Final Oscar Nomination Predictions – 2023 Academy Awards

The Friendly Film Fan Makes its Final Predictions for the 95th Academy Award Nominations.

​Greetings, readers! It’s been a while. There will be time for explanations later, Where did he go? Where has he been? How is he so unbelievably handsome and only getting more so every day but also staying so humble about it? All things in due time, but right now, there is lots to get into and not a lot of time to get into it, so here we go!
 
Oscar nominations are tomorrow morning! Every year, I post nomination predictions; this year I did slip a little bit in that department, BUT I am back one last time to give you all my rundown, now that all the major pre-cursors have revealed their own nominations, of what I think stands to compete at this year’s awards ceremony. Each nomination field will include my selections for what’s most likely to be nominated in said category, as well as the presence of 3 “wildcard” picks, which are outside possibilities that could sneak in under the right circumstances. Sometimes these wildcard selections are very likely spoilers, some are somewhat possible, and some are genuine long shots with only the slimmest of probabilities, but one thing is always clear on nomination day – the possibilities are endless. So, without further ado, let’s dive right in. These are my final predictions for the 2023 Oscar Nominations!

BEST PICTURE
Predicted Nominees:

• All Quiet on the Western Front
• Avatar: The Way of Water
• The Banshees of Inisherin
• Elvis
• Everything Everywhere All at Once
• The Fabelmans
• TÁR
• Top Gun: Maverick
• The Whale
• Women Talking

Wildcard(s):

• Babylon
• Triangle of Sadness
• The Woman King

 
BEST DIRECTOR
Predicted Nominees:

• Edward Berger, All Quiet on the Western Front
• Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin
• Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once
• Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans
• Todd Field, TÁR

Wildcard(s):

• James Cameron, Avatar: The Way of Water
• Baz Luhrmann, Elvis
• Joseph Kosinski, Top Gun: Maverick

 
BEST ACTRESS
Predicted Nominees

• Ana de Armas, Blonde
• Cate Blanchett, TÁR
• Viola Davis, The Woman King
• Danielle Deadwyler, Till
• Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Wildcard(s):

• Andrea Riseborough, To Leslie
• Margot Robbie, Babylon
• Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans

 
BEST ACTOR
Predicted Nominees

• Austin Butler, Elvis
• Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin
• Brendan Fraser, The Whale
• Paul Mescal, Aftersun
• Bill Nighy, Living

Wildcard(s):

• Tom Cruise, Top Gun: Maverick
• Jeremy Pope, The Inspection
• Adam Sandler, Hustle

 
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Predicted Nominees:

• Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• Hong Chau, The Whale
• Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin
• Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once
• Dolly de Leon, Triangle of Sadness

Wildcard(s):

• Jessie Buckley, Women Talking
• Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All at Once
• Carey Mulligan, She Said

 
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Predicted Nominees:

• Paul Dano, The Fabelmans
• Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin
• Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin
• Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once
• Eddie Redmayne, The Good Nurse

Wildcard(s):

• Brian Tyree Henry, Causeway
• Brad Pitt, Babylon
• Ben Wishaw, Women Talking

 
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Predicted Nominees:

• Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio
• Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
• Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
• Turning Red
• Wendell and Wild

Wildcard(s):

• Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood
• My Father’s Dragon
• The Sea Beast

 
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM
Predicted Nominees:

• All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany)
• Argentina, 1985 (Argentina)
• Close (Belgium)
• Decision to Leave (South Korea)
• The Quiet Girl (Ireland)

Wildcard(s):

• Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths (Mexico)
• Corsage (Austria)
• EO (Poland)

 
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Predicted Nominees:

• All That Breathes
• All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
• Descendant
• Fire of Love
• Navalny

Wildcard(s):

• Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song
• Moonage Daydream
• The Territory

 
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Predicted Nominees:

• James Friend, All Quiet on the Western Front
• Greig Fraser, The Batman
• Mandy Walker, Elvis
• Roger Deakins, Empire of Light
• Claudio Miranda, Top Gun: Maverick

Wildcard(s):

• Russell Carpenter, Avatar: The Way of Water
• Darius Khondji, Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths
• Janusz Kaminski, The Fabelmans

 
BEST FILM EDITING
Predicted Nominees:

• The Banshees of Inisherin
• Elvis
• Everything Everywhere All at Once
• The Fabelmans
• Top Gun: Maverick

Wildcard(s):

• All Quiet on the Western Front
• Avatar: The Way of Water
• TÁR

 
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Predicted Nominees:

• Avatar: The Way of Water
• Babylon
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• Elvis
• The Fabelmans

Wildcard(s):

• All Quiet on the Western Front
• The Batman
• Everything Everywhere All at Once

 
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Predicted Nominees:

• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• Elvis
• Everything Everywhere All at Once
• Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
• The Woman King

Wildcard(s):

• Amsterdam
• Babylon
• Blonde

 
BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
Predicted Nominees:

• All Quiet on the Western Front
• The Batman
• Blonde
• Elvis
• The Whale

Wildcard(s):

• Amsterdam
• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• Crimes of the Future

 
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Predicted Nominees:

• Justin Hurwitz, Babylon
  
• Carter Burwell, The Banshees of Inisherin
• John Williams, The Fabelmans
  
• Alexandre Desplat, Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio
  
• Hildur Guðnadóttir, Women Talking

Wildcard(s):

• Volker Bertelmann, All Quiet on the Western Front
  
• Son Lux, Everything Everywhere All at Once
• Terence Blanchard, The Woman King

 
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
Predicted Nominees:

• “Applause,” Tell It Like a Woman
• “Ciao Papa,” Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio
• “Hold My Hand,” Top Gun: Maverick
• “Lift Me Up,” Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• “Naatu Naatu,” RRR

Wildcard(s):

• “Carolina,” Where the Crawdads Sing
• “New Body Rhumba,” White Noise
• “Stand Up,” Till

 
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Predicted Nominees:

• Edward Berger, Lesley Paterson, and Ian Stokell, All Quiet on the Western Front
• Kazuo Ishiguro and Akira Kurosawa, Living
• Rebecca Lenkiewicz, She Said
• Darryn Aronofsky, The Whale
• Sarah Polley and Miriam Toews, Women Talking

Wildcard(s):

• David Kajganich, Bones and All
• Rian Johnson, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
• Noah Baumbach, White Noise

 
BEST ORIGNAL SCREENPLAY
Predicted Nominees:

• Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin
• Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once
• Tony Kushner and Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans
• Todd Field, TÁR
• Ruben Östlund, Triangle of Sadness

Wildcard(s):

• Charlotte Wells, Aftersun
• Damien Chazelle, Babylon
• Park Chan-wook and Seo-kyeong Jeong, Decision to Leave

 
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Predicted Nominees:

• All Quiet on the Western Front
• Avatar: The Way of Water
• The Batman
• Thirteen Lives
• Top Gun: Maverick

Wildcard(s):

• Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
• Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

 
BEST SOUND
Predicted Nominees:

• All Quiet on the Western Front
• Avatar: The Way of Water
• The Batman
• Elvis
• Top Gun: Maverick

Wildcard(s):

• Everything Everywhere All at Once
• Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio
• Moonage Daydream

 
BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT
Predicted Nominees:

• An Irish Goodbye
• Le Pupille
• Nakam
• The Red Suitcase
• Warsha

Wildcard(s):

• Ivalu
• The Lone Wolf
• The Treatment

 
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Predicted Nominees:

• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
• The Flying Sailor
• My Year of Dicks
• New Moon
• Save Ralph

Wildcard(s):

• The Debutante
• It’s Nice in Here
• Steak House

 
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Predicted Nominees:

• The Elephant Whisperers
• The Flagmakers
• Holding Moses
• How do You Measure a Year?
• 38 at the Garden

Wildcard(s):

• American Justice on Trial: People v. Newton
• Haulout
• The Martha Mitchell Effect

And that’s it! What do you all think will wake up to nominations tomorrow morning? Are there any true wildcards you’re expecting? Let me know in the comments below, and thanks for reading! More soon!

- ​The Friendly Film Fan