Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars from Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis. Following Academy Awards history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar predictions are updated regularly with the current year's contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. Eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and will be displayed next to revision date.
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2021 OSCARS PREDICTIONS:
BEST DIRECTOR
UPDATED: Jan. 10, 2021
AWARDS COMMENT:
Aaron Sorkin is a longtime favorite of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, being nominated for all the scripts he wrote, except for “Malice”. He missed the director’s nomination for his debut “Molly’s Game”, and we’ll see if they would like to bet everything on the two-time winner. This may be one of the only shots to stop Chloe Zhao’s “Nomadland” momentum. They also love big stars, which is why, despite the division between critics, George Clooney may be close to a nomination for “The Midnight Sky”.
(Prize circuit winners table (2020-2021)
THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7, from left: director Aaron Sorkin, Sacha Baron Cohen, on set, 2020. ph: Niko Tavernise / © Netflix / Courtesy Everett Collection
Netflix collection / courtesy of Everett
AND THE PREDICTED NOMINATES ARE:
Chloé Zhao"Nomadland" (Searchlight Pictures)GLOBES HISTORY: Never nominated
–PRODUCERS: Mollye Asher, Dan Janvey, Frances McDormand, Peter Spears, Chloé ZhaoSYNOPSIS: After losing everything in the Great Recession, an old woman embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.STARRING: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, Linda May, Swankie, Bob Wells
Aaron Sorkin"The Trial of the Chicago 7" (Netflix)GLOBES HISTORY: 7 nominations, 2 wins (2010's "The Social Network" and 2015's "Steve Jobs" in best screenplay)
-PRODUCERS: Stuart M. Besser, Matt Jackson, Marc Platt, Tyler ThompsonSYNOPSIS: The story of 7 people on trial stemming from various charges surrounding the uprising at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.STARRING: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Sacha Baron Cohen, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, John Carroll Lynch, Eddie Redmayne, Mark Rylance, Alex Sharp, Jeremy Strong
David Fincher"Mank" (Netflix)OSCAR HISTORY: 2 nominations (2008's "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and 2010's "The Social Network")
-PRODUCERS: David Fincher, Ceán Chaffin, Eric Roth, Douglas UrbanskiSYNOPSIS: 1930s Hollywood is re-evaluated through the eyes of scathing social critic and alcoholic screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz as he races to finish the screenplay of Citizen Kane for Orson Welles.STARRING: Tom Burke, Lily Collins, Joseph Cross, Charles Dance, Monika Gossman, Ferdinand Kingsley, Jamie McShane, Tuppence Middleton, Toby Leonard Moore, Gary Oldman, Tom Pelphrey, Amanda Seyfried, Sam Troughton
Regina King"One Night in Miami" (Amazon Studios)OSCAR HISTORY: 1 nomination, 1 win (2018's "If Beale Street Could Talk" in supporting actress)
-PRODUCERS: Jess Wu Calder, Keith Calder, Jody KleinSYNOPSIS: A fictional account of one incredible night in 1964, where four icons of activism, sports and music – Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke – gathered, discussing their roles in the civil rights movement and cultural upheaval of the ’60s.STARRING: Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, Leslie Odom, Jr.
George Clooney"The Midnight Sky" (Netflix)OSCAR HISTORY: 8 nominations, 2 wins (2005's "Syriana" in supporting actor and 2012's "Argo" in best picture)
-PRODUCERS: George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Bard Dorros, Keith Redmon, Cliff RobertsSYNOPSIS: This post-apocalyptic tale follows Augustine, a lonely scientist in the Arctic, as he races to stop Sully and her fellow astronauts from returning home to a mysterious global catastrophe.STARRING: George Clooney, Felicity Jones, David Oyelowo, Kyle Chandler, Demián Bichir, Tiffany Boone, Caoilinn Springall
Courtesy of A24
NEXT IN LINE:
Florian Zeller"The Father" (Sony Pictures Classics)OSCAR HISTORY: Never nominated
-PRODUCERS: Philippe Carcassonne, Simon Friend, Jean-Louis Livi, David Parfitt, Christophe SpadoneSYNOPSIS: A man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages. As he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality.STARRING: Olivia Colman, Mark Gatiss, Anthony Hopkins, Imogen Poots, Rufus Sewell, Olivia Williams
Lee Isaac Chung"Minari" (A24)OSCAR HISTORY: Never nominated
-PRODUCERS: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Christina OhSYNOPSIS: A Korean family moves to Arkansas to start a farm in the 1980s.STARRING: Steven Yeun, Yeri Han, Alan S. Kim, Yuh-jung Youn, Will Patton
George C. Wolfe"Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" (Netflix)OSCAR HISTORY: Never nominated
-PRODUCERS: Todd Black, Denzel Washington, Dany WolfSYNOPSIS: Chicago, 1927. A recording session. Tensions rise between Ma Rainey, her ambitious horn player and the white management determined to control the uncontrollable "Mother of the Blues". Based on Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson's play..STARRING: Chadwick Boseman, Dusan Brown, Jonny Coyne, Viola Davis, Colman Domingo, Taylour Paige, Michael Potts, Jeremy Shamos, Glynn Turman
Paul Greengrass"News of the World" (Universal Pictures)OSCAR HISTORY: 1 nomination (2006's "United 93")
-PRODUCERS: Gary Goetzman, Gregory Goodman, Gail MutruxSYNOPSIS: A Civil War veteran agrees to deliver a girl, taken by the Kiowa people years ago, to her aunt and uncle, against her will. They travel hundreds of miles and face grave dangers as they search for a place that either can call home.STARRING: Tom Hanks, Helena Zengel, Elizabeth Marvel, Mare Winningham, Michael Angelo Covino, Ray McKinnon
Emerald Fennell"Promising Young Woman" (Focus Features)OSCAR HISTORY: Never nominated
-PRODUCERS: Ben Browning, Emerald Fennell, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, Josey McNamara, Ashley FoxSYNOPSIS: A young woman, traumatized by a tragic event in her past, seeks out vengeance against those who cross her path.STARRING: Carey Mulligan, Bo Burnham, Laverne Cox, Molly Shannon, Clancy Brown, Jennifer Coolidge, Max Greenfield, Alison Brie, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Connie Britton, Chris Lowell, Adam Brody, Sam Richardson
Mary Cybulski / Netflix
ALSO IN CONTENTION:
Sofia Coppola,“On the Rocks” (A24 / Apple TV Plus)Lee Daniels,“The United States vs. Billie Holiday ”(Hulu)John Lee Hancock,“The Little Things” (HBO Max / Warner Bros.)Charlie Kaufman,“I'm thinking about ending things” (Netflix)Shaka King,“Judas and the Black Messiah” (HBO Max / Warner Bros.)Francis Lee,"Ammonite" (Neon)Spike Lee,“Da 5 Bloods” (Netflix)Sam Levinson,“Malcolm & Marie” (Netflix)Kevin Macdonald,“The Mauritanian” (STXfilms)Darius Marder,“Sound of Metal” (Amazon Studios)Kornél Mundruczó,“Pieces of a woman” (Netflix)Christopher Nolan,“Principle” (Warner Bros.)Kelly Reichardt,“First Cow” (A24)Anthony Russo and Joe Russo,“Cherry” (Apple TV Plus)Leigh Whannell,“The Invisible Man” (Universal Pictures)
Golden Globe forecasts for 2021 (film)
2020-2021 Golden Globe Award Schedule
- Deadline for submitting registration forms to Golden Globe Motion and television - November 30, 2020
- Deadline for television nomination ballots to be sent to all HFPA members by Ernst & Young - December 30, 2020
- Deadline for Ernst & Young to receive television nominations at 8:00 pm ET / 5:00 pm PT - January 12, 2021
- Deadline for nominating ballots for films to be sent to all HFPA members by Ernst & Young at 8:00 pm ET / 5:00 pm PT - January 13, 2021
- The final screening date for films - January 26, 2021
- The final date for the Motion Picture press conferences - January 27, 2021
- Deadline for Ernst & Young's receipt of cinema nomination tickets at 3 pm ET / 12 noon PT - January 30, 2021
- Nominations for the 78th Golden Globe Awards are announced at 8am ET / 5am PT - February 3, 2021
- Final ballots sent to all HFPA members by Ernst & Young - February 23, 2021
- 78th Annual Golden Globe Award will broadcast live from coast to coast at 8:00 pm ET / 5:00 pm PT on The Beverly Hilton's NBC in Beverly Hills, California - February 28, 2021
Oscar predictions for 2021
About the Golden Globe
O Golden Globe Award, organized by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, has been held annually with 93 members since 1944. The group recognizes excellence in film and television, in drama and comedy or musical categories. “La La Land” by Damien Chazelle holds the record for most awards won for a single film with seven. Milos Forman's “One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest” and Alan Parker's “Midnight Express” are next in line, with six each. Robert Altman's "Nashville" has the record for most nominations received for a film with 11, while Colin Higgins's "Foul Play", Francis Ford Coppola's "The Godfather Part III" and "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" Mike Nichols. share the record for receiving the most nominations and not winning a single prize at seven.