The is just days away, and this year's ceremony looks set to be the most unconventional in years.
For the first time in decades, a horror film is on track to dominate the Oscars.
With 16 nominations, the bloody vampire musical Sinners is now the most nominated horror film in the history of the Academy, surpassing classics like The Exorcist, Silence of the Lambs, and The Sixth Sense.
It's only competition is the star-studded One Battle After Another, which is challenging Sinners in some key categories.
With its progressive, politically-charged message and performances from Hollywood heavyweights like Leonardo and , One Battle After Another is traditionally the type of film that would sweep the Oscars, but as Sinners continues to gain momentum, it's hard to say who will come out on top.
Then there's Josh Safdie's Marty Supreme, which was originally expected to dominate awards season, but has now lost so much steam that it may go home empty handed.
One Battle After Another was originally a shoe-in for Best Picture, but it could end up being defeated by Sinners
Best Picture
Best Picture is the most tightly contested category this year.
While the award was originally predicted to go to Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another, Ryan Coogler's Sinners has emerged as a major challenger in recent weeks.
Sinners winning the Actor Award (formerly known as the ) for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture has significantly increased the musical's odds of taking the top honor at the Oscars.
USA Today, Esquire, Variety, and Awards Daily have all picked Sinners to take Best Picture.
However, awards tracker Gold Derby, along with the regulated exchange and prediction market site Kalshi, both still have One Battle After Another as the clear favorite as of Friday the 13th.
The Hollywood Reporter also has the Leonardo DiCaprio-fronted thriller as the most likely winner, as does The New Yorker and Associated Press.
Usually the screenplay categories are a good indicator of who will take home Best Picture, but this year both films are set to be winners: One Battle After Another is tipped to take home Best Adapted Screenplay, while Sinners should win Best Screenplay.
With 16 nominations, Sinners is the most nominated horror film in the history of the Academy and could dominate One Battle After Another
Nominees: Bugonia
F1
Frankenstein
Hamnet
Marty Supreme
One Battle After Another
The Secret Agent
Sentimental Value
Sinners
Train Dreams
Favorite: Sinners / One Battle After Another (Tie)
Our prediction: Sinners
Even if One Battle After Another loses Best Picture, Paul Thomas Anderson is a shoe-in for Best Director
Best Director
Much like Best Picture, the Best Director category is basically between Anderson and Coogler again.
No major publication or betting market like Kalshi has Coogler as the winner, so Anderson is pretty much a shoe-in.
If Coogler did win, he'd be the first Black director to win since the Oscars started almost a century ago, leading some in the film community to speculate that he may be given the victory if the Academy is looking to make a statement this year.
Josh Safdie, who directed Marty Supreme, currently has the worst odds of all the nominees in this category.
Nominees: Chloe Zhao - Hamnet
Josh Safdie - Marty Supreme
Paul Thomas Anderson - One Battle After Another
Joachim Trier - Sentimental Value
Ryan Coogler - Sinners
Favorite: Paul Thomas Anderson
Our prediction: Paul Thomas Anderson
Timothée Chalamet may be headed for an embarrassing loss in the Best Actor category
Best Actor
While Timothée Chalamet was virtually guaranteed to take home Best Actor for Marty Supreme at the beginning of awards season, he's now been surpassed by Sinners star Michael B. Jordan.
Jordan is now favored to win by USA Today, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Gold Derby, Awards Daily, and Kalshi.
Despite Chalamet embarking on a tireless promotional campaign to snag himself a Best Actor Oscar after two prior nominations, his odds are growing worse by the day.
The first big sign of trouble was at last month's BAFTAs, where Marty Supreme lost all 11 categories it was nominated in - tying a record for the most losses in a single night.
Things got worse when Marty Supreme lost all three of its nominations at the Actor Awards, which included Chalamet losing Best Actor to Jordan.
Chalamet has also raised eyebrows with some questionable comments on the Marty Supreme press tour, with the 30-year-old said that 'no one cares' about ballet and opera anymore.
Nominees: Timothee Chalamet - Marty Supreme
Leonardo DiCaprio - One Battle After Another
Ethan Hawke - Blue Moon
Michael B. Jordan - Sinners
Wagner Moura - The Secret Agent
Favorite: Michael B. Jordan
Our prediction: Michael B. Jordan
Michael B. Jordan has become the favorite to win Best Actor
Best Actress
One of the few categories not dominated by Sinners or One Battle After Another is Best Actress, which is overwhelmingly predicted to go to Jessie Buckley for Hamnet.
Every outlet and market has her as the favorite by miles, with Rose Byrne a very distant second for If I Had Legs I'd Kick You.
The only indicator that Buckley could lose the trophy in a historic upset is if her performance in The Bride derails her chances.
The bizarre film, which co-stars Christian Bale and was directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal, has failed to impress critics and has been a complete disaster at the box office.
There's now speculation that Buckley could suffer the same fate as Eddie Murphy.
Murphy was primed to win Best Actor for his role in Dreamgirls at the 79th Academy Awards, only to ultimately lose following a wave of scathing reviews for his distasteful comedy Norbit, which was released just weeks before the Oscars.
While it's unlikely that Buckley will suffer the same fate, there is a slight chance that the negative press around The Bride could shift voters towards Byrne at the last minute.
Nominees: Jessie Buckley - Hamnet
Rose Byrne - If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Kate Hudson - Song Sung Blue
Renate Reinsve - Sentimental Value
Emma Stone - Bugonia
Favorite: Jessie Buckley
Our prediction: Jessie Buckley
Jessie Buckley should win Best Actress unless the negative press around her leading role in the box office bomb The Bride destroys her chances
Best Supporting Actor
This is another category dominated by One Battle After Another, with Sean Penn widely tipped to take home the trophy.
If he wins, it will be the 65-year-old's third Academy Award, after he took home Best Actor in 2004 for Mystic River and then again in 2009 for Milk.
Kalshi, USA Today, The Hollywood Reporter, and Gold Derby all have Penn to win, although Variety has broken from the popular consensus by predicting that Sinners star Delroy Lindo will sneak the victory.
Nominees: Benicio del Toro - One Battle After Another
Jacob Elordi - Frankenstein
Delroy Lindo - Sinners
Sean Penn - One Battle After Another
Stellan Skarsgard - Sentimental Value
Favorite: Sean Penn
Our prediction: Sean Penn
Amy Madigan widely tipped to win Best Supporting Actress thanks to her performance as Aunt Gladys in Weapons
Best Supporting Actress
This year's Best Supporting Actress category is one of the few surprises of the year, with Amy Madigan widely tipped to win thanks to her jaw-dropping performance as Aunt Gladys in Weapons.
Madigan hasn't garnered awards buzz since the '80s, most notably with her Best Supporting Actress nomination for 1985's Twice in a Lifetime.
On top of that, Weapons isn't typical Oscars fare. It's a horror film, which is a genre that's largely overlooked by the Academy.
However, with the blood-soaked Sinners dominating awards season thus far, we may finally be seeing a change when it comes to horror at the Oscars.
Madigan's only competition is One Battle After Another's Teyana Taylor, who already won Best Supporting Actress at the Golden Globes.
However, Madigan's early wins at the Actor Awards, Critic's Choice Awards, as well as the AACTA and ASTRAs, should give her the edge over Taylor.
Nominees: Elle Fanning - Sentimental Value
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas - Sentimental Value
Amy Madigan - Weapons
Wunmi Mosaku - Sinners
Teyana Taylor - One Battle After Another
Favorite: Amy Madigan
Our prediction: Amy Madigan
