2	2	1	1	2	2	1	93
2	Guillermo Del Toro – The Shape of Water	1	1	1	1	1	4	2	1	3	3	92
3	Steven Spielberg – The Post	3	3	3	3	4	2	3	3	1	2	83
4	Luca Guadagnino – Call Me By Your Name	4	4	4	4	3	9	4	4	4	4	66
5	Dan Gilroy – Roman J. Israel, Esq.	8	9	8	8	5	7	5	6	5	5	44

6	Sean Baker – The Florida Project	9	7	6	5	7	3	8	8	6	8	43
7	Jordan Peele – Get Out	5	5		7	8	5	6	5		6	41
8	Joe Wright – Darkest Hour	6	8	7	6	10		9	7	8	10	28
9	Richard Linklater – Last Flag Flying		10		9	9	8	7	10	7	7	21
9	Paul Thomas Anderson – Phantom Thread		6	5	10	6				9	9	21
11	Alexander Payne – Downsizing	7						10		10		6
12	Denis Villeneuve – Blade Runner 2049			9			10		9			5
12	Todd Haynes – Wonderstruck						6					5
14	Kathryn Bigelow – Detroit										7	4
15	Dee Rees – Mudbound	10		10								2

OTHER CONTENDERS
Aaron Sorkin – Molly’s Game
Alfonso Gómez-Rejón – The Current War
Angelina Jolie – First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers
Andy Serkis – Breathe
Clint Eastwood – The 15:17 to Paris
Darren Aronofsky – mother!
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
Patty Jenkins – Wonder Woman
Reginald Hudlin – Marshall
Ridley Scott – All the Money in the World
Ruben Östlund – The Square
Scott Cooper – Hostiles
Sofia Coppola – The Beguiled
Stephen Frears – Victoria and Abdul
Woody Allen – Wonder Wheel
Yorgos Lanthimos – The Killing of a Sacred Deer

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.