Damon Casarez for Variety
UPDATED: Dec. 15, 2016
This page will be your hub throughout the Oscar season for predictions in all of the Academy’s various categories as we move through the twists and turns of the circuit. Click through on each to see a list of contenders per category with ranked assessments of the various races.
Just remember: An Oscar season is fluid. Things do change. We’ll be here to track the shifting and sliding as it happens.
| Best Picture |
| “Fences” (Paramount Pictures) |
| “Hacksaw Ridge” (Lionsgate) |
| “Hidden Figures” (20th Century Fox) |
| “Hell or High Water” (CBS Films) |
| “La La Land” (Lionsgate) |
| “Lion” (The Weinstein Co.) |
| “Manchester by the Sea” (Amazon/Roadside Attractions) |
| “Moonlight” (A24) |
| “Silence” (Paramount Pictures) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Director |
| Mel Gibson (“Hacksaw Ridge”) |
| Damien Chazelle (“La La Land”) |
| Kenneth Lonergan (“Manchester by the Sea”) |
| Barry Jenkins (“Moonlight”) |
| Martin Scorsese (“Silence”) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Actor |
| Casey Affleck (“Manchester by the Sea”) |
| Andrew Garfield (“Hacksaw Ridge”) |
| Ryan Gosling (“La La Land”) |
| Viggo Mortensen (“Captain Fantastic”) |
| Denzel Washington (“Fences”) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Actress |
| Annette Bening (“20th Century Women”) |
| Isabelle Huppert (“Elle”) |
| Natalie Portman (“Jackie”) |
| Emma Stone (“La La Land”) |
| Meryl Streep (“Florence Foster Jenkins”) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Supporting Actor |
| Mahershala Ali (“Moonlight”) |
| Jeff Bridges (“Hell or High Water”) |
| Hugh Grant (“Florence Foster Jenkins”) |
| Lucas Hedges (“Manchester by the Sea”) |
| Dev Patel (“Lion”) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Supporting Actress |
| Viola Davis (“Fences”) |
| Greta Gerwig (“20th Century Women”) |
| Naomie Harris (“Moonlight”) |
| Nicole Kidman (“Lion”) |
| Michelle Williams (“Manchester by the Sea”) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Adapted Screenplay |
| “Arrival” (Eric Heisserer) |
| “Fences” (August Wilson) |
| “Hacksaw Ridge” (Andrew Knight, Robert Schenkkan) |
| “Lion” (Luke Davies) |
| “Moonlight” (Barry Jenkins, Tarell McCraney) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Original Screenplay |
| “Captain Fantastic” (Matt Ross) |
| “Hell or High Water” (Taylor Sheridan) |
| “La La Land” (Damien Chazelle) |
| “The Lobster” (Efthymis Filippou, Yorgos Lanthimos) |
| “Manchester by the Sea” (Kenneth Lonergan) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Cinematography |
| “Jackie” (Stephane Fontaine) |
| “La La Land” (Linus Sandgren) |
| “Lion” (Greig Fraser) |
| “Live By Night” (Robert Richardson) |
| “Silence” (Rodrigo Prieto) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Costume Design |
| “Allied” (Joanna Johnston) |
| “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” (Colleen Atwood) |
| “La La Land” (Mary Zophres) |
| “Live By Night” (Jacqueline West) |
| “Silence” (Dante Ferretti) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Film Editing |
| “Arrival” (Joe Walker) |
| “La La Land” (Tom Cross) |
| “Moonlight” (Joi McMillion, Nat Sanders) |
| “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (John Gilroy, Colin Goudie, Jabez Olssen) |
| “Sully” (Blu Murray) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Makeup and Hairstyling |
| “Deadpool” (TBD) |
| “Hacksaw Ridge” (Shane Thomas) |
| “Star Trek Beyond” (TBD) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Original Score |
| “The BFG” (John Williams) |
| “Florence Foster Jenkins” (Alexandre Desplat) |
| “The Jungle Book” (John Debney) |
| “La La Land” (Justin Hurwitz) |
| “Lion” (Hauschka, Dustin O’Halloran) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Original Song |
| “Runnin'” from “Hidden Figures” |
| “Audition (The Fools Who Dream)” from “La La Land” |
| “City of Stars” from “La La Land” |
| “How Far I’ll Go” from “Moana” |
| “Faith” from “Sing” |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Production Design |
| “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” (Stuart Craig, James Hambige; Anna Pinnock) |
| “La La Land” (David Wasco; Sandy Reynolds-Wasco) |
| “Live By Night” (Jess Gonchor; Nancy Haigh) |
| “Passengers” (Guy Hendrix Dyas; Gene Serdena) |
| “Silence” (Dante Ferretti; Francesca Lo Schiavo) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Sound Editing |
| “Deepwater Horizon” (Wylie Stateman) |
| “Hacksaw Ridge” (Robert Mackenzie, Andy Wright) |
| “Live By Night” (Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van Der Ryn) |
| “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (TBD) |
| “Sully” (Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Sound Mixing |
| “Hacksaw Ridge” (Peter Grace, Kevin O’Connell, Andy Wright, Robert Mackenzie) |
| “The Jungle Book” (Christopher Boyes, Lora Hirschberg, Ronald Judkins) |
| “La La Land” (Andy Nelson, Ai-Ling Lee, Steve A. Morrow) |
| “Live By Night” (Jose Antonio Garcia, John Reitz, Tom Ozanich) |
| “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (TBD) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Visual Effects |
| “Doctor Strange” (Stephane Ceretti, Paul Corbould, Richard Bluff, Vince Cirelli) |
| “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” (Tim Burke, Christian Manz, David Watkins, Pablo Grillo) |
| “The Jungle Book” (Robert Legato, Andrew R. Jones, Adam Valdez, Dan Lemmon) |
| “Passengers” (Erik Nordby, Pete Dione, Sebastien Gourdal) |
| “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (TBD) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Animated Feature Film |
| “Kubo and the Two Strings” (Laika/Focus Features) |
| “Miss Hokusai” (GKIDS) |
| “Moana” (Walt Disney Studios) |
| “The Red Turtle” (Sony Pictures Classics) |
| “Zootopia” (Walt Disney Studios) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Foreign Language Film |
| “Tanna” (Australia; Martin Butler, Bentley Dean) |
| “Land of Mine” (Denmark; Martin Zandvliet) |
| “Toni Erdmann” (Germany; Maren Ade) |
| “The Salesman” (Iran; Asghar Farhadi) |
| “The Man Called Ove” (Sweden; Hannes Holm) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Documentary Feature |
| “Fire at Sea” (Gianfranco Rosi) |
| “I Am Not Your Negro” (Raoul Peck) |
| “O.J.: Made in America” (Ezra Edelman) |
| “13th” (Ava DuVernay) |
| “Weiner” (Josh Kriegman, Elyse Steinberg) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Documentary (Short Subject) |
| COMING SOON |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Short Film (Animated) |
| “Blind Vaysha” (Theodore Ushev) |
| “The Head Vanishes” (Franck Dion) |
| “Inner Workings” (Leo Matsuda; Sean Lurie) |
| “Pear and Cider Cigarettes” (Robert Valley; Cara Speller) |
| “Piper” (Alan Barillaro; Marc Sondheimer) |
| >>>See full list |
| Best Short FIlm (Live Action) |
| COMING SOON |
| >>>See full list |