2026 Oscar Predictions Part 2: Technical Categories + More!

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2026 Oscar Predictions Part 2: Technical Categories + More!


Tomorrow are the 2026 Oscar nominations. That means we’re going to know which movies that Oscars are going to be celebrating as the best movies of the year. Yesterday I shared my predictions for the top NINE categories. Today we’re going to be talking about the rest of the categories. Let’s talk about it!


BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

  • Sentimental Value
  • It Was Just an Accident
  • The Secret Agent 
  • Sirāt
  • The Voice of Hind Rajab
    • Honorable Mentions
      • No Other Choice
  • My Thoughts: I’m not super invested in the international film category. Simply because I don’t know these movies, I haven’t watched any of them. But the top three I feel confident in, Sentimental Value, It Was Just an Accident, and The Secret Agent are getting in. All of those movies are either a lock for best picture or right out of the best picture ten. Sirāt is an interesting one because I don’t think it gets into the best picture category, but it was shortlisted for several Oscar categories. So it could easily get a couple of nominations outside, so clearly people are watching this movie and are loving it. The other one in there, The Voice of Hind Rajab. I haven't seen that movie. I don’t really even know what it’s about. But it’s been getting a lot of talk and getting in at several award shows, so I think it’s getting in. 


BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

  • K-POP: Demon Hunters
  • Zootopia 2
  • Arco
  • Elio 
  • Little Amélie or the Character of Rain 
    • Honorable Mentions
      • Demon Slayer
      • The Bad Guys 2
      • In Your Dreams
  • My Thoughts: This is another interesting one because I don’t feel like 2025 has been a great year for animation. But, what’s fun about this category is that we normally get some foreign films and ones that aren’t big in the United States. Arco and Little Amélie or the Character of Rain are films that I haven’t heard of until awards season. I don’t know what they’re about, but they’ve been talked about so much that they feel like they’re getting along. I also think Elio gets in. It didn’t do great at the box office but we normally get a Pixar movie in here, so it makes sense that it’ll be here. Then the top two, you could’ve guessed it, K-Pop: Demon Hunters and Zootopia 2. Both of them of course have big gigantic cultural impact but in different ways. K-Pop: Demon Hunters was a juggernaut on Netflix while Zootopia 2 is crushing it at the box office, it just surpassed Jurassic World to be the 10th highest grossing movie of all time. K-Pop: Demon Hunters is a lock for a best animated feature nomination, will it win? I don’t know. It didn’t get nominated at the BAFTA awards. I could see where maybe Zootopia 2 could win this at the Oscars, the original film did. 


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

  • Sinners
  • One Battle After Another
  • Train Dreams
  • Frankenstein
  • Marty Supreme
    • Honorable Mentions
      • F1
      • Hamnet 
  • My Thoughts: This is one that I think is actually pretty easy. I don’t really have any judgments or ones that I’m debating. Right now, I think Sinners can take this at the Oscars. But, One Battle After Another is close on its heels. It’s kind of the race between those two films, so those films are getting in. For a while, I didn’t have Train Dreams on this list. But it won at Critics Choice so there’s love for Train Dreams’ cinematography. Even if the film doesn’t get into best picture, I think it gets the cinematography nomination. Frankenstein and Marty Supreme have been getting cinematography nominations in a bunch of places. I feel confident about them getting in here. F1 is one that I could see getting in here. If this movie can rack up enough Oscar nominations in the technical categories, then this movie 100% has a chance of getting a best picture nomination. F1 was nominated for cinematography at Critics Choice and it was long listed at the BAFTAs. 


BEST EDITING

  • One Battle After Another
  • Marty Supreme
  • Sinners
  • Hamnet
  • F1
    • Honorable Mentions
      • Sentimental Value  
  • My Thoughts: This one seems pretty easy to me. One Battle After Another I think is the favorite to win here. In particular with the fact that they made neater 3 hour films fly by takes very impressive editing. Surprisingly I don’t have Sinners in that second place spot like you might think. That’s NOT to say that I don’t think Sinners gets in editing. I just feel like Marty Supreme’s editing is more chaotic and in your face and I think that’s going to attract their voters’ eyes. Hamnet has a great shot, it’s one of the front runners in best picture and makes sense that it’ll get in here. I also have F1 in that fifth place spot. F1 surprisingly won best editing at Critics Choice. The film is beloved and like I said, I think it’s going to do very well at the Oscars in the technical categories. The more I’m putting F1 in these categories the more I feel like I could put F1 in the best picture, but I don’t see it right now. 


BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRTSYLING

  • Frankenstein
  • Wicked: For Good 
  • Sinners
  • The Smashing Machine
  • Marty Supreme
    • Honorable Mentions
      • One Battle After Another
  • My Thoughts: In first place here I have Frankenstein, this is Frankenstein’s award to lose. It won at Critics Choice and it’s getting the BAFTA nomination and possible win there. Wicked: For Good I think gets in, I feel like that film’s makeup is pretty remarkable. Of course Elphaba’s design is iconic and looks really real. But you also get the looks of The Tin Man and Scarecrow that look incredible. They’ve been posting behind the scenes videos of Ethan Slater and Jonathan Bailey in the makeup chair and it’s incredible. Sinners have a lot of crazy makeup especially in the back half with the vampires and the blood that one is getting in. I have The Smashing Machine in that fourth place spot. Dwayne Johnson’s chances of getting into best actor are near zero. But the makeup work is incredible, they made Johnson totally unrecognized in this movie and I think it should be recognized for that. In that fifth place spot I have Marty Supreme. Recently they’ve been showing videos of the prosthetics that Timothée Chalamet is having to make him look older and with scars and scraps that I think is going to get recognized by the academy. One of the few categories here that I don’t see is One Battle After Another getting in. As I’ve said and multiple others have said, it’s likely going to win best picture. Because it’s the favorite I can see them maybe nominating it all over the place. I don’t know if makeup and hairstyling is one of those places because it’s not one of the aspects that people are talking about and there’s no impressive makeup work in that film. 


BEST COSTUME DESIGN

  • Frankenstein
  • Wicked: For Good
  • Sinners
  • Hamnet
  • Hedda
    • Honorable Mentions
      • Marty Supreme
      • Bugonia
      • One Battle After Another
      • Kiss of the Spider Woman
  • My Thoughts: The top three are the same as makeup and hairstyling, Frankenstein, Wicked: For Good, and Sinners those are getting in. This is another category that I think Frankenstein is going to win. I have Hamnet in that fourth place spot, which I feel like I should rank higher because it’s impressive costume work and it’s taking the audience back to a different time and place. That fifth place spot was a bit interesting to me, for a while I had Marty Supreme getting in there. I was looking at other nominations and predictions and Hedda with Tessa Thompson kept on showing up. It got the costume design guild nomination and Critics Choice, that seems like it’s getting in. Marty Supreme and Bugonia either one of those has a shot because they’re both best picture contenders. But ultimately, I think Hedda gets in. It seems like most years we have one nomination in production or costumes that gets in.  


BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

  • Frankenstein
  • Wicked: For Good
  • Sinners
  • Hamnet 
  • Avatar: Fire and Ash
    • Honorable Mentions
      • Marty Supreme
      • The Fantastic 4: First Steps
  • My Thoughts: I feel like a broken clock because the last three categories, Frankenstein, Wicked: For Good, and Sinners have all been in the top three, and in the same order. I feel like this award is either going to Frankenstein or Wicked: For Good. Sinners is getting in here simply because it’s a favorite and the production design is also great. Like the film’s costumes, Hamnet’s production design was able to transport the audience back into a different time period. In that fifth place I’m putting Avatar: Fire and Ash OVER Marty Supreme. Marty Supreme has been talked about a lot for this category, it should get in and I wouldn’t be surprised. But I feel like Avatar: Fire and Ash is going to get more than one nomination. We all know what the other nomination is going to be. The film isn’t beloved enough to get into best picture but people love the production design so I think that could get in. I don’t know if it gets it, but maybe The Fantastic 4: First Steps can slip in, that’ll be awesome. 


BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

  • Avatar: Fire and Ash
  • Frankenstein
  • F1
  • Sinners
  • Superman 
    • Honorable Mentions
      • Wicked: For Good
      • The Lost Bus 
  • My Thoughts: This is pretty easy for me, this is Avatar: Fire and Ash’s award to lose. This might not be the best movie of the year but it’s probably the best LOOKING movie of the year. Frankenstein, F1, and Sinners have been getting in everywhere, all of them look very cool. I have Superman getting in too. How likely is it? I don’t know. But we normally get a comic book movie and it’s been getting in at several visual effects award shows. I believe Superman gets in here. Wicked: For Good has had a shot since the first film was nominated. I actually have The Lost Bus as an honorable mention. I haven’t seen this movie but from what I’ve heard, it’s more subtle with the CGI and sometimes the Oscars love those movies, the ones that aren’t as in your face so that one could get in. 


BEST SOUND

  • F1
  • Sinners
  • One Battle After Another
  • Sirāt
  • Avatar: Fire and Ash
    • Honorable Mentions
      • Frankenstein
      • Wicked: For Good
      • Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning 
  • My Thoughts: The last three categories on here are all the sound related/adjacent categories. We’re starting that off with the best sound category. This one is interesting, because I think if F1 is winning an Oscar, it’s going to be sound. It’s similar to Top Gun: Maverick and that film only won sound. Rewatching Sinners and One Battle After Another, both of those movies have great sound design so they seem like they’re going to get in. From there, I’m going with Sirāt, a movie that I haven’t seen but has gotten several sound related nominations at different award shows. From my understanding, this film deals with a music festival and sound is a big part of it. I’m putting it in the fourth place spot. That fifth place spot I’m a bit torn between Avatar: Fire and Ash and Frankenstein. For a while I had Frankenstein in there but looking at what other people are predicting, I don’t know if Frankenstein gets in. I’m actually putting Avatar: Fire and Ash in that fifth place spot. The film’s reception hasn’t been great so it’s for sure out of best picture. But there’s no denying that the technical aspects of the film are incredible, because of that I feel like it could get three nominations in the technical categories. I might be risky with this one, but I feel like Avatar: Fire and Ash gets into sound. The other two honorable mentions I have are Wicked: For Good and Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning. The reason for that is because both of these film’s predecessors got nominated in this category. In the case of Wicked: For Good, I feel like it could be another Dune: Part II situation where it doesn’t get as many nominations as people expect and significantly fewer than the previous film. But it’s a big flashy musical so there’s a chance it gets in. 


BEST SCORE

  • Sinners
  • One Battle After Another 
  • Hamnet
  • Frankenstein
  • Marty Supreme
    • Honorable Mentions
      • F1
      • Bugonia 
      • Wicked: For Good
      • Sirāt
  • My Thoughts: Yet again, another category where Sinners and One Battle After Another are in those top spots. I feel Sinners is winning this award, Ludwig Göransson is beloved by the academy, he’s already won two Oscars for Black Panther and Oppenheimer. He’ll also probably be nominated again next year for The Odyssey. But don’t cut out Jonny Greenwood for One Battle After Another, that’s another fantastic score that could win. Greenwood has been composing films for a long time but has never won an Oscar, this could finally be his time to possibly win. Hamnet and Frankenstein have been getting nominated everywhere, two more FANTASTIC scores that should get a nomination. I have Marty Supreme in that fifth place spot, the film could very well get in. But I also feel like it could miss, I don’t know but I can see it happening. The two main honorable mentions I have, aka the only ones with a good chance of getting in are F1 and Bugonia. F1 is composed by the great Hans Zimmer and I debated putting F1 in that top five. He was nominated at Critics Choice and Golden Globe, it’s a flashy score and Zimmer is a true legendary film composer. I could see the Academy making up after not nominating him for Dune: Part II because it wasn’t “original” enough. Surprisingly I have Bugonia as another honorable mention. This film could very well get in, it’s gotten a few surprise nominations. We know that Academy voters are going to be watching Bugonia and they might think the score stands out to them. 


BEST ORIGINAL SONG

  • “Golden” (K-Pop: Demon Hunters)
  • “Last Time (I Seen the Sun)” (Sinners)
  • “The Girl in the Bubble” (Wicked: For Good)
  • “Dear Me” (Diane Warren: Relentless)
  • “I Lied to You” (Sinners)
    • Honorable Mentions
      • “Train Dreams” (Train Dreams)
      • “No Place Like Home” (Wicked: For Good)
      • “Dream As One” (Avatar: Fire and Ash)
  • My Thoughts: This is one I’m not super invested in but I feel pretty confident about my picks here. “Golden” from K-Pop: Demon Hunters is likely your winner. That is this years’ “Let it Go”, K-Pop: Demon Hunters is 2025’s Frozen. I have two songs from Sinners getting in “Last Time (I Seen the Sun)” and “I Lied to You”. Both are great songs and it’s a film that people love and could very well get in, especially if it gets those 15 nominations that people are saying, then it needs two songs to get in. The other two, “The Girl in the Bubble” from Wicked: For Good, that’s getting in. Wicked: For Good is a big flashy musical that has two original songs. I only think one of them gets in and that’s “The Girl in the Bubble” that even seems to be the song that Universal is pushing more. Then of course, I have our Diane Warren presentation on here, “Dear Me” from Diane Warren: Relentless. It’s Diane Warren, she always gets nominated even if she doesn’t win, she’ll get nominated. “Train Dreams” from Train Dreams could slip in there, especially if Train Dreams is strong in other categories. I don’t see the other Wicked: For Good song, “No Place Like Home” getting in. It got nominated at the Golden Globes but there’s no push to try and get it nominated. “Dream as One” could because it’s from a big movie written by a popular musical artist. But if The Weekend’s song couldn’t get in for Avatar: The Way of Water, then Milery Cyrus’ song for Fire and Ash doesn’t get in here. 



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