Final predictions for the 2024 Academy Awards

Months have passed since my first set of predictions for the 2024 Academy Awards. As more and more films are being released, it’s becoming more clear what the academy is going to nominate for the best of film in 2023. Ahead of the nominations on Jan. 23, I wanted to take one final look at what I think will be nominated at this year’s ceremony, but more specifically, the late-season contenders. 

“The Zone of Interest”

I believe that “The Zone of Interest” is the biggest late contender for this year’s Academy Awards. Although it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2023, it has yet to have a wide release. It is one of the highest-rated films of 2023, holding a score of 89 on Metacritic. The academy has been on a streak of including films that premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in the Best Director lineup (such as “Triangle of Sadness,” “Drive My Car” and “Another Round”), and I feel director Johnathan Glazer is the most likely candidate. The high critic score and major turnout at the Golden Globes nominations make me think this movie will do very well on the morning of the 2024 Academy Awards nominations. 

“Anatomy of a Fall”

“Anatomy of a Fall” was a movie I was skeptical about when I made my original predictions. Now, I am extremely confident that it will get into Best Picture and other categories. The fact that it won the Best Screenplay award at the Golden Globes and is nominated for a Producers Guild Award makes me think that this movie will show up in multiple categories, which is why I included it in the Best Editing line-up. 

“American Fiction”

I should have known “American Fiction” would be an Oscar contender when it won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival. It also won Best Adapted Screenplay at the Critics Choice Awards, beating out heavyweights such as “Oppenheimer,” “Poor Things” and “Killers of the Flower Moon.” Although I think it has a weak chance of taking home the Best Picture award, I believe that it will easily be included in other categories such as Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay.

The fall of “The Color Purple” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”

I was extremely confident in “The Color Purple” being a huge contender. The December release date and the original film’s reputation gave me high hopes. The fact that this film missed a nomination for Best Motion Picture Comedy/Musical at the Golden Globes was an indicator that this film may miss out on Best Picture. The film has also shown to be weak in other below-the-line categories such as Best Production Design and Best Cinematography. Because of its weak performance from critics groups, I believe the film will only show up in a few categories at the Oscars.

“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” is a film I was personally championing to show up in the academy’s Best Picture line-up. Although it is the highest-rated film of 2023 on IMDb and Letterboxd, critics are not going for the film as much as I originally thought. Missing nominations for Best Picture at the Critics Choice Awards and the Producers Guild Awards makes me believe it has a weak chance of getting into the Oscars lineup. Although I believe it will still get into some categories like Best Original Score and Best Visual Effects, I don’t think it will make it into any above-the-line categories. 

“Society of the Snow”

“Society of the Snow” is a film that came out of nowhere and is a major success for Netflix. Although J.A. Bayona is a widely known international filmmaker, the film had little advertising for its release. Because the film is getting across-the-board acclaim from critics and audiences, I feel the movie will sneak into some below-the-line (production-based) categories such as Best Make-Up/Hairstyling and Best Visual Effects.

“Godzilla Minus One”

I don’t think “Godzilla Minus One” has a chance of getting a Best Picture nomination, but I think it has a great chance to appear and potentially win one category: Best Visual Effects. Having “Godzilla Minus One” as my winner of the category may be my boldest prediction yet. Although no foreign language film has ever won Best Visual Effects, I think “Godzilla Minus One” has the passion to win. It is one of the highest-rated movies of the year, holding a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes. One of the most talked about aspects of the movie is the visual effects and how impressive they are for a movie that only cost $15 million to produce. Because of the massive fanbase of the film, I could see many people rallying behind a win.

After careful consideration, here are my predicted nominees for the 2024 Academy Awards Nominations:

Best Picture 

1. “Oppenheimer” - Christopher Nolan

2. “Barbie” - Greta Gerwig

3. “Killers of the Flower Moon” - Martin Scorsese

4. “Poor Things” - Yorgos Lanthimos

5. “The Holdovers” - Alexander Payne

6. “Past Lives” - Celine Song

7. “American Fiction” - Cord Jefferson

8. “Maestro” - Bradley Cooper

9. “Anatomy of a Fall”  - Justine Triet

10. “The Zone of Interest” - Jonathan Glazer

Best Director 

1. Christopher Nolan - “Oppenheimer” 

2. Martin Scorsese - “Killers of the Flower Moon” 

3. Yorgos Lanthimos - “Poor Things” 

4. Greta Gerwig - “Barbie” 

5. Johnathan Glazer - “The Zone of Interest”

Best Actress 

1. Emma Stone - “Poor Things” 

2. Lily Gladstone - “Killers of the Flower Moon” 

3. Sandra Huller - “Anatomy of a Fall” 

4. Carey Mulligan - “Maestro” 

5. Greta Lee - “Past Lives”

Best Actor 

1. Cillian Murphy - “Oppenheimer” 

2. Bradley Cooper - “Maestro” 

3. Paul Giamatti - “The Holdovers” 

4. Jeffery Wright - “American Fiction”

5. Leonardo DiCaprio - “Killers of the Flower Moon” 

Best Actress in a Supporting Role 

1. Da’Vine Joy Randolph - “The Holdovers” 

2. Danielle Brooks - “The Color Purple” 

3. Emily Blunt - “Oppenheimer”

4. America Ferrera - “Barbie”

5. Penelope Cruz - “Ferrari” 

Best Actor in a Supporting Role 

1. Robert Downey Jr. - “Oppenheimer” 

2. Ryan Gosling - “Barbie” 

3. Mark Ruffalo - “Poor Things” 

4. Charles Melton - “May December”

5. Robert De Niro - “Killers of the Flower Moon”

Best Original Screenplay 

1. David Hemingson - “The Holdovers” 

2. Celine Song - “Past Lives” 

3. Arthur Harari and Justine Triet - “Anatomy of a Fall” 

4. Samy Burch and Alex Mechanik - “May December”

5. Bradley Cooper and Josh Singer - “Maestro”

Best Adapted Screenplay 

1. Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach - “Barbie”

2. Cord Jefferson - “American Fiction”  

3. Tony McNamara - “Poor Things” 

4. Christoper Nolan - “Oppenheimer” 

5. Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese - “Killers of the Flower Moon” 

Best International Feature 

1. “The Zone of Interest” - Jonathan Glazer

2. “Society of the Snow” - J.A. Bayona

3. “Fallen Leaves” - Aki Kaurismaki

4. “The Taste of Things” - Tran Anh Hung

5. “The Teacher’s Lounge” - Ilker Catak

Best Animated Feature 

1. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" - Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson

2. “The Boy and the Heron” - Hayao Miyazaki 

3. “Elemental” - Peter Sohn

4. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” - Jeff Rowe and Kyler Spears

5. “Nimona” - Nick Bruno and Troy Quane

Best Documentary Feature  

1. “Beyond Utopia” - Madeleine Gavin 

2. “20 Days in Mariupol” - Mstyslav Chernov

3. “Four Daughters” - Kaouther Ben Hania

4. “Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project” - Joe Brewster and Michele Stephenson

5. “American Symphony” - Matthew Heineman

Best Cinematography 

1. “Oppenheimer” - Hoyte Van Hoytema

2. “Killers of the Flower Moon” - Rodrigo Prieto 

3. “Poor Things” - Robbie Ryan

4. “Maestro” - Matthew Libatique

5. “The Zone of Interest” - Lukasz Zal 

Best Editing 

1. “Oppenheimer” - Jennifer Lame

2. “Killers of the Flower Moon” - Thelma Schoonmaker

3. “Poor Things” - Yorgos Mavropsaridis

4. “Barbie” - Nick Houy

5. “Anatomy of a Fall” - Laurent Senechal

Best Production Design 

1. “Barbie” - Sarah Greenwood

2. “Poor Things” - Shona Heath and James Price

3. “Killers of the Flower Moon” - Jack Fisk

4. “Oppenheimer” - Ruth De Jong

5. “The Zone of Interest” - Chris Oddy

Best Costume Design 

1. “Barbie” - Jacqueline Durran

2. “Poor Things” - Holly Waddington

3. “Killers of the Flower Moon” - Jacqueline Westnapo

4. “The Color Purple” - Francine Jamison-Tanchuck

5. “Napoleon” - David Crossman and Janty Yates

Best Makeup and Hair Styling 

1. “Maestro” - Bradley Cooper

2. “Poor Things” - Yorgos Lanthimos

3. “Oppenheimer” - Christopher Nolan

4. “Society of the Snow” - J.A. Bayona

5. “Golda” - Guy Nattiv

Best Visual Effects 

1. “Godzilla Minus One” - Takashi Yamasaki 

2. “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3” - James Gunn

3. “The Creator” - Gareth Edwards

4. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" - Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson

5. ”Society of the Snow” - J.A. Bayona

Best Sound 

1. “Oppenheimer” - Christopher Nolan

2. “Killers of the Flower Moon” - Martin Scorsese

3. “The Zone of Interest” - Jonathan Glazer

4. ”Maestro” - Bradley Cooper

5. “The Killer” - David Fincher

Best Original Score 

1. “Oppenheimer” - Ludwig Göransson

2. “Killers of the Flower Moon” - Robbie Robertson

3. “Poor Things” - Jerskin Fendrix 

4. “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" - Daniel Pemberton

5. “The Zone of Interest’ - Mica Levi

Best Original Song 

1. “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish from “Barbie” 

2. “I’m Just Ken” by Ryan Gosling from “Barbie” 

3. “Road to Freedom” by Lenny Kravitz from “Rustin”

4. “The Fire Inside” by Diane Warren from “Flamin’ Hot”

5. “It Never Went Away” by Jon Batiste from “American Symphony”

Trevor Stucker (he/him) is a sophomore majoring in Applied Film and Journalism. This is his second year writing for The Campus Citizen.