Production design (led by Ruth De Jong, who was nominated for Oppenheimer) and costume design (by Ellen Mirojnick, another Oppenheimer Oscar nominee, who oversaw the designing and production of 5,300 costumes for the Greek epic) are also good bets, along with makeup and hairstyling. And with such a rich and star-studded cast, a nomination in the new casting category seems inevitable.
With its epic battle scenes and dual timelines, editing (by Jennifer Lame, who won for Oppenheimer) should also be an easy nomination. And those epic battle scenes will probably lead to a nomination for sound. The only craft category that the film will likely miss out on is visual effects. Because Nolan’s films do so much in camera and avoid CGI, they often get skipped over in this category. Oppenheimer, for example, didn’t even make the short list.
THE SHAPE OF THE RACE
What will be The Odyssey’s biggest competition this year? So much is still yet unseen, but there will be other blockbusters in the race this season—namely, Dune: Part Three. The final installment in Denis Villeneuve’s ambitious action-adventure series, starring Timothée Chalamet, doesn’t come out until December 18, but even sight unseen, there are high expectations for it. The first two movies earned a combined 15 Oscar nominations, including two best-picture nods. It’s possible the final installment could mark the moment when voters decide to reward Villeneuve with a win for all his hard work, which is exactly what happened when the third Lord of the Rings film won best picture in 2004.
It’ll be tough not to compare the movies—the overlap between the two films makes this competition a little more awkward. Both are adaptations of iconic books that have for a long time been considered difficult to make into films. And Zendaya and Pattinson are in both projects.
Plus, that’s not the only ambitious adaptation that’s going to face off against The Odyssey. Project Hail Mary, which hit theaters in March, has garnered plenty of Oscar attention already, especially for best picture and lead actor Ryan Gosling, who spends most of his time talking to a rocklike alien.
The great unknown is what will rise to the surface among the fall releases. Netflix scooped up La Bola Negra, the Spanish-language breakout of the Cannes Film Festival, and has plans to run an aggressive all-category campaign. Fjord won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and will seek out more voters at the fall festivals. And Tom Cruise won’t let anyone forget that Digger, Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s bold drama, will be hitting theaters in October and could become a contender if it plays well. There are also several wild cards that remain under the radar, like Jesse Eisenberg’s The Debut and Martin McDonagh’s Wild Horse Nine.
