First Oscar Predictions: Visual Categories
Sunday, June 28, 2026 at 5:31PM by Nathaniel R
First still from WERWULF. Can it follow in Nosferatu's footsteps and receive craft nominations?
We started with Costume Design (we're partial to those threads, don'cha know) but now the rest of the first round predictions for the 99th Oscars are available in all visual categories...
CINEMATOGRAPHY & PRODUCTION DESIGN
My initial curiousity around this category is whether Project Hail Mary, which is such a well crafted beauty, will have staying power and receive multiple craft nominations. I'm particularly hopeful that voters will give production design Charles Wood his first nomination for the highly memorable spaceships. Wood hasn't had many movies that fall into the "prestige" category and this is the closest he's come to that though it's still a commercial project first and foremost. In terms of other questions we can't help but ask... did the Oscar success of Nosferatu mean that voters are finally aware of Robert Eggers and his loyal creative team? And if so does that mean that this 13th century set lycanthropic film can score outside of the only category werewolf films can ever feel assured they'll be considered for? (That would be Best Makeup and Hairstyling). It'll also be interesting to see if Dune Part Three can go three-for-three with nominations for both Cinematography & Production Design.
Four of Chris Nolan's films have been nominated for Film Editing and two have won (Dunkirk, Oppenheimer). Will THE ODYSSEY follow suit?
FILM EDITING
Editing is so crucial to the success of ALL good movies, whatever their genre, that we always wish this annual race were more interesting than just 'who might win Best Picture?' It's sad because this category used to regularly feature at least one Non-Best Picture nominees. Alas no more. Since the expansion of the Best Picture field in 2009 we've only had five nominees in this category that weren't nominated for Best Picture:
- tick, tick... BOOM! (2021)
- I, Tonya (2017)
- Baby Driver (2017)
- Star Wars The Force Awakens (2015)
- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2011)
...so now it's about a once every four years style happening? So maybe we'll get one this year? So which films MIGHT have an outside shot here that probably won't be in Best Picture. That's the question I'm asking myself for fun. Disclosure Day? Werwulf? The Uprising? The End of Oak Street? Obsession?
VISUAL EFFECTS & MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
Can Mike Marino finally win an Oscar for CLAYFACE?And finally, FINALLY, two categories that require no Best Picture heat whatsoever... though it doesn't hurt. While we can fully expect Dune Part Three to be nominated for Best Visual Effects it's worth noting that no franchise has won the Oscar three times in this category. No, not even Star Wars. So Dune is vulnerable and there are numerous films hoping to triumph. Godzilla Minus Zero? End of Oak Street? Project Hail Mary? Avengers: Doomsday? Who knows.
As for Makeup. While it could be a battle between former winners Kazu Hiro (Digger) and Christine Blundell (Werwulf), we imagine a lot of people are already rooting for Mike Marino for his work on Clayface. The makeup work looks impressive / freaky in the trailer and he's been nominated three times in quick succession without winning. Will momentum place the Oscar in his hands?
SEE THE OSCAR CHARTS (THUS FAR)
- Index of Predictions
- Best Actor
- Best Supporting Actor
- Original and Adapted Screenplay
- Costume Design, Cinematography, Etc...
- Original Score, Sound, Etc...
Reader Comments (7)
These early Oscar predictions are always fun to follow, and it's interesting to see which films are already generating awards buzz.y777
Have you seen the trailer for Klara and the Sun? It looks promising, visually-speaking
All three Avatars won for Best Visual Effects. So did all three Lord of the Rings movies ... in consecutive years, no less. And the first three Star Wars films all did win Visual Effects Oscars ... but the wins for Empire and Return of the Jedi were "special achievement," rather than competitive, awards.
I think you're underestimating THE SHEEP DETECTIVES here. Remember how well BABE performed in 1995? This is getting even better reviews and a strong word of mouth now that it's streaming on Prime.
Looks good and promising Nathaniel. Also it's June 30 and you need to finish the rest of your first 99th Academy Awards nominations predications right away like you promised. Also I agree with David and Cal we need to keep some eyes on Klara and the Sun and The Sheep Detectives for visual effects. Also I saw The Sheep Detectives and it was a very good movie that had some good effects and emotions.
In my most churlish moments, I think that any film that can’t keep its run time to 2 hours or less, doesn’t qualify for Best Editing.
Disclaimer: Yes, I love lots of long films, and when I love a film, I’m content for it to go on forever.
The Oscar predictions for visual categories always spark interesting discussions among film enthusiasts. On another note, I also came across scritchy scratchy which offers a unique perspective on gaming.