EARLY 2027 Best Picture Nominees Predictions
The 2026 Oscars have passed in what felt like the longest awards season of all time. That means it’s time to start looking ahead at the 2027 Oscars and predicting the films I believe I’m going to get nominated at the Oscars in Best Picture.
10. The Social Reckoning (October 9th, 2026): This is one that I debated not putting on this list because I have no idea how good this movie is going to be. If you don’t know what this is, this is a sequel to The Social Network that’s written and directed by Aaron Sorkin, not David Fincher. I’m not entirely sure what a sequel to the film about the creation is going to be about. But Aaron Sorkin is very talented and his films seem to be getting Oscar nominations. It also has a stacked cast with Mikey Madison, Jeremy Strong, Jeremy Allen White, and Wunmi Mosaku. All of those actors excluding White have been Oscar nominated in the last few years. The fact that this amount of talent is attached to this project makes me think that it’s going to be something cool. Will it be cool and good enough to earn an Oscar nomination for Best Picture? I don’t know. I do think Aaron Sorkin’s screenplay gets a nomination as well as one or two actors getting nominated. I wanted to talk about it here but it’s not higher up because I can see it missing.
9. Fjord (TBA): This is one that I don’t know much about, but it stars Renate Reinsive who was in Sentimental Value last year and Sebastian Stan. It’s a Romanian-Norwegian film drama that’s about this couple played by Reinsive and Stan as they move to this town and the townspeople start treating their children weirdly and disturbingly and it’s a drama navigating through this chaos. That sounds like an intriguing premise that if done right could be an Oscar player this awards season. Will it be? I don’t know. To my knowledge, it hasn’t premiered at any film festivals. We don't know what the buzz is surrounding this film. However, it’s heavily rumored that the film will premiere at Cannes in May. So hopefully in a couple of months we’ll have an idea as to whether or not Fjord is good and worthy of a best picture nomination. I feel like Renate and Sebastian will get nominations as they’re great actors who have received nominations in the last couple of years.
8. Disclosure Day (June 12th, 2026): The latest film from Steven Spielberg returning to a genre and source material that’s familiar. The big reason that it’s on here is because it is Steven Spielberg. Whether it’s Spielberg, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese, Denis Villeneuve, or whoever it feels like a good prediction to have them on this list. It’s been a long time since a Spielberg movie didn’t get an Oscar nomination so it’s safe to assume that it’ll get at least one. When you have a stacked cast of talent in this film with Emily Blunt, Josh O’Connor, Colman Domingo, Colin Firth, and Wyatt Russell there’s clearly something in here that made so many great actors attached to star. I feel like it’s safe to predict this film for Best Picture. I don’t know if the film gets any acting nominations but you never know. It’s also a John Williams score so it’ll get nominated for that. With Williams being in his ‘90s this could be one of the last times to award him with an Oscar so there could be a narrative around the idea that you want to see Williams up on that stage again.
7. Project Hail Mary (March 20th, 2026): This is one just came out so maybe it’s recency bias that it’s on here. But this film has been getting fantastic reviews that it’s bound to get multiple Oscar nominations. I think this film and Dune: Part III are going to get multiple technical nominations this awards season. Ryan Gosling is 100% deserving of a nomination here, and should get in. It seems like almost every year we get at least one movie that releases in the first quarter of the year. Last year it was Sinners which was probably very close to win Best Picture. In the past couple of years we’ve gotten films like Everything Everywhere All at Once and Dune: Part II that received multiple nominations. There’s so much about this that makes me want to put it higher up on the list. But ultimately, this movie is too much of a crowd pleasing blockbuster which aren’t the films that the Oscars normally nominate. And it did release earlier in the year and we don’t get a lot of movies from this time of the year getting nominated. Ultimately, the reviews are so strong that I think it gets into Best Picture.
6. Michael (April 24th, 2026): This is another film that’s releasing in the first part of the year that could hurt its chances of getting a Best Picture nomination. This is one that I’m not super excited for, I haven’t loved the trailer and I’m so curious how they’re going to tackle this movie with all of the controversy surrounding this film. But biopics are always a safe bet to get a Best Picture nomination. Within the last couple of years we got Bohemian Rhapsody, Elvis, and A Complete Unknown getting multiple nominations at the Oscars including Best Actor. If this film is a crowd pleaser and gets critics and audiences excited about it and love it then I think this film is a Best Picture, and we’re just about a month away from the review embargo for the film. I think the film will get a makeup and hairstyling nomination in particular because of Colman Domingo’s transformation. They did a great job of turning Domingo to look like his father which is crazy. I feel like maybe Domingo slips into the supporting actor and finally wins him an Oscar. He should’ve won for Sing Sing a few years back. The film will probably also get costumes and sound. I don’t think it’ll get 10+ nominations, but six or seven (shut up) makes sense to me.
5. Digger (October 2nd, 2026): This is one of my most anticipated movies of 2026 and I hope it’s good and gets multiple Oscar nominations. The big one that people are talking about here is that this could finally be the film that gets Tom Cruise an Oscar. People have viewed Cruise as an actor that’s long overdue for an Oscar. The film is directed by Alejandro G. Iñarríttu who directed The Revenant. He was the guy that was finally able to give Leonardo DiCaprio an Oscar and maybe he can do the same for Cruise. There’s been some test screenings for the film recently that have commented on Cruise and they’re saying he’s really good and doing an Oscar bait performance. The other one that people were talking about coming out of it was John Goodman. John Goodman is an actor who hasn’t even gotten an Oscar nomination, maybe this will be his time. Iñarrítu has directed multiple Best Picture nominees, including one winning Best Picture. So he’s a safe bet to include on a list like this that it’ll likely get in. The fact that it’s described as a comedy does give me a slight pause that it’s not the film we’re expecting it to be. Regardless, I feel confident enough in the cast and director to include it on this list.
4. Wild Horse Nine (November 6th, 2026): The day that I’m writing this, we actually got the first trailer. I haven’t watched it and maybe once I do it’ll move down on this list. But this is the latest from Martin McDonagh, his last two films, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Banshees of Inisherin both got several nominations including Best Picture. So based on that track record this film is almost a lock to get into Best Picture. The film stars John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, and Steve Buscemi. That’s an interesting cast because Rockwell has been very prominent in movies over the last 15 years. He won an Oscar in a Martin McDonagh movie, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. But the other two, Malkovich and Buscemi haven’t been as prominent so the fact that they’re starring in this film gets me curious as to what this film is about. Depending on their performances and how good they are, their could be a narrative spun around the concept of giving Buscemi and Malkovich and Oscar nomination, especially Buscemi whose never received one before. Like I said, I haven’t watched the trailer yet so if I do, then this could move down on the list. But right now given the cast, director, and a prime fall release date I feel confident putting it here.
3. Dune: Part III (December 18th, 2026): Another film that we recently got a trailer for and universally, one of the most anticipated movies of the year. Both of the previous Dune movies, directed by Denis Villeneuve received Best Picture nominations. When Dune (2021) came out it was the most nominated film of that year and won 6 Oscars. Dune: Part II got half as many, but still won two. I feel confident putting this film on the list and this high up. But there is a slight amount of pause with this film. Last year we had two third entries in franchises, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery and Avatar: Fire and Ash underperformed at the Oscars. Another sequel with Wicked: For Good also didn’t get anything. There is a little bit of pause with me because the Oscars don’t also vibe with sequels. But maybe this could turn things around to be another The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and win a whole lot of Oscars. I doubt that it’ll win 11 Oscars but it could win multiple, especially in the technical categories. I still feel confident putting this film at #3, I don’t see it missing. But it is something to talk about here that sequels don’t always do well at the Oscars.
2. The Adventures of Cliff Booth (TBA): The latest film directed by David Fincher that’s written by Quentin Tarantino. This is a spin-off with Brad Pitt’s character from Once Upon A Time in Hollywood. Based on the talent involved, this seems like a lock to get a Best Picture nomination. I’m sure Tarantino’s script will get an Oscar nomination and get all sorts of nominations in other categories. Given that Once Upon A Time in Hollywood was nominated for Best Picture and received 10 nominations it seems like a good lock that this is going to get a Best Picture nomination. Given that Brad Pitt won the Oscar for Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, maybe he can get into Best Actor and win. The other thing here is I feel like there could be a narrative surrounding the concept of giving David Fincher an Oscar. He’s one of the great directors that has yet to win an Oscar. 2024 was Christopher Nolan’s year to win an Oscar and 2026 was Paul Thomas Anderson, so maybe 2027 can be Fincher’s year. Who knows, we’ll just have to wait and see.
1. The Odyssey (July 17th, 2026): Speaking of Christopher Nolan, I have to put The Odyssey at #1. Christopher Nolan is coming off of winning multiple Oscars for Oppenheimer, so it’s likely that this movie will get into Best Picture. I also think Nolan gets the Best Director nomination. I don’t know if he’ll win because it seems unlikely for a director to win Oscars for back to back films. But who knows, maybe Nolan can pull it off. The film is also going to get a whole lot of technical nominations from sound to score to costume design to production design and so many other nominations and wins. Nolan’s batting average is pretty great, so whenever he has a new movie coming out you can expect it to be one of the best films of the year. The film also has a star-studded cast so it’s very likely that some of the actors could get in. I know some people are already predicting Matt Damon getting in. I could see that happening since it’s been over a decade since his last acting nomination. Right now, with no evidence or sources to back this up, I’m saying Tom Holland is also getting a nomination. I have no idea why, maybe it’s the release of Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s trailer but I feel he’s getting in.
Comments