Frontrunner Friday Oscar Predictions: Juda-as! Juda-ah-as! Judas! Ka-luu-ya!

Erik Anderson December 11, 2020

Judas and the Black Messiah is starting to climb, including Daniel Kaluuya shooting up to #1 in Supporting Actor. It inches up in Best Picture, pops up in Film Editing and remains an outside contender in Best Actor (LaKeith Stanfield), Original Screenplay, Costume Design and Sound. While we still don’t have a release date yet (expect an announcement in the coming week and probably dropping mid-February) but Warner Bros, along with Universal, are likely going to be the only major studio contenders this season.

Last week I talked a bit about how Universal’s News of the World was met with very strong social sentiment (that’s the thing now; social sentiments allowed, then a review embargo) and I’ve been wondering if I, and some other pundits, have been underestimating it. In a year that’s going to be made up of primarily independent and streaming films, it stands out as some ‘classic’ filmmaking that the old school of Academy voters will probably be very receptive to. The embargo lifted today and reviews are supporting that early social sentiment, too. So why do Tom Hanks and Helena Zengel still feel outside the top 5?

Here are my Frontrunner Friday Oscar predictions for December 11, 2020. For monthly predictions, click on each category title.

BEST PICTURE

1. Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
 Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Chloé Zhao (producers)

2. Mank (Netflix)
David Fincher, Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth, Douglas Urbanski (producers)

3. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
Stuart M. Besser, Matt Jackson, Marc Platt, Tyler Thompson (producers)

4. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Todd Black, Denzel Washington, Dany Wolf (producers)

5. News of the World (Universal Pictures)
Gary Goetzman, Gregory Goodman, Gail Mutrux (producers)

6. The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
Philippe Carcassonne, Simon Friend, Jean-Louis Livi, David Parfitt, Christophe Spadone (producers)

7. Minari (A24)
Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Christina Oh (producers)

8. Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros)
Charles D. King, Ryan Coogler, Shaka King (producers)

9. One Night in Miami… (Amazon Studios)
Jess Wu Calder, Keith Calder, Jody Klein (producers)

10. Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Jon Kilik, Spike Lee, Beatriz Levin, Lloyd Levin (producers)

BEST DIRECTOR (alphabetical by film)

1. Chloé Zhao – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)

2. David Fincher – Mank (Netflix)

3. George C. Wolfe – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)

4. Aaron Sorkin – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)

5. Kornél Mundruczó – Pieces of a Woman (Netflix)

BEST ACTOR

1. Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)

2. Anthony Hopkins – The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)

3. Delroy Lindo – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)

4. Gary Oldman – Mank (Netflix)

5. Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)

BEST ACTRESS

1. Viola Davis – Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)

2. Vanessa Kirby – Pieces of a Woman (Netflix)

3. Frances McDormand – Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)

4. Andra Day – The United States vs Billie Holiday (Paramount Pictures)

5. Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)

SUPPORTING ACTOR

1. Daniel Kaluuya – Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros)

2. Sacha Baron Cohen – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)

3. Leslie Odom, Jr. – One Night in Miami… (Amazon Studios)

4. Mark Rylance – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)

5. Chadwick Boseman – Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

1. Amanda Seyfried – Mank (Netflix)

2. Olivia Colman – The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)

3. Ellen Burstyn – Pieces of a Woman (Netflix)

4. Glenn Close – Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix)

5. Youn Yuh-jung – Minari (A24)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

1. Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
Chloé Zhao (based on the book “Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century” by Jessica Bruder)

2. One Night in Miami… (Amazon Studios)
Kemp Powers (based on the play “One Night in Miami…” by Kemp Powers)

3. The Father (Sony Pictures Classics)
Christopher Hampton, Florian Zeller (based on the play “Le Père” by Florian Zeller)

4. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Ruben Santiago-Hudson (based on the play “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” by August Wilson)

5. News of the World (Universal Pictures)
Luke Davies, Paul Greengrass (based on the novel “News of the World” by Paulette Jiles)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

1. Mank (Netflix)
Jack Fincher

2. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
Aaron Sorkin

3. Minari (A24)
Lee Isaac Chung

4. Soul (Pixar)
Pete Docter, Mike Jones, Kemp Powers

5. Promising Young Woman (Focus Features)
Emerald Fennell

FILM EDITING

1. Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
Chloé Zhao

2. The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Netflix)
Alan Baumgarten

3. Mank (Netflix)
Kirk Baxter

4. News of the World (Universal Pictures)
William Goldenberg

5. Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros)
Kristan Sprague

CINEMATOGRAPHY

1. Mank (Netflix)
Erik Messerschmidt

2. Nomadland (Searchlight Pictures)
Joshua James Richards

3. Tenet (Warner Bros)
Hoyte van Hoytema

4. News of the World (Universal Pictures)
Dariusz Wolski

5. Minari (A24)
Lachlan Milne

PRODUCTION DESIGN

1. Mank (Netflix)
Donald Graham Burt (production designer), Jan Pascale (set decorator)

2. Mulan (Walt Disney Pictures)
Grant Major (production designer), Anne Kuljian (set decorator)

3. The Midnight Sky (Netflix)
Jim Bissell (production designer), John Bush (set decorator)

4. News of the World (Universal Pictures)
David Crank (production designer), Elizabeth Keenan (set decorator)

5. Emma. (Focus Features)
Kave Quinn (production designer), Stella Fox (set decorations)

COSTUME DESIGN

1. Mank (Netflix)
Trish Summerville

2. Emma. (Focus Features)
Alexandra Byrne

3. Mulan (Walt Disney Pictures)
Bina Daigeler

4. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Ann Roth

5. The Personal History of David Copperfield (Searchlight Pictures)
Suzie Harman, Robert Worley

MAKEUP and HAIRSTYLING

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

2. Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix)
Nominees TBD

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

4. Bill & Ted Face the Music (Orion Pictures)
Nominees TBD

5. Pinocchio (Roadside Attractions)
Nominees TBD

ORIGINAL SCORE

1. Soul (Pixar)
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (and John Batiste, if eligible)

2. Mank (Netflix)
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

3. News of the World (Universal Pictures)
James Newton Howard

4. Da 5 Bloods (Netflix)
Terence Blanchard

5. Minari (A24)
Emile Mosseri

ORIGINAL SONG

1. “lo Sì” (Seen)” from The Life Ahead (Netflix)
Written by Diane Warren

2. “Rocket to the Moon” from Over the Moon (Netflix)
Written by Christopher Curtis, Marjorie Duffield & Helen Park

3. “Speak Now” from One Night in Miami… (Amazon Studios)
Written by Leslie Odom, Jr. and Sam Ashworth

4. “Husavik (My Hometown)” from Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga (Netflix)
Written by Atli Örvarsson

5. “Just Sing” from Trolls: World Tour (DreamWorks Animation)
Written by Justin Timberlake, Ludwig Göransson, Max Martin and Sarah Aarons

SOUND

1. Soul (Pixar)
Nominees TBD

2. Tenet (Warner Bros)
Nominees TBD

3. Sound of Metal (Amazon Studios)
Nominees TBD

4. The Midnight Sky (Netflix)
Nominees TBD

5. Mank (Netflix)
Nominees TBD

VISUAL EFFECTS

1. The Midnight Sky (Netflix)
Nominees TBD

2. Wonder Woman 1984 (Warner Bros)
Nominees TBD

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

4. Mulan (Disney+)
Nominees TBD

5. Sonic the Hedgehog (Paramount Pictures)
Nominees TBD

ANIMATED FEATURE

1. Soul (Pixar)
Pete Docter, Dana Murray

2. Wolfwalkers (Apple TV+/GKIDS)
Stéphan Roelants, Tomm Moore, Ross Stewart, Paul Young, Nora Twomey

3. Over the Moon (Netflix)
Glen Keane, Peilin Chou, Gennie Rim

4. A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon (Netflix)
Richard Phelan, Will Becher

5. Onward (Pixar)
Dan Scanlon, Kori Rae

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

1. Collective (Magnolia Selects)
Alexander Nanau

2. Welcome to Chechnya (HBO Documentary Films)
David France

3. Time (Amazon Studios)
Garrett Bradley

4. Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution (Netflix)
James Lebrecht, Nicole Newnham

5. The Truffle Hunters (Sony Pictures Classics)
Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw

INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

1. Another Round (Denmark)

2. Night of the Kings (Ivory Coast)

3. Collective (Romania)

4. The Endless Trench (Spain)

5. Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia-Herzegovina)

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November 6, 2020: Frontrunner Friday Oscar Predictions: Lady Sings the Blues

October 30, 2020: Frontrunner Friday Oscar Predictions: The landscape, it is a changin’

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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.