2020 Oscar Nomination Predictions: SOUND EDITING and SOUND MIXING (December)

With the nominations from the two sound guilds in: Cinema Audio Society (CAS – Sound Mixing) and Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) we have a much clearer picture of what those two categories will look like come Oscar nomination morning.

Five films earned a CAS nomination: Ford v Ferrari, The Irishman, Joker, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Rocketman. The MPSE have three main feature film categories (plus Animated, Documentary and Foreign) and a Musical category but the two films earned all three of those top nominations: Joker and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. It’s a safe bet that both of those film should be able to earn two spots in Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. You can add Ford v Ferrari to that as it got two of those MPSE noms (and the more important ones). The Irishman and Rocketman have the combination of CAS and MPSE Dialogue, making these categories extremely tough category to predict when you also have to consider 1917 and Ad Astra – two of sounds biggest nomination-grabbing genres, war and space.

Only 3 movies missed both Oscar sound categories with the combo of CAS/MPSE Sound Effects/MPSE Dialogue since 2007: Black Swan, The Hobbit and Super 8. Two movies missed Sound Mixing and were nominated in Sound Editing: Iron Man and A Quiet Place. One movie missed Sound Editing and was nominated in Sound Mixing: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. In all, 23 movies that have had this combination were nominated in both of Oscar’s sound categories.

Here are my 2020 Oscar Nomination Predictions in Sound Editing and Sound Mixing for December 16, 2019.

SOUND EDITING

Green – moves up Red – moves down Blue – new/re-entry

1. 1917 (Universal)
2. Ford v Ferrari (20th Century Fox)
3. Joker (Warner Bros)
4. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Disney)
5. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Sony/Columbia)

NEXT UP (alphabetical by film)

Ad Astra (20th Century Fox)
The Aeronauts (Amazon)
Avengers: Endgame (Disney)
Jojo Rabbit (Fox Searchlight)
Rocketman (Paramount)

OTHER CONTENDERS (alphabetical by film)

Alita: Battle Angel (20th Century Fox)
The Irishman (Netflix)
The Lion King (Disney)
Midway (Lionsgate)
Us (Universal)

SOUND MIXING

Green – moves up Red – moves down Blue – new/re-entry

1. 1917 (Universal)
2. Ford v Ferrari (20th Century Fox)
3. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (Sony/Columbia)
4. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (Disney)
5. Rocketman (Paramount)

NEXT UP (alphabetical by film)

Ad Astra (20th Century Fox)
Cats (Universal)
The Irishman (Netflix)
Jojo Rabbit (Fox Searchlight)
Joker (Warner Bros)

OTHER CONTENDERS (alphabetical by film)

The Aeronauts (Amazon)
Alita: Battle Angel (20th Century Fox)
Avengers: Endgame (Disney)
Judy (Roadside Attractions)
Midway (Lionsgate)
Us (Universal)