2020 Oscar Nomination Predictions: PRODUCTION DESIGN and COSTUME DESIGN (August)

Erik Anderson August 12, 2019

Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson and Florence Pugh in ***Little Women***
(Photo credit: Wilson Webb; © 2019 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved)

Production Design and Costume Design are two fantastically intertwined categories. The last 20 years have given us so many examples of films winning both in a perfect combination of visuals that voters simply couldn’t ignore. From Moulin Rouge! and Memoirs of a Geisha to The Great Gatsby and Mad Max: Fury Road and Black Panther just this year, these two categories are where you’ll find the most crossover and ranging from the staunchest of period dramas to the most fantastical of film fantasy.

They’re also branches that feature heavy favorites. Production designer Dennis Gassner is a 6-time nominee and winner for 1991’s Bugsy and is a contender this year for 1917. Eve Stewart is a four-time nominee and this year has Cats, with its oversized sets and furniture that could bring her a 5th. Last season’s winner, Hannah Beachler (Black Panther), won on her first nomination and could be back this year with the Untitled Todd Haynes aka Dry Run aka Dark Water starring Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway.

Speaking of period dramas, the big screen adaptation of huge Emmy hit Downton Abbey seems primed to hold court in a place and time period (England in the 1920s, plus, royalty!) that the Academy absolutely adores. Or at least used to. Will that Emmy success translate into Oscar glory though?

Here are my 2020 Oscar Nomination Predictions in Production Design for August 12, 2019.

1. The Irishman (Bob Shaw) Netflix
2. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Barbara Ling) Sony/Columbia
3. 1917 (Dennis Gassner) Universal
4. Cats (Eve Stewart) Universal
5. Little Women (Jess Gonchor) Sony/Columbia

NEXT UP (alphabetical by film)

Ad Astra (Kevin Thompson) 20th Century Fox
The Aeronauts (David Hindle, Christian Huband) Amazon
Downton Abbey (Donal Woods) Focus Features
Harriet (Warren Allen Young) Focus Features
Jojo Rabbit (Ra Vincent) Fox Searchlight

OTHER CONTENDERS (alphabetical by film)

A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Jade Healy) Sony/TriStar
Aladdin (Gemma Jackson) Disney
Dolemite Is My Name (Clay A. Griffith) Netflix
Ford v Ferrari (François Audouy) 20th Century Fox
The Goldfinch (K.K. Barrett) Amazon/Warner Bros.
The King (Fiona Crombie) Netflix
The Lighthouse (Craig Lathrop) A24
The Lion King (James Chinlund) Disney
Motherless Brooklyn (Beth Mickle) Warner Bros
Rocketman (Peter Francis, Marcus Rowland) Paramount
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Rick Carter, Kevin Jenkins) Disney
The Two Popes (Mark Tildesley) Netflix
Untitled Roger Ailes Project aka Fair and Balanced (Mark Ricker) Lionsgate
Untitled Todd Haynes aka Dry Run aka Dark Water (Hannah Beachler) Focus Features

In costume design it gets even more insular. On top, as always, are Sandy Powell and Colleen Atwood. Powell is a 14-time nominee and three-time winner. Atwood is a 12-time nominee and four-time winner, having pulled out a surprise triumph for 2016’s Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. The two often compete head to head and will do so again this year. Powell has The Irishman and Atwood has both the live action Dumbo remake and the Untitled Roger Ailes Project aka Fair and Balanced starring Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie. Powell definitely has the edge in the face to face, in the stronger film that’s going to succeed across the board.

Courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Other winners and multi-nominees are in this mix, too. Jacqueline Durran has two major contenders in play: Little Women from Sony/Columbia and 1917 from Universal. She could easily find herself a double nominee this season. Alexandra Byrne and Arianne Phillips are possible returnees with Amazon’s The Aeronauts and Sony/Columbia’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood, respectively. Last season’s winner, Ruth E. Carter, could be back with Netflix’s Dolemite Is My Name. I’m also going to keep an eye out for Paramount’s Elton John biopic Rocketman to make a play with the most outrageous costumes of the year.

Here are my 2020 Oscar Nomination Predictions in Costume Design for August 12, 2019.

1. The Irishman (Sandy Powell) Netflix Harriet
2. Little Women (Jacqueline Durran) Sony/Columbia
3. Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood (Arianne Phillips) Sony/Columbia
4. Downton Abbey (Anna Robbins) Focus Features
5. Harriet (Paul Tazewell) Focus Features

NEXT UP (alphabetical by film)

1917 (Jacqueline Durran) Universal
The Aeronauts (Alexandra Byrne) Amazon
Jojo Rabbit (Mayes C. Rubeo) Fox Searchlight
Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (Ellen Mirojnick) Disney
Rocketman (Julian Day) Paramount

OTHER CONTENDERS (alphabetical by film)

Ad Astra (Albert Wolsky) 20th Century Fox
Aladdin (Michael Wilkinson) Disney
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (Arjun Bhasin) Sony/TriStar
Cats (Paco Delgado) Universal
Dolemite Is My Name (Ruth E. Carter) Netflix
Dumbo (Colleen Atwood) Disney
Ford v Ferrari (Daniel Orlandi) 20th Century Fox
The Goldfinch (Kasia Walicka-Maimone) Amazon/Warner Bros
Joker (Mark Bridges) Warner Bros
The King (Jane Petrie) Netflix
Motherless Brooklyn (Amy Roth) Warner Bros
The Two Popes (Luca Canfora) Netflix
Untitled Roger Ailes Project aka Fair and Balanced (Colleen Atwood) Lionsgate
Untitled Todd Haynes aka Dry Run aka Dark Water (Christopher Peterson) Focus Features

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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.