The Awards Season 2025: The early frontrunners for Oscar successes after Golden Globes nominations

• Awards Season 2025 is already heating up after the announcement of the 2025 Golden Globe nominees.
• The event is one of the major award ceremonies in the run up to the 97th Academy Awards next March.
• But this early on in the season, editors at Gold Derby have made their selections - for now.

So we are officially on the road to the 97th Academy Awards after the nominees were revealed at next year’s Golden Globes event.

Which means that for some of us “anoraks,” we’re getting spreadsheets out and starting to tally the nominations at several award ceremonies so we can potentially forecast who is going to be the big winners come the Oscars.

While I myself am going to be concentrating mainly on the “big” ceremonies across the season (handily mentioned in a previous article), there are those who have not only dedicated the time to watch everything but have even look at smaller award ceremonies, such as various film critic awards, to make more of an educated “forecast” (or guess in many ways) who is going to claim the gong come March 2025.

So who, according to those editors, are considered the early favourites to win at the 97th Academy Awards? Start pencilling in some watching sessions over the Christmas period shortly.

The science part

I took a look over at Gold Derby, one of the most complete resources for cinema award coverage, who have listed a series of editors who have made their picks - 10 editors in total. From that, it’s as easy as looking at what nominee has received the most picks from the editors in question and then organising the top three favourites from the information collated.

Who are the frontrunners so far in the 2025 Academy Awards races?

Best Film

“Anora” seems to already be one of the favourites in what is set to be a tightly-contested awards season this year, with three of the editors citing it as their pick to win Best Film. The movie, a darkly comedic and unpredictable story about a Brooklyn exotic dancer who marries the son of a Russian oligarch, leading to unexpected and hilarious consequences, has generated significant buzz since its release, with “Conclave” and “The Brutalist” also considered favourites to win the Best Film award.

Best Director

There is a clear favourite so far, according to the editors, who could pick up the Best Director award; Brady Corbet for “The Brualist.” Corbet’s directorial debut, “The Childhood of a Leader" in 2015, won awards at the Venice Film Festival, including Best Director in the Horizons section. The film, a psychological drama, explores the formative years of a future dictator, showcasing his interest in historical and political storytelling.

His second feature, "Vox Lux" (2018), stars Natalie Portman as a troubled pop star and dives into themes of fame, trauma, and societal violence. Corbet began his career as an actor, appearing in films like Michael Haneke’s "Funny Games" (2007) and Lars von Trier’s "Melancholia" (2011), where he honed his craft in psychologically intense roles before stepping behind the camera.

After that, Sean Baker for his work with “Anora” becomes the second favourite director to pick up the award, while Edward Berger is also considered a favourite for “Conclave.”

Best Actress

Having topped seven of the editors lists, ‘Anora’ actress Mikey Madison is their favourite to scoop the Best Actress award at the 97th Academy Awards. Her role as the titular character of Sean Baker’s film has already seen her pick up acting gongs from the Boston Society of Film Critics and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

Angelina Jolie’s performance as Maria Callas in the biopic “Maria” topped two of the remaining editors lists, while Karla Sofia Gascon for her performance in “Emilia Perez” was the only other actress topping the list - clearly, Madison at this stage is the hot favourite.

Best Actor

This category according to the editors is set to be a little harder fought; while Adrien Brody’s role as László Tóth in “The Brutalist” has seen him top five lists, three other editors believe that Ralph Fiennes’ performance in “Conclave” is equally a favourite - with Colman Domingo in “Sing Sing” the third favourite from the editors.

Best Supporting Actor

Despite Denzel Washington’s charismatic, Machiavellian role in “Gladiator II,” he is not considered the favourite by editors to pick up the Best Support Acting award; in fact, he places third topping only one list.

Kieran Culkin, fresh from his critically acclaimed role in “Succession,” is considered by six of the 10 editors giving their predictions as the favourite to win the award thanks to his performance in “A Real Pain” opposite actor and director Jesse Eisenberg. Coming in second place is Clarence Maclin for his role in “Sing Sing.”

Best Supporting Actress

With her name appearing at the top of eight of the 10 editors lists on Golden Derby, it seems unanimous that former MCU cast member Zoe Saldana is tipped to win the Best Supporting Actress gong for her role in “Emilia Perez.”

Though fans of “Wicked” should be happy to know that Ariana Grande also topped one of the editors lists, with Felicity Jones in “The Brutalist” the only other name topping the list. If you were a betting person, Saldana might be a “sure bet.”

Best Animated Feature

Clearly “The Wild Robot” enchanted not only younger audiences but a raft of film editors to boot; across all eight lists provided to Gold Derby from editors, the film topped every single top ten.

Its closest competitors for Best Animated Film therefore look to be “Inside Out 2” and “Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl,” set to screen on our TV sets this Christmas.

Best Original Screenplay

It’s very much the same situation with Best Original Screenplay as it is with Best Animated Feature: “Anora” has topped nine of the 10 editors lists when it comes to the favourite to win Best Original Screenplay - penned by none other than director Sean Baker.

One other movie did pip “Anora” to the top of someone’s list; that would be “The Brutalist” which was co-written by Brady Corbet and frequent collaborator Mona Fastvold.

Best Original Song

Unlike the other two categories we’ve mentioned, there seems to be more of a debate when it comes to the Best Original Song prediction.

Six editors feel that “Kiss The Sky” sung by Maren Morris for “The Wild Robot,” though two editors think that “The Journey” from the film “The Six Triple Eight” would be a favourite, while the final two thought “El Mar” from “Emilia Perez” might earn the gong.

Surprisingly - no one had a song from “Wicked” topping their list, therefore not “Defying Gravity” early on in the Oscar predictions.

When do the 97th Academy Awards take place?

The 97th annual Academy Awards is set to take place at the Dolby Theatre, Hollywood, California on Sunday March 2 2025, with nominations slated to be announced on January 21 2025.

Do you agree with some of the early Oscar favourites this far from the event, or do you think another film might pip some of these contenders? Make your predictions by leaving a comment down below.