2024 Oscar Predictions: The Final Oscar Squad Rankings Ahead of Sunday’s Ceremony

It’s been a while since the Oscar Squad last weighed in on the 2024 Oscar season. With the awards airing next Sunday, it seemed like a good time for the Squad to assemble for the final time. For this year’s Oscar season, that is.

A lot has happened since our last ranking. We’ve had guild after guild after guild announce their winners with only the Writers Guild of America holding out until mid-April. From the guilds that have announced (SAG, PGA, ACE, etc), one thing we all knew already became crystal clear — Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is our undeniable front runner for several major awards. Not only is it the front runner, but it’s poised to sweep many of the categories in which it’s nominated. If the Oscar Squad’s predictions are 100% foolproof, then Oppenheimer will emerge with 8 wins. That seems about right, although it could win more. There are bound to be surprises. The trick is figuring out where they are.

No matter the final total, Oppenheimer taking home the largest number of trophies is a fitting bow to tie on the 2023 year in film. After all, “Barbenheimer” is widely considered to be a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon that brought people back that likely hadn’t seen the inside of a theater in years. The Academy needed to recognize one of the two films, and if it isn’t going to be Barbie (it’s not), then it needs to be Oppenheimer. There needs to be an acknowledgement and embracing of a major blockbuster by the Academy to bring people back into the Oscar game. Putting the quality of Nolan’s epic aside, that’s the most compelling reason for the film to win Best Picture. It would be a great thing for the Academy and for the general moviegoing population.

But Barbie won’t go home empty-handed. Most Squad members are predicting it to win a single trophy: Original Song. Will Billie Eilish win her second Oscar or will “I’m Just Ken” and Ryan Gosling charm their way into voters’ hearts? And what about the undeniable Costume and Production Design? Will Poor Things make a strong showing and take those two wins? Nearly all Squad members think so. Or could Poor Things emerge as another The Favourite and miss out on expected technical wins? If that’s the case, then does it win just a single award: Best Actress? That would end Lily Gladstone’s Cinderella year in a massively anti-climactic way. Nobody wants to see that, do they?

Enough blabbering, here are the Oscar Squad’s final Oscar rankings. Keep following Awards Daily into Sunday’s ceremony for the latest on the Oscar race!