FINAL 2021 OSCAR NOMINATION PREDICTIONS – 93RD ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS

​Hello, all, and welcome back to The Friendly Film Fan! The nominations announcement for the 93rd Oscars is mere hours away, and I am so excited! The Oscars are my favorite day of the year every single year, so when awards season really gets going, I get pumped to talk about all the great movies from the previous year. It sure has been one hell of a strange awards season, from the BAFTAs using 10-12 person juries to nominate several high-profile categories (excluding Best Film) to Delroy Lindo and Da 5 Bloods slipping almost completely out of orbit where once they were projected to be locks. Jared Leto has a SAG nomination for The Little Things, Amanda Seyfried does not have a SAG nomination for Mank, Andra Day actually won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama despite being most people’s last place guess, and the whole awards race – while still retaining some sort of shape – could go just about anywhere in below the line competitions. There’s a lot to talk about in terms of the Oscar races, and if you’ve followed me for any significant period of time, you know I’ve been keeping up with every guild, group, and nominating committee trying to make sure all of my predictions for the eventual Oscar nominations are as accurate as they can possibly be. So, just before those are due to be announced (tomorrow morning at 5:19 PT/8:19 EST), here are my FINAL predictions for the Oscar nominees of 2021 (plus, some wildcard picks that could surprise)!

Best Picture*:

• The Father
• Judas and the Black Messiah
• Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
• Mank
• Minari
• Nomadland
• One Night in Miami…
• Promising Young Woman
• Sound of Metal*
• The Trial of the Chicago 7

Wildcard(s):

• Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
• News of the World
• Soul

 
Best Director:

• David Fincher, Mank
• Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
• Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
• Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
• Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Wildcard(s):

• Florian Zeller, The Father
• Shaka King, Judas and the Black Messiah
• Regina King, One Night in Miami…

 
Best Actor:

• Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
• Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
• Anthony Hopkins, The Father
• Gary Oldman, Mank
• Steven Yeun, Minari

Wildcard(s):

• Delroy Lindo, Da 5 Bloods
• Mads Mikkelsen, Another Round
• Tahar Rahim, The Mauritanian

 
Best Actress:

• Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
• Andra Day, The United States vs. Billie Holiday
• Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman
• Frances McDormand, Nomadland
• Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

Wildcard(s):

• Yeri Han, Minari
• Michelle Pfieffer, French Exit
• Zendaya, Malcolm & Marie

 
Best Supporting Actor:

• Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7
• Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
• Alan Kim, Minari
• Leslie Odom Jr., One Night in Miami…
• Paul Raci, Sound of Metal

Wildcard(s):

• Chadwick Boseman, Da 5 Bloods
• Jared Leto, The Little Things
• Bill Murray, On the Rocks

 
Best Supporting Actress:

• Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
• Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy
• Olivia Colman, The Father
• Amanda Seyfried, Mank
• Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari

Wildcard(s):

• Dominique Fishback, Judas and the Black Messiah
• Jodie Foster, The Mauritanian
• Helena Zengel, News of the World

 
Best Animated Feature:

• The Croods: A New Age
• Onward
• Over the Moon
• Soul
• Wolfwalkers

Wildcard(s):

• No. 7 Cherry Lane
• A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon
• The Willoughbys

 
Best International Feature Film:

• Another Round (Denmark)
• Collective (Romania)
• La Llorona (Guatemala)
• Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• Two of Us (France)

Wildcard(s):

• Dear Comrades! (Russia)
• I’m No Longer Here (Mexico)
• Night of the Kings (Ivory Coast)

 
Best Documentary Feature:

• Boys State
• Collective
• Dick Johnson Is Dead
• Time
• Welcome to Chechnya

Wildcard(s):

• All In: The Fight for Democracy
• Crip Camp
• The Truffle Hunters

 
Best Cinematography:

• Sean Bobbitt, Judas and the Black Messiah
• Erik Messerschmidt, Mank
• Darius Wolski, News of the World
• Joshua James Richards, Nomadland
• Phedon Papamichael, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Wildcard(s):

• Newton Thomas Sigel, Cherry
• Andrey Naydenov, Dear Comrades!
• Hoyte van Hoytema, Tenet

 
Best Film Editing:

• Yorgos Lamprinos, The Father
• Kirk Baxter, Mank
• Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
• Mikkel E.G. Nielsen, Sound of Metal
• Alan Baumgarten, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Wildcard(s):

• Craig Alpert, Mike Giambra, and James Thomas, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
• Harry Yoon, Minari
• Frédéric Thoraval, Promising Young Woman

 
Best Production Design:

• Donald Graham Burt, Mank
• Mark Ricker, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
• David Crank, News of the World
• Barry Robison, One Night in Miami…
• Cristina Casali, The Personal History of David Copperfield

Wildcard(s):

• Jim Bissell, The Midnight Sky
• Grant Major, Mulan
• Shane Valentino, The Trial of the Chicago 7

 
Best Costume Design:

• Alexander Byrne, Emma. (2020)
• Ann Roth, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
• Trish Summerville, Mank
• Bina Daigeler, Mulan
• Mark Bridges, News of the World

Wildcard(s):

• Francine Jamison-Tanchuck, One Night in Miami…
• Nancy Steiner, Promising Young Woman
• Suzie Harman and Robert Worley, The Personal History of David Copperfield

 
Best Makeup & Hairstyling:

• Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn
• Hillbilly Elegy
• Mank
• Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
• Pinocchio

Wildcard(s):

• The Glorias
• The Little Things
• One Night in Miami…

 
Best Original Score:

• Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Mank
• Emile Mosseri, Minari
• James Newton Howard, News of the World
• Jon Batiste, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Soul
• Ludwig Göransson, Tenet

Wildcard(s):

• Terence Blanchard, Da 5 Bloods
• Alexandre Desplat, The Midnight Sky
• Daniel Pemberton, The Trial of the Chicago 7

 
Best Original Song:

• “Fight for You,” Judas and the Black Messiah
• “Hear My Voice,” The Trial of the Chicago 7
• “Io Sì (Seen),” The Life Ahead
• “Rain Song,” Minari
• “Speak Now,” One Night in Miami…

Wildcard(s):

• “Husavik,” Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga
• “Turntables,” All In: The Fight for Democracy
• “Wuhan Flu,” Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

 
Best Adapted Screenplay:

• Peter Baynham, Sacha Baron Cohen, Jena Friedman, Anthony Hines, Lee Kern, Dan Mazer, Erica Rivinoja, and Dan Swimer, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
• Christopher Hampton and Florian Zeller, The Father
• Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
• Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
• Kemp Powers, One Night in Miami…

Wildcard(s):

• Kelly Reichardt and Jonathan Raymond, First Cow
• Charlie Kaufman, i’m thinking of ending things
• Rory Haines, Sohrab Noshirvani, and M.B. Traven, The Mauritanian

 
Best Original Screenplay:

• Jack Fincher, Mank
• Lee Isaac Chung, Minari
• Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman
• Pete Doctor, Mike Jones, and Kemp Powers, Soul
• Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Wildcard(s):

• Will Berson and Shaka King, Judas and the Black Messiah
• Eliza Hittman, Never Rarely Sometimes Always
• Derek Cianfrance, Darius Marder, and Abraham Marder, Sound of Metal

 
Best Visual Effects:

• Mank
• The Midnight Sky
• Mulan
• Soul
• Tenet

Wildcard(s):

• Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn
• Love and Monsters
• Welcome to Chechnya

 
Best Sound:

• Mank
• News of the World
• Soul
• Sound of Metal
• Tenet

Wildcard(s):

• Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
• The Midnight Sky
• Nomadland

 
Best Live-Action Short:

• Feeling Through
• The Human Voice
• The Letter Room
• Two Distant Strangers
• White Eye

Wildcard(s):

• Da Yie
• The Present
• The Van

 
Best Animated Short:

• Burrow
• If Anything Happens I Love You
• Kapaaemahu
• Out
• The Snail and the Whale

Wildcard(s):

• Genius Loci
• Opera
• Traces

 
Best Documentary Short:

• Abortion Helpline, This Is Lisa
• Colette
• A Concerto Is a Conversation
• Do Not Split
• A Love Song for Latasha

Wildcard(s):

• Call Center Blues
• The Speed Cubers
• What Would Sophia Loren Do?

So, what do you think of these guesses? Any you disagree with? Let me know in the comments section below, and be sure to join me on my Instagram page to watch my LIVE REACTION to the Oscar nominations tomorrow morning! Thanks for reading!
 
- The Friendly Film Fan

​*Although there are 10 slots in the Best Picture category, it is highly unlikely all 10 spots will be filled. The inclusion of 10 films in the nomination predictions for this category is only to fill out that final spot so as to make a complete list. For accuracy purposes, Sound of Metal is the most likely film to not make the final 9.