And the Envelope Please…Who Will Take Home an Academy Award for 2025 Films on March 15th?

Predictions for the 98th Academy Awards

Sinners could take home the trophy for Best Picture at the 98th Academy Awards ceremony being held on March 15th which is set to be hosted by funnyman Conan O’Brien.

One Battle After Another was poised to take the Best Picture Oscar until Sinners won the Best Ensemble Cast top honor at the Actor Awards (formerly known as the SAG awards). Now, Sinners is starting to look like it could actually overthrow One Battle After Another in the top category at the Academy Awards though the director of One Battle After Another seems destined to win the Best Director Oscar, judging from all the precursor awards Paul Thomas Anderson has received thus far. Those two categories are the easier ones to predict for Sunday night. It’s the acting awards that have many insiders scratching their heads while trying to figure out who will actually win in their respective categories.

Timothée Chalamet was supposed to be a shoo-in for Best Actor for his riveting work in Marty Supreme. However, recently, he made some questionable comments about the ballet and opera which leaves industry insiders thinking his chances may not be as great as they originally were. Chalamet said that the ballet and opera were struggling art forms in oh so many words and made a few enemies with that peculiar remark. Chalamet’s lesser odds especially hold true when you consider that Michael B. Jordan played a dual role in Sinners and won Best Actor at the Actor awards over Chalamet. We’ll go with Chalamet for now for the win, but Jordan is certainly sneaking up behind him with a vengeance.

Our Oscar host this year, Conan O’Brien, co-starred in one of the most acclaimed films from last year, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. Could that film’s sole nominee, Rose Byrne, win Best Actress for her brilliant turn in that picture? Now, the smart money is on Jessie Buckley for Hamnet, but she’s currently being roasted for the disappointing box-office returns for The Bride!. Though those financial figures weren’t in at voting time, many had seen the film and we’ll see if Buckley’s quirky and offbeat turn in The Bride! could actually hurt her chances of overthrowing Byrne for Best Actress. We’ll go with Buckley, but we’re rooting for Byrne for the win.

Best Supporting Actress should be no contest as Amy Madigan seems truly destined to win for Weapons at this particular point in time. She is the sole nominee in a highly regarded horror film that won rave reviews and this is the year where the horror genre seems likely to (finally) be honored, especially if Sinners wins Best Picture. I don’t see anyone else taking this award home. That is unless there’s a Juliette Binoche (The English Patient)-like shock and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas wins for Sentimental Value. I’d stick with Madigan, though, especially if you’re a betting person.

Best Supporting Actor will likely be Sean Penn (One Battle After Another) or Delroy Lindo (Sinners). Stellan Skarsgård was once considered the front runner here, but his film, Sentimental Value, wasn’t a huge box-office hit by any measure and Lindo would be the comeback story of the year being that he won next to zero preliminary trophies in this category. His film is also well-loved and is the most nominated film of the year. Sean Penn could potentially win his third Oscar, but the Academy may feel he has enough recognition already and choose to go with the yet to be crowned, Lindo. I would definitely predict Penn to win, but I sure hope Lindo takes it and would be quite thrilled if he did.

The screenplays for One Battle After Another and Sinners are likely to take home the gold in their respective categories of Best Adapted and Best Original Screenplay. There’s almost no question there. Sentimental Value will be duking it out with The Secret Agent for Best International Feature with the latter film likely to take home the gold in that category. Best Animated Feature will most definitely be KPop Demon Hunters. Who do you think will take home the gold on March 15th? Drop us a comment below.

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