2021 Oscar Predictions: SOUND (December)

This year, the first we go back to a single Sound category (a terrible idea), is going to offer us a lot of variety even in a leaner year for more sound-heavy films. We have musicals (The Prom), music biopics (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The United States vs Billie Holiday), mono sound (Mank), gunfights (both of the old west on News of the World and the modern warfare of The Outpost), submarine battles (Greyhound) and films that merge their original scores with action either with great fluidity or bombastic extravagance (Wonder Woman 1984). Not to mention a film whose sound is the very core of its story (Sound of Metal).

I know people dogpiled on Tenet for its sometimes inaudible sound mix, but it’s hard to think that the branch won’t back it anyway, especially when you have four-time Oscar winner Richard King as the sound designer and supervising sound editor. Three of those wins were for Christopher Nolan films so any prejudice should be left at the door.

Here are my ranked 2021 Oscar predictions in Sound for December.

Green – moves up; Red – moves down; Blue – new entry this month

1. Tenet (Warner Bros)
Nominees TBD

2. Soul (Pixar)
Nominees TBD

3. Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)
Nominees TBD

4. The Midnight Sky (Netflix)
Nominees TBD

5. Mank (Netflix)
Nominees TBD

6. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Nominees TBD

7. The Prom (Netflix)
Nominees TBD

8. Greyhound (Apple TV+)
Nominees TBD

9. News of the World (Universal Pictures)
Nominees TBD

10. Wonder Woman 1984 (Warner Bros/HBO Max)
Nominees TBD

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Other Contenders (alphabetical by film)

Bad Boys for Life (Columbia Pictures)
Nominees TBD

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (Warner Bros)
Nominees TBD

Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Nominees TBD

The Invisible Man (Universal Pictures)
Nominees TBD

Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros)
Nominees TBD

Mulan (Walt Disney Pictures)
Nominees TBD

Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
Nominees TBD

The Outpost (Screen Media Films)
Nominees TBD

Over the Moon (Netflix)
Nominees TBD

The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
Nominees TBD

The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Paramount Pictures)
Nominees TBD

Image of Sound of Metal courtesy of Amazon Studios