Chasing The Gold: Mid-Festival 2026 Oscar Predictions

Some people would wait until the first big festivals are complete before updating their Oscar nominations. I call those people cowards. Where’s the fun in waiting to see what shakes out?  Take a chance and dare to make a fool of yourself. I present the “as of right this very moment” Oscar predictions for the 99th ceremony.

BEST PICTURE

Rank	Picture
1	The Odyssey
2	La Bola Negra
3	Wild Horse Nine
4	Fjord
5	Dune: Part Three
6	The Invite
7	All of a Sudden
8	Behemoth!
9	Being Heumann
10	Project Hail Mary
11	The Debut
12	Ink
13	Digger
14	Sense and Sensibility
15	Obsession

BEST DIRECTOR

Rank	Director
1	Christopher Nolan, The Odyssey
2	Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, La Bola Negra
3	Martin McDonagh, Wild Horse Nine
4	Ryusuke Hamaguchi, All of a Sudden
5	Olivia Wilde, The Invite
6	Cristian Mungiu, Fjord
7	Denis Villeneuve, Dune: Part Three
8	Tony Gilroy, Behemoth!
9	Sian Heder, Being Heumann
10	Robert Eggers, Werwulf

BEST ACTOR

Rank	Actor
1	Andrew Scott, Elsinore
2	John Malkovich, Wild Horse Nine
3	Tom Cruise, Digger
4	Sebastian Stan, Fjord
5	John Turturro, The Only Living Pickpocket in New York
6	Robert Pattinson, Primetime
7	Ryan Gosling, Project Hail Mary
8	Guitarricadelafuente, La Bola Negra
9	Matt Damon, The Odyssey
10	Pedro Pascal, Behemoth!

BEST ACTRESS

Rank	Actress
1	Julianne Moore, The Debut
2	Inde Navarrette, Obsession
3	Ruth Madeley, Being Heumann
4	Renate Reinsve, Fjord
5	Cynthia Erivo, Prima Facie
6	Virginia Efira, All of a Sudden
7	Sophie Okendo, Clarissa
8	Sandra Huller, Fatherland
9	Marion Bailey, Tender Loving Care
10	Daisy Edgar-Jones, Sense and Sensibility

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Rank	Actor
1	Guy Pearce, Ink
2	Sam Rockwell, Wild Horse Nine
3	Paul Giamatti, The Debut
4	John Goodman, Digger
5	Edward Norton, The Invite
6	Steve Buscemi, Wild Horse Nine
7	Mark Ruffalo, Being Heumann
8	John Leguizamo, The Odyssey
9	Jeremy Strong, The Social Reckoning
10	Channing Tatum, Josephine

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Rank	Actress
1	Anne Hathaway, The Odyssey
2	Penelope Cruz, La Bola Negra
3	Mariana Di Girolamo, Wild Horse Nine
4	Tao Okamoto, All of a Sudden
5	Sandra Huller, Digger
6	Samantha Morton, The Odyssey
7	Kate O’Flynn, Tender Loving Care
8	Penelope Cruz, The Invite
9	Esme Creed-Miles, Sense and Sensibility
10	Elizabeth Debicki, The Futher Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Rank	Film
1	Wild Horse Nine
2	The Debut
3	Fjord
4	Club Kid
5	Behemoth!
6	Josephine
7	Digger
8	Minotaur
9	Tender Loving Care
10	Obsession

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Rank	Film
1	La Bola Negra
2	All of a Sudden
3	The Invite
4	Project Hail Mary
5	Being Heumann
6	The Odyssey
7	Wildwood
8	The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth
9	Clarissa
10	Dune: Part Three

BEST ANIMATED FILM

Rank	Film
1	Wildwood
2	Toy Story 5
3	Ray Gun
4	Forgotten Island
5	Tangles
6	Hoppers
7	Iron Boy
8	Hexed
9	Shaun the Sheep: The Beast of Mossy Bottom
10	In Waves

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

Rank	Film
1	La Bola Negra
2	Fjord
3	All of a Sudden
4	Minotaur
5	Possible Love
6	Fatherland
7	Everytime
8	Coward
9	Rose
10	Ben’Imana

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Rank	Film
1	American Doctor
2	Naza
3	Once Upon a Time in Harlem
4	You Can See Everything
5	Nuisance Bear
6	Rehearsals for a Revolution
7	14th
8	One in a Million
9	Musk
10	The History of Concrete

BEST CASTING

Rank	Film
1	The Odyssey
2	La Bola Negra
3	Wild Horse Nine
4	Dune: Part Three
5	Project Hail Marry
6	Being Heumann
7	Behemoth!
8	Digger
9	The Debut
10	Fjord

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Rank	Film
1	The Odyssey
2	La Bola Negra
3	Dune: Part Three
4	Werwulf
5	Project Hail Mary
6	Wild Horse Nine
7	Digger
8	Fjord
9	Sense and Sensibility
10	Fatherland

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Rank	Film
1	Project Hail Mary
2	Dune: Part Three
3	The Odyssey
4	Godzilla Minus Zero
5	Wildwood
6	Spider-Man: Brand New Day
7	Whalefall
8	The End of Oak Street
9	Clayface
10	Avengers: Doomsday

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Rank	Song
1	“This City May Have Chewed Me Up (But It Hasn’t Spit Me Out)” from The Debut
2	“La Nieve” from La Bola Negra
3	“I Knew It, I Knew You” from Toy Story 5
4	“By Any Means” from By Any Means
5	“Let Me Sell You a Dream” from Musk
6	“How to Write a Song (Without You)” from Power Ballad
7	‘Runway” from The Devil Wears Prada 2
8	“When I’m Home” from The Odyssey
9	“Chains of Love” from “Wuthering Heights”
10	TBD from Wildwood

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Rank	Film
1	The Odyssey
2	Dune: Part Three
3	Project Hail Mary
4	Werwulf
5	La Bola Negra
6	Digger
7	Backrooms
8	Sense and Sensibility
9	“Wuthering Heights”
10	Ink

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Rank	Film
1	Sense and Sensibility
2	Werwulf
3	The Odyssey
4	Dune: Part Three
5	“Wuthering Heights”
6	La Bola Negra
7	Digger
8	The Futher Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth
9	Wild Horse Nine
10	Being Heumann

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Rank	Film
1	The Odyssey
2	Dune: Part THree
3	Digger
4	Werwulf
5	Clayface
6	Michael
7	Wicker
8	Rose
9	Obsession
10	La Bola Negra

BEST SOUND

Rank	Film
1	The Odyssey
2	Dune: Part Three
3	Project Hail Mary
4	La Bola Negra
5	Werwulf
6	Disclosure Day
7	Behemoth!
8	Digger
9	The Debute
10	Obsession

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT – coming soon
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT – coming soon
BEST ANIMATED SHORT – coming soon