Very Early 93rd Academy Award Odds – Best Picture, Actor, and Actress

• The 93rd Annual Academy Awards will be presented Sunday, February 28, 2021
• Despite being eleven months away, entertainment fans are scouring the film world for choices and predictions into possible winners
• Early odds are in place for the major categories of Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Actress

Does it feel like the Oscars just happened? Well, that’s because they did. Only last month, Parasite walked away with Best Picture and Joaquin Phoenix wowed the audience with his Best Actor acceptance speech.

Barely out of the woods of last awards season, film lovers and critics alike are looking ahead to next year’s ceremony. Naturally, with movie theatres presently closed due to COVID-19 health reasons, the current film climate is much different than usual and will no doubt impact next year’s Oscars.

With so many films yet to be released and award-worthy films typically being released right near the cut-off, it’s very early to be making these calls now. But half the excitement is sleuthing and making those early calls so that when the awards are handed out, early supporters of certain films retain bragging rights.

Let’s look into the early 2021 Oscars odds for the three biggest categories at next year’s 93rd Annual Academy Awards.

Odds on Best Picture at 93rd Annual Academy Awards

Odds taken Mar. 30.

The most likely candidate in Best Picture is Christopher Nolan’s action-thriller Tenet. The film presently has a July 16 release date, which – fingers crossed – should be outside of the predicted scope of COVID-19-impacted release dates.

Tenet stars Robert Pattinson and Michael Caine among others, with a story set to follow a secret agent time traveling to prevent World War III.

With no release date tied to it yet, acclaimed director David Fincher’s Mank is another big contender. A biopic of sorts, Mank is set to uncover the behind the scenes look of Herman J. Mankiewicz’s tumultuous development of film classic Citizen Kane. As we all know, Hollywood loves films about Hollywood, so this one’s for sure going to be nominated at least.

Fans of sci-fi have something to look forward to with the upcoming Denis Villeneuve reboot of Dune. Starring Timothee Chalamet, Zendaya, and Jason Momoa,  it’s set to elevate the original with Villeneuve’s notable art direction-focused filmmaking. As of now, Dune also has no release date.

Many of the other films have either been released or are set to do so soon, such as Pixar’s animated romp Onward, kitschy comic book flick Harley Quinn, or eerie Blumhouse horror film Fantasy Island. But knowing the Academy, none of these fun films stand a chance with the artsy dramatic competitors.

Pick: Mank (+900)

Odds on Best Actor at 93rd Annual Academy Awards

Though originally laughed at across the board for his participation in the Twilight franchise, Robert Pattinson has turned out to be a big name in Hollywood. Being cast in well-received films such as The Lighthouse, and Life has been great for his career. Pattinson is a likely contender for next year’s Best Actor for his role in Nolan’s Tenet.

Naturally, the Best Actor category is filled with an immense list of talent. Previous Best Actor Winner Eddie Redmayne is also one to watch, for his role in The Trial of the Chicago 7.  And, now that he’s recovered from COVID-19, Tom Hanks will be even more exciting to see on screen, this time for his role as Finch in sci-fi drama BIOS.

While it would be so fun to see Dave Bautista, Jason Momoa, or even Sasha Baron Cohen snag a win for Best Actor, it’s way more likely to see one of the serious films lead this category.

Pick: Robert Pattinson (+800)

Odds on Best Actress at 93rd Annual Academy Awards

In terms of the Best Actress category, there are two stars who have particularly great early odds: Jennifer Hudson and Viola Davis.

Hudson is no stranger to Oscar gold, having secured a Best Supporting Actress for her film debut in Dreamgirls in 2006. Now, a decade and a half later, she’s set to slay in the leading category for her upcoming appearance as Aretha Franklin in biopic Respect.

Davis is set to wow in the upcoming music drama Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom as the title character. Not much about this film is known as of yet, but early information describes it as a Blues-era drama set in 1927 Chicago.

Amy Adams is also a heavy contender for Best Actress, for her role as Bev in Ron Howard’s Netflix film Hillbilly Elegy. The upcoming drama follows a man reliving his adventures in the Midwest. It’s unknown as of now what Adams’ role will play in the film.

Then there’s perennial Oscars darling Meryl Streep. It seems no matter what Streep does in any given year, the Academy throws her a nomination. For 2020, her filmography seems to be limited to Let Them All Talk. What’s the movie about? Who knows. What’s her role? Not sure. Will she still be nominated for it? Probably.

Despite a plethora of talent in the Best Actress field, it must be considered that this will be the first Oscars in a (hopefully) post-Coronavirus climate. The world will need empowering, strong icons to look for at this time, and nobody fits that more than Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin.

Pick: Jennifer Hudson (+500)