The first Oscars telecast will be broadcast on Sunday, March 12 and air live on ABC at 8:00 p.m. ET/5:00 p.m. PT.
Marcus Jones, our Award Editor for TV and film, speaks with Anne Thompson to discuss the latest Oscar predictions. See their previous thoughts on what to expect at the 95th Academy Awards here.
This year, Auteurs are in the spotlight, as there is rarely ever a complete match between Best Director and Best Original Screenplay nominees.
The Academy awarded all five spots to directors who took a hands-on approach to telling a whole new story, reaffirming why we enjoy cinema and theater (two things that are falling into place in an increasingly IP-driven, video on demand world).
Academy voters love a slew of films. And given their strong performances across the categories, it appears like the Best Director award goes to three of them: "The Fabelmans," "Everything Everywhere All at Once," and "The Banshees of Inisherin."
After all, in recent years, Best Director and Best Picture have often been split between two different films (i.e., director of "The Power of the Dog" Jane Campion won last year, but Best Picture went to "CODA"), and each nominee having multiple nominations means there are almost enough Oscars to choose from.
'The Fabelmans' by Steven Spielberg is the only film that may win both Best Picture and Best Director, and it's the first time he's ever been nominated for his original screenplay. Past screenplay nominees Martin McDonagh or Todd Field are more likely to be honored here.
McDonagh, the director of "The Banshees of Inisherin," has a slight advantage over other directors in his last film, "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." It's likely that the same group of European voters voted for Ruben stlund, but there are little indications that he'll be voted in.
The polarizing Cate Blanchett vehicle has done so well in the Best Actress race that he may be victim of the "one big win per film" trend.
Nominees are listed below in order of likelihood they will win.
Contenders: Steven Spielberg ("The Fabelmans"), Martin McDonagh ("The Banshees of Inisherin"), Todd Field ("TR"), Ruben stlund ("Triangle of Sadness"), Daniel Scheinert, and Daniel Kwan ("Everything All at Once."