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As with Best Picture, the top of the list remains in tact with Steve McQueen (Widows), Adam McKay (Backseat), Damien Chazelle (First Man) keeping their 1-2-3 spots. I’ve switched Spike Lee (BlacKkKlansman) and Barry Jenkins (If Beale Street Could Talk) on the strength of Lee’s Grand Prix win at Cannes this last weekend.
It’s 6-10 that sees changes (again, as in BP) with moves up for Bradley Cooper (A Star Is Born) and Jason Reitman (The Front Runner). That drops Karyn Kusama (Destroyer) and Ryan Coogler (Black Panther) down a bit. Josie Rourke (Mary Queen of Scots) moves up one spot this month.
Looking at the Cannes lineup and winners this year it’s unlikely anyone outside of Spike Lee, who was already a top contender, will factor in the upper tiers of Best Director predictions but I am adding Jury Prize winner Nadine Labaki, whose Capernaum was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics and Screenplay winner Alice Rohrwacher, whose Happy as Lazzaro was picked up by Netflix.
Here are my predictions for Best Director as of May 22, 2018.
Green – moves up
Red – moves down
Blue – chart debut
| 1. Steve McQueen – Widows |
| 2. Adam McKay – Backseat |
| 3. Damien Chazelle – First Man |
| 4. Spike Lee – BlacKkKlansman |
| 5. Barry Jenkins – If Beale Street Could Talk |
| 6. Marielle Heller – Can You Ever Forgive Me? |
| 7. Bradley Cooper – A Star is Born |
| 8. Jason Reitman – The Front Runner |
| 9. Josie Rourke – Mary Queen of Scots |
| 10. Karyn Kusama – Destroyer |
| NEXT UP |
| James Gray – Ad Astra |
| Yorgos Lanthimos – The Favourite |
| Ryan Coogler – Black Panther |
| Alfonso Cuarón – Roma |
| Pippa Bianco – Untitled Pippa Bianco aka Share |
| OTHER CONTENDERS |
| Felix van Groeningen – Beautiful Boy |
| Dexter Fletcher – Bohemian Rhapsody |
| Nadine Labaki – Capernaum |
| Jon M. Chu – Crazy Rich Asians |
| Asghar Farhadi – Everybody Knows |
| Julia Hart – Fast Color |
| Sebastián Lelio – Gloria Bell |
| Alice Rohrwacher – Happy as Lazzaro |
| Ari Aster – Hereditary |
| Kim Nyugen – The Hummingbird Project |
| Wes Anderson – Isle of Dogs |
| Justin Kelly – JT Leroy |
| Thomas Vinterberg – Kursk |
| Debra Granik – Leave No Trace |
| Paolo Sorrentino – Loro |
| Rob Marshall – Mary Poppins Returns |
| Jonah Hill – Mid 90s |
| Jennifer Kent – The Nightingale |
| David Lowery – Old Man and the Gun |
| Mimi Leder – On the Basis of Sex |
| David Mackenzie – Outlaw King |
| Mike Leigh – Peterloo |
| Jacques Audiard – The Sisters Brothers |
| László Nemes – Sunset |
| Luca Guadagnino – Suspiria |
| Jason Reitman – Tully |
| Benh Zeitlin – Wendy |
| Richard Linklater – Where’d You Go, Bernadette |
| Susanna White – Woman Walks Ahead |
| Robert Zemeckis – The Women of Marwen |
| Lynne Ramsay – You Were Never Really Here |
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