FINAL 2025 Oscar Nomination Predictions: MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING, ORIGINAL SCORE, ORIGINAL SONG, SOUND, VISUAL EFFECTS

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With The Substance and Wicked Part 1 the only films to hit all precursors for Makeup & Hairstyling so we’re going to lock them in. That leaves a smattering of title – Nosferatu, A Different Man, Dune: Part Two, Emilia Pérez and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice – all circling three spots and all with elements in their favor. And don’t count out The Apprentice as Sebastian Stan is a Best Actor contender. But there’s equally a scenario in which he gets in for that film and not his Golden Globe-winning performance in A Different Man, and that makes it in here. Could the behind the scenes drama on Dune: Part Two that pushed the first film’s Oscar-nominated makeup artist Donald Mowat out of contention by Warner Bros temper that film’s ability to get in? The regular, in-person bake off component of this category has become a virtual one, echoing the COVID era year.

ConclaveEmilia Pérez, and The Wild Robot lead the precursor run for original score with The Brutalist and Challengers not far behind. As we know, Dune: Part Two is Oscar-ineligible but if voters want to find a way to reward Hans Zimmer they could opt for Blitz. It’s possible, but with Nosferatu breathing down its neck, it would feel a bit like a name-recognition nomination.

Both Emilia Pérez songs (“El Mal” and “Mi Camino”) haven’t missed a beat in the Original Song race, neither has “Kiss the Sky” from The Wild Robot and “Compress/Repress” from Challengers. “Harper & Will Go West” is performing well but with Diane Warren in the race, as she is this year with “The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight, just pencil her in because it’s happening.

“Forbidden Road” from Better Man has been disqualified and removed from contention for having too many similarities to the song “I Got a Name” from the 1973 film The Last American Hero. There will be no replacement.

In Visual Effects, simians are the hot item of the season with no less than four of the 10 finalists featuring monkeys, apes, baboons, chimpanzees and more. Only two of those, Better Man and Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, hit everything – including an Annie nomination. Deadpool & Wolverine now feels like the first major MCU blockbuster to miss here in a while but with no love from BAFTA, Critics Choice or VES, there’s not much in its favor to surprise. Same goes for Alien: Romulus but maybe they’ll show up in Sound. If we still had two sound categories, you could probably bet on it. As with makeup, the VFX bake off is now virtual.

Oscar nominations are now set to be announced on January 23, barring any further postponements. Here are my final 2025 Oscar nomination predictions in Makeup & Hairstyling, Original Score, Original Song, Sound and Visual Effects.

Makeup & Hairstyling

1. The Substance (MUBI)BAFTA, CCA, MUAH (x3)
2. Wicked Part I (Universal Pictures)BAFTA, CCA, MUAH (x2)
3. Nosferatu (Focus Features)BAFTA, CCA
4. A Different Man (A24)CCA, MUAH
5. Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros)BAFTA, CCA
6. Emilia Pérez (Netflix)BAFTA, MUAH
7. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Warner Bros)CCA, MUAH (x3)
8. The Apprentice (Briarcliff Entertainment)
9. Maria (Netflix)
10. Waltzing with Brando (VMI Worldwide)

Original Score

1. Conclave (Focus Features)
Volker Bertelmann
BAFTA, CCA, GG, HMMA, SCL
2. Emilia Pérez (Netflix)
Clément Ducol and Camille
BAFTA, CCA, GG, HMMA (main), SCL
3. The Wild Robot (Universal Pictures/Dreamworks Animation)
Kris Bowers
BAFTA, CCA, GG, HMMA (animated), SCL
4. The Brutalist (A24)
Daniel Blumberg
BAFTA, CCA, GG, SCL
5. Challengers (Amazon MGM)
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross
CCA, GG, HMMA (main)
6. Blitz (Apple Original Films)
Hans Zimmer
HMMA (main)
7. Nosferatu (Focus Features)
Robin Carolan
BAFTA, HMMA (horror)
8. The Room Next Door (Sony Pictures Classics)
Alberto Iglesias
HMMA (independent)
9. Gladiator II (Paramount Pictures)
Harry Gregson-Williams
HMMA (main), SCL
10. Wicked (Universal Pictures)
John Powell, Stephen Schwartz
SCL
11. The Six Triple Eight (Netflix)
Aaron Zigman
HMMA (main)
12. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (Warner Bros)
Danny Elfman
13. Sing Sing (A24)
Bryce Dessner
14. Babygirl (A24)
Cristobal Tapia de Veer
15. The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM)
Tamar-kali
16. Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 (Warner Bros)
John Debney
HMMA (main)
17. Inside Out 2 (Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation Studios)
Andrea Datzman
HMMA (animated)
18. Young Woman and the Sea (Walt Disney Pictures)
Amelia Warner
19. Blink Twice (Amazon MGM)
Chanda Dancy
20. Alien: Romulus (20th Century Studios)
Benjamin Wallfisch

Original Song

1. “El Mal” by Clement Ducol, Camille and Jacques Audiard from Emilia Pérez (Netflix)CCA, GG, HMMA (main), SCL
2. “Kiss the Sky” by Delacey, Jordan Johnson, Stefan Johnson, Maren Morris, Michael Pollack & Ali Tamposi from The Wild Robot (Universal Pictures/Dreamworks Animation)CCA, GG, HMMA (animated), SCL
3. “Mi Camino” by Clement Ducol and Camille from Emilia Pérez (Netflix)CCA, GG, HMMA (main), SCL
4. “Compress/Repress” by Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross & Luca Guadagnino from Challengers (Amazon MGM)CCA, GG, HMMA (main), SCL
5. “The Journey” by Diane Warren from The Six Triple Eight (Netflix)HMMA (main), SCL
6. “Harper and Will Go West” by Sean Douglas, Kristen Wiig & Josh Greenbaum from Will & Harper (Netflix)CCA, HMMA (doc), SCL
7. “Never Too Late” by Elton John & Brandi Carlile from Elton John: Never Too Late (Walt Disney Pictures)HMMA (doc)
8. “Winter Coat” by Nicholas Britell, Steve McQueen, and Taura Stinson from Blitz (Apple Original Films)HMMA (main), SCL
9. “Like a Bird” by Abraham Alexander, Brandon Marcel & Adrian Quesada from Sing Sing (A24)
10. “Piece by Piece” by Pharrell Williams from Piece by Piece (Focus Features)HMMA (doc)
11. “Out of Oklahoma” by Lainey Wilson, Luke Dick & Shane McAnally from Twisters (Universal Pictures/Warner Bros)HMMA (main), SCL
12. “Sick In The Head” by Móglaí Bap, Mo Chara, DJ Próvaí, Adrian Louis Richard Mcleod, and Toddla T from Kneecap (Sony Pictures Classics)GG
13. “Beyond” by Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear from Moana 2 (Walt Disney Pictures)HMMA (animated), SCL
14. “Tell Me It’s You” by Lin-Manuel Miranda from Mufasa: The Lion King
15. “Forbidden Road” by Robbie Williams, Freddy Wexler & Sacha Skarbek from Better Man (Paramount Pictures) GG, HMMA (main), SCL

Sound

1. Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros)AMPS, BAFTA, CAS, MPSE (x3)
2. A Complete Unknown (Searchlight Pictures)AMPS, CAS, MPSE (x2)
3. Wicked Part I (Universal Pictures)AMPS, BAFTA, CAS, MPSE (x2)
4. Emilia Pérez (Netflix)MPSE (x2)
5. Gladiator II (Paramount Pictures)BAFTA, CAS
6. Deadpool & Wolverine (Walt Disney Pictures/Marvel Studios)CAS, MPSE (x3)
7. Blitz (Apple Original Films)BAFTA
8. The Wild Robot (Universal Pictures/Dreamworks Animation)CAS, MPSE
9. Alien: Romulus (20th Century Studios)MPSE (x2)
10. Joker: Folie à Deux (Warner Bros)

Visual Effects

1. Dune: Part Two (Warner Bros)BAFTA, CCA, VES
2. Gladiator II (Paramount Pictures)BAFTA, CCA
3. Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (20th Century Studios)Annie, BAFTA, CCA, VES
4. Better Man (Paramount Pictures)Annie, BAFTA, CCA, VES
5. Wicked (Universal Pictures)BAFTA, CCA
6. Twisters (Paramount Pictures/Warner Bros)VES
7. Mufasa: The Lion King (Walt Disney Pictures)VES
8. Deadpool & Wolverine (Walt Disney Pictures/Marvel Studios)
9. Civil War (A24)
10. Alien: Romulus (20th Century Studios)
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), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) 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.

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