{"id":2319821,"date":"2026-03-09T15:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T15:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2319821"},"modified":"2026-03-09T15:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T15:39:08","slug":"the-oscars-are-next-week-and-its-anyones-game","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/the-oscars-are-next-week-and-its-anyones-game\/","title":{"rendered":"The Oscars are next week and it\u2019s anyone\u2019s game"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Dan Heching, celebrity.land<\/p>\n

With the Academy Awards<\/a> right around the corner, it\u2019s difficult to find another year when the race was this wide open, this late in the game.<\/p>\n

The Golden Globes, Critics Choice, BAFTA and Actor (formerly SAG) Awards<\/a> are now firmly in the rearview mirror, and while some elements have come into sharper focus \u2013 it\u2019s \u201cHamnet\u201d star Jessie Buckley\u2019s best actress Oscar to lose, for instance \u2013 many other aspects of the race remain foggy to predict at best, like who might walk away with the best actor trophy opposite her.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s not to mention the seemingly wide-open fields in both supporting actor races. A breakdown of top categories follows:<\/p>\n

Best picture<\/h2>\n

Two titans seem sure to be big competitors on Oscar night, namely critical darlings \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d and \u201cSinners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pointed commentaries on racial inequality and American values, featuring a handful of buzzy performances and fueling strong word of mouth, these two Warner Bros. Pictures films (which come from celebrity.land parent Warner Bros. Discovery) both had considerable momentum going into the season.<\/p>\n

But while 14-time Oscar nominee Paul Thomas Anderson\u2019s \u201cBattle\u201d seemed like the one to beat a few months ago \u2013 especially after best picture wins at the Golden Globes (on the comedy side, inexplicably), Critics Choice Awards and the BAFTAs \u2013 Ryan Coogler\u2019s \u201cSinners\u201d has picked up more than a little renewed steam, mainly after the film\u2019s decisive ensemble win at the Actor Awards on Sunday.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been 15 years since the Academy opened up the best picture race to more than the previously fixed number of five nominees \u2013 vacillating between eight and ten best picture contenders, and settling consistently on ten<\/a> for the last few years. This year, there are of course some other contenders in the ten-film category \u2013 including \u201cSentimental Value,\u201d \u201cMarty Supreme,\u201d \u201cHamnet\u201d and \u201cBugonia\u201d \u2013 but the race seems set for the vampires versus the revolutionaries.<\/p>\n

Best actress<\/h2>\n

In the clearest-seeming race of them all, Jessie Buckley\u2019s portrayal of a grief-stricken mother and wife to William Shakespeare (Paul Mescal) in Chlo\u00e9 Zhao\u2019s \u201cHamnet\u201d looks all but sure to net the Oscar, after she was previously up for best supporting actress in 2022 for \u201cThe Lost Daughter.\u201d Buckley\u2019s recent passionate and emotional speech at the Actor Awards, mostly directed toward her \u201cHamnet\u201d costar Emily Watson<\/a>, certainly only helped her chances.<\/p>\n

In addition to Buckley, two of the other women up for best actress have been nominated before (the Academy loves return nominees), but if anyone might be able to pull off an upset, it\u2019s a tossup between the two first-timers: Rose Byrne, who won best actress in the comedy category at the Golden Globes for her work as an overextended mother in the harrowing \u201cIf I Had Legs I\u2019d Kick You,\u201d and acclaimed Norwegian performer Renate Reinsve as a resentful daughter in \u201cSentimental Value.\u201d<\/p>\n

Best actor<\/h2>\n

This is where any confident handicapping ends, and the rest of the acting categories are essentially anyone\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

Early momentum for best actor went to Timoth\u00e9e \u2018I-want-to-be-one-of-the-greats<\/a>\u2019 Chalamet, who clinched the Golden Globe, comedy lead actor award as well as the Critics Choice Award. But both the BAFTAs and the Actor Awards threw a bit of a wrench in things, with the Brits awarding non-Oscar nominee Robert Aramayo (for \u201cI Swear\u201d) and the Screen Actors Guild bestowing best actor honors on Michael B. Jordan for his twin roles of Smoke and Stack in \u201cSinners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jordan might indeed ride the wave of \u201cSinners\u201d love all the way to the Oscars podium, or it just might be Timmy\u2019s turn (Chalamet was also nominated last year for portraying Bob Dylan in \u201cA Complete Unknown,\u201d which won him the then-still-named SAG Award).<\/p>\n

But let\u2019s not forget \u201cNarcos\u201d actor Wagner Moura, who made waves for his work in the Brazilian film \u201cThe Secret Agent,\u201d winning him best actor at Cannes, as well as the Golden Globe for lead actor in the drama category.<\/p>\n

Best supporting actress<\/h2>\n

The best supporting actress race is, historically, a tough one to predict, and this year is no exception. While Teyana Taylor\u2019s visceral, kinetic performance as revolutionary Perfidia Beverly Hills in \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d was the early favorite after her Golden Globe win, two other attention-getting actresses have kept reinserting themselves into the conversation, thanks to their undeniable work.<\/p>\n

The first is Amy Madigan, known to most for \u201980s films like \u201cUncle Buck\u201d and \u201cField of Dreams,\u201d who turned out a bonkers performance as the villainous witch Aunt Gladys in last summer\u2019s breakout elevated horror hit \u201cWeapons\u201d (also from Warner Bros.). With both the Critics Choice and Actor Award under Madigan\u2019s belt, the Oscar may very well fall under Gladys\u2019 spell come March 15.<\/p>\n

But we shouldn\u2019t count out Wunmi Mosaku, whose performance as Annie in \u201cSinners\u201d rooted the film in heritage, magic and heart. Mosaku won the BAFTA award in this category last month, and in case there\u2019s a \u201cSinners\u201d sweep come Oscar night, hers would be thoroughly deserved.<\/p>\n

While horror doesn\u2019t often get recognized by the Academy, both Madigan and Mosaku are up for playing magically inclined women in horror films this year, and remind us that there is a precedent \u2013 Ruth Gordon won supporting actress Oscar gold in 1969 for playing a similarly witchy character in \u201cRosemary\u2019s Baby,\u201d and landmark genre films like \u201cThe Exorcist\u201d and \u201cAliens\u201d also received Academy recognition for the actresses who starred in them.<\/p>\n

Best supporting actor<\/h2>\n

Last but certainly not least is best supporting actor, which could go to a newly minted star, industry veterans enjoying their first nomination or heavyweights with Oscar hardware already sitting at home.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s start with the newbie \u2013 Jacob Elordi has been getting recognition for his transformative portrait of the creature in Guillermo del Toro\u2019s \u201cFrankenstein,\u201d including a win at the Critics Choice Awards. If 2017\u2019s \u201cThe Shape of Water\u201d is any indication, one should never write off this visionary director\u2019s projects when it comes to the Oscars\u2019 affections.<\/p>\n

Then there are the industry vets who are basking in their first Academy Award nominations, namely Stellan Skarsg\u00e5rd for \u201cSentimental Value\u201d and Delroy Lindo for \u201cSinners.\u201d Skarsg\u00e5rd was surprised and gracious when he won best supporting actor at the Golden Globes, topped only by Lindo\u2019s sheer gratitude when he took the microphone after \u201cSinners\u201d won for best motion picture cast at the Actor Awards. Both actors boast prolific and respected bodies of work, and each contributed head-turning performances this year.<\/p>\n

Lastly, there are the \u201cOne Battle After Another\u201d boys, previous Oscar-winners Sean Penn and Benicio Del Toro. While it might be tempting to assume they would split the vote and cancel each other out (much like what looks to be the case with Elle Fanning and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas in \u201cSentimental Value\u201d in the previous category), Penn has been getting late-in-the-game attention for his physical and gritty portrayal of a hardened, racist, misogynistic colonel in \u201cBattle.\u201d So far, he\u2019s clinched the BAFTA and Actor Awards. It really is anyone\u2019s game.<\/p>\n

The 98th Academy Awards will be held on March 15.<\/em><\/p>\n

The-celebrity.land-Wire
\u2122 & \u00a9 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n

\u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source kesq.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dan Heching, celebrity.land With the Academy Awards right around the corner, it\u2019s difficult to find another year when the race was this wide open, this late in the game. The Golden Globes, Critics Choice, BAFTA and Actor (formerly SAG) Awards are now firmly in the rearview mirror, and while some elements have come into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2319822,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2319821","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/The-Oscars-are-next-week-and-its-anyones-game.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2319821","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2319821"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2319821\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2319823,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2319821\/revisions\/2319823"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2319822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2319821"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2319821"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2319821"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}