As promised, Team Contending regrouped this week and provided their updated predictions across 21 Oscar categories. We’re not quite ready to dip our toes into the shorts races yet. We’ll defer predictions there until the short lists come out. But until then, we do have our consensus view of 21 categories including the crafts. We already pegged Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey for a potential four acting nominations in addition to Casting, Picture, Director, and Adapted Screenplay.
But opening things up to the crafts brings to mind a question that’s likely already on everybody’s mind: can The Odyssey break the new Oscar record in nominations? Last year, Sinners set a record when it received 16 nominations, buoyed by three performance nominations. But is that new record doomed this year?
Team Contending certainly thinks so.
Looking at our latest Contending Consensus predictions, The Odyssey seems poised to receive what would be a record-setting 17 nominations. When the film debuted to raves and massive box office last July, people immediately felt certain Nolan’s epic would be a major player. But did we think it would soar this high?
A record nomination haul would be greatly helped by what people generally consider to be four acting nominations for Matt Damon, John Leguizamo, Anne Hathaway, and Samantha Morton. There’s a VERY outside chance that Robert Pattinson sneaks into the supporting actor race as well, although we’re not predicting it. In the crafts races, Odyssey nominations in Editing, Production Design, Cinematography, Makeup & Hair, Sound, Visual Effects, and Score seem fairly locked. These are the nominations we’ve come to expect, in various combinations, from a Christopher Nolan epic. What would tip The Odyssey toward record territory would be nominations in less confident categories: namely Song and Costume Design.
Regardless of the number of nominations, it’s undeniable that The Odyssey will boast a seismic impact on the 2027 Oscar nominations. Not to be undone, Netflix’s La Bola Negra, recent audience award winner at festivals across the world, looks to land around 13 Oscar nominations, according to Team Contending. That would tie it with Netflix’s last major Oscar nomination holder: 2024’s Emilia Perez.
But it’s still early, and few have seen December’s last major Oscar play. No, not Avengers: Doomsday. Early world on Dune: Part Three seems to point to a more sanitized narrative avoiding some of author Frank Herbert’s more… eccentric choices in the source inspiration, Dune: Messiah.
So what do you think? Are we way off base? Will The Odyssey land a record number of nominations? Or will The Academy open themselves to alternate contenders? And will The Academy elevate Digger to three nominations? Could it break out in unexpected ways?
Be sure to check out our latest 2027 Oscar prediction updates, starting with the Contending Consensus.
