2023 OSCARS: PREDICTING THE WINNERS IN EACH CATEGORY

The 95th annual Academy Awards ceremony is just around the corner. Hollywood will come together to celebrate the art of filmmaking and honor the industry’s highest achievements from the previous calendar year.

Noteworthy nominations from this year’s batch include Angela Bassett. The legendary entertainer is being recognized for her performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, making Bassett the very first actor to be nominated for an Academy Award in an acting category for a Marvel Studios movie, and only the fourth Black actress to earn multiple Oscar nods. The others: Viola Davis, Whoopi Goldberg and Octavia Spencer.)

The Malaysian-born Michelle Yeoh became the first Asian-identifying nominee for lead actress thanks to her performance in the critically beloved Everything Everywhere All at Once. It’s also the first time that all the director contenders are also nominated for writing (or co-writing) their pictures. (All are competing in the original screenplay category.)

2023 also marks the first time since 1983 that the two highest-grossing movies of the year were both nominated for Best Picture. This year’s contenders are Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water, while back in 1983, the films were Tootsie and E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial.

This year, the Oscars will air live on ABC and broadcast from the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 12 beginning at 8 p.m. EST. For those without cable, the Oscars will be available to stream on Sling TV, fuboTV and Hulu + Live TV. Daylight saving time begins March 12, so keep that in mind when scheduling your watch party.

Without further ado, here are our predictions for who will walk away with the coveted golden statues come awards night:

BEST PICTURE

All Quiet on the Western Front
Avatar: The Way of Water
The Banshees of Inisherin
Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once
The Fabelmans
TÁR
Top Gun: Maverick
Triangle of Sadness
Women Talking

WHO WILL WIN: Everything Everywhere All at Once
LOOK OUT FOR: The Fablemans

BEST DIRECTOR

Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)
Todd Field (TÁR)
Ruben Östlund (Triangle of Sadness)

WHO WILL WIN: Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
LOOK OUT FOR: Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)

BEST ACTRESS

Cate Blanchett (TÁR)
Ana de Armas (Blonde)
Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie)
Michelle Williams (The Fabelmans)
Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once)

WHO WILL WIN: Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
LOOK OUT FOR: Cate Blanchett (TÁR)

BEST ACTOR

Austin Butler (Elvis)
Colin Farrell (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Brendan Fraser (The Whale)
Paul Mescal (Aftersun)
Bill Nighy (Living)

WHO WILL WIN: Brendan Fraser (The Whale)
LOOK OUT FOR: Austin Butler (Elvis)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
Hong Chau (The Whale)
Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Stephanie Hsu (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All at Once)

WHO WILL WIN: Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
LOOK OUT FOR: Angela Bassett (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Brian Tyree Henry (Causeway)
Judd Hirsch (The Fabelmans)
Barry Keoghan (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once)

WHO WILL WIN: Ke Huy Quan (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
LOOK OUT FOR: Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
Todd Field (TÁR)
Tony Kushner and Steven Spielberg (The Fabelmans)
Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Ruben Östlund (Triangle of Sadness)

WHO WILL WIN: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert (Everything Everywhere All at Once)
LOOK OUT FOR: Martin McDonagh (The Banshees of Inisherin)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Edward Berger, Ian Stokell, and Lesley Paterson (All Quiet on the Western Front)
Rian Johnson (Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery)
Kazuo Ishiguro (Living)
Ehren Kruger, Christopher McQuarrie, and Eric Warren Singer (Top Gun: Maverick)
Sarah Polley (Women Talking)

WHO WILL WIN: Sarah Polley (Women Talking)
LOOK OUT FOR: Edward Berger, Ian Stokell, and Lesley Paterson (All Quiet on the Western Front)

BEST EDITING

Elvis
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Top Gun: Maverick
TÁR
The Banshees of Inisherin

WHAT WILL WIN: Top Gun: Maverick
LOOK OUT FOR: Everything Everywhere All at Once

BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE

All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany)
Argentina, 1985 (Argentina)
Close (Belgium)
EO (Poland)
The Quiet Girl (Ireland)

WHO WILL WIN: All Quiet on the Western Front
LOOK OUT FOR: Argentina, 1985 (Argentina)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
Marcel the Shell with Shoes On
Turning Red
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
The Sea Beast

WHO WILL WIN: Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio
LOOK OUT FOR: Turning Red

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

All That Breathes
All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Fire of Love
A House Made of Splinters
Navalny

WHO WILL WIN: Navalny
LOOK OUT FOR: Fire of Love

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

James Friend (All Quiet on the Western Front)
Darius Khondji (Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths)
Mandy Walker (Elvis)
Roger Deakins (Empire of Light)
Florian Hoffmeister (TÁR)

WHO WILL WIN: James Friend (All Quiet on the Western Front)
LOOK OUT FOR: Mandy Walker (Elvis)

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Avatar: The Way of Water
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Top Gun: Maverick

WHO WILL WIN: Avatar: The Way of Water
LOOK OUT FOR: Top Gun: Maverick

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Avatar: The Way of Water
All Quiet on the Western Front
Babylon
Elvis
The Fabelmans

WHO WILL WIN: Babylon
LOOK OUT FOR: Elvis

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Elvis
The Batman
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Whale

WHO WILL WIN: Elvis
LOOK OUT FOR: The Whale

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Elvis
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Babylon
Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

WHO WILL WIN: Elvis
LOOK OUT FOR: Everything Everywhere All at Once

BEST SOUND

Top Gun: Maverick
Elvis
Avatar: The Way of Water
All Quiet on the Western Front
The Batman

WHO WILL WIN: Top Gun: Maverick
LOOK OUT FOR: The Batman

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Hold My Hand” — Lady Gaga (Top Gun: Maverick)
“Lift Me Up”— Rihanna (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)
“Naatu Naatu”— Kaala Bhairava, M.M. Keeravani, and Rahul Sipligunj (RRR)
“Applause”— Diane Warren (Tell It Like a Woman)
“This Is a Life”— David Byrne, Ryan Lott, and Mitski (Everything Everywhere All at Once)

WHO WILL WIN: “Naatu Naatu” – Kaala Bhairava, M.M. Keeravani, and Rahul Sipligunj (RRR)
LOOK OUT FOR: “Lift Me Up”— Rihanna (Black Panther: Wakanda Forever)

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Justin Hurwitz (Babylon)
John Williams (The Fabelmans)
Volker Bertelmann (All Quiet on the Western Front)
Carter Burwell (The Banshees of Inisherin)
Son Lux (Everything Everywhere All at Once)

WHO WILL WIN: Volker Bertelmann (All Quiet on the Western Front)
LOOK OUT FOR: Justin Hurwitz (Babylon)

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

The Flying Sailor
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
Ice Merchants
My Year of Dicks
An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It

WHO WILL WIN: The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
LOOK OUT FOR: My Year of Dicks

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

The Elephant Whisperers
Haulout
How Do You Measure a Year?
The Martha Mitchell Effect
Stranger at the Gate

WHO WILL WIN: The Elephant Whisperers
LOOK OUT FOR: Stranger at the Gate

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT

An Irish Goodbye
Ivalu
Le Pupille
Night Ride
The Red Suitcase

WHO WILL WIN: Le Pupille
LOOK OUT FOR: An Irish Goodbye

What do you make of our predictions for the 95th Academy Awards? Do you think we got it close? Which films/filmmakers are going to win that we did not predict? Do you even care about the Oscars? Sound off in the comments below to let us and the rest of the movie-loving world know your thoughts!