The 94th Academy Awards will take place on March 27, marking not only a return to a pre-COVID spectacle, of sorts, but also the first time the prestigious event will have a host since 2018.
Craig Erwich, president of Hulu Originals and ABC Entertainment, announced the news of an impending host on December 11, during the winter Television Critics Association virtual press tour saying, “You heard it here first,” Erwich said before joking that it could be him to take on the task.
Previous performers who have taken on the emceeing gig have been Chris Rock (2016), Neil Patrick Harris (2015), Ellen DeGeneres (2014), Seth MacFarlane (2013), Billy Crystal (2012) and James Franco/Anne Hathaway (2011) with the Franco/Hathaway stint being widely derided by viewers and critics alike.
The show will also return to its traditional home of the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles after the 2021 ceremony was held as a pared-down version at Union Station due to the ongoing pandemic.
When it came to the coveted category for Best Picture, titles such as Don’t Look Up, Coda, Dune, House of Gucci, King Richard, Belfast and The Power of the Dog were some of the contenders expected to be included.
The latter, directed by Aussie director Jane Campion, took home the awards for Best Director, Best Picture – Drama and Best Supporting Actor (Any Film) for Kodi Smit-McPhee at the 2022 Golden Globes.
Cyrano, In the Heights, tick, tick…BOOM! and West Side Story, meanwhile, were some of the musicals that were anticipated to do well on Hollywood’s night of nights, with the latter being an especially interesting contender for Best Picture because the 1961 original film won Best Picture, and Rita Moreno won Best Supporting Actress for her role as Anita.
In the remake, Moreno (who is also one of the 2021 film’s executive producers) plays the newly created character Valentina, and many were predicting that she would be nominated once again for Best Supporting Actress.
So, how accurate were the various predictions around who and what would be nominated in each category? Read on to find out who the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has deemed best in show this year.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jessie Buckley (The Lost Daughter)
Ariana DeBose (West Side Story)
Judi Dench (Belfast)
Kirsten Dunst (The Power of the Dog)
Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard)
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Cruella (Jenny Beavan)
Cyrano (Massimo Cantini Parrini)
Dune (Jacqueline West)
Nightmare Alley (Luis Sequeira)
West Side Story (Paul Tazewell)
BEST SOUND
Belfast
Dune
No Time to Die
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Don’t Look Up (Nicholas Britell)
Dune (Hans Zimmer)
Encanto (Germaine Franco)
Parallel Mothers (Alberto Iglesias)
The Power of the Dog (Jonny Greenwood)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
CODA (Sian Heder)
Drive My Car (Ryusuke Hamaguchi & Takamasa Oe)
Dune (Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts & Denis Villeneuve)
The Lost Daughter (Maggie Gyllenhaal)
The Power of the Dog (Jane Campion)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Belfast (Kenneth Branagh)
Don’t Look Up (Adam McKay & David Sirota)
Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson)
King Richard
The Worst Person in the World
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Affairs of the Art
Bestia
Boxballet
Robin Robin
The Windshield Wiper
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
Ala Kachuu — Take and Run
The Dress
The Long Goodbye
On My Mind
Please Hold
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ciarán Hinds (Belfast)
Troy Kotsur (CODA)
Jesse Plemons (The Power of the Dog)
J.K. Simmons (Being the Ricardos)
Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Power of the Dog)
BEST FILM EDITING
Don’t Look Up (Hank Corwin)
Dune (Joe Walker)
King Richard (Pamela Martin)
The Power of the Dog (Peter Sciberras)
Tick, Tick… Boom! (Myron Kerstein & Andrew Weisblum)
BEST MAKEUP & HAIRSTYLING
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
House of Gucci
Coming 2 America
Cruella
Dune
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Encanto
Flee
Luca
The Mitchells vs. The Machines
Raya and the Last Dragon
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Ascension
Attica
Flee
Summer of Soul
Writing With Fire
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Audible
Lead Me Home
The Queen of Basketball
Three Songs for Benazir
When We Were Bullies
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Be Alive” — Beyoncé Knowles-Carter & Darius Scott (King Richard)
“Dos Oruguitas” — Lin-Manuel Miranda (Encanto)
“Down to Joy” — Van Morrison (Belfast)
“No Time to Die” — Billie Eilish & Finneas O’Connell (No Time to Die)
“Somehow You Do” — Diane Warren (Four Good Days)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Dune (Greig Fraser)
Nightmare Alley (Dan Lausten)
The Power of the Dog (Ari Wegner)
The Tragedy of Macbeth (Bruno Delbonnel)
West Side Story (Janusz Kaminski)
BEST FILM EDITING
Don’t Look Up (Hank Corwin)
Dune (Joe Walker)
King Richard (Pamela Martin)
Tick, Tick… Boom! (Myron Kerstein & Andrew Weisblum)
The Power of the Dog (Peter Sciberras)
BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE
Drive My Car (Japan)
Flee (Denmark)
The Hand of God (Italy)
Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Bhutan)
The Worst Person in the World (Norway)
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Dune (Zsuzsanna Sipos & Patrice Vermette)
Nightmare Alley (Tamara Deverell & Shane Vieau)
The Power of the Dog (Grant Major & Amber Richards)
The Tragedy of Macbeth (Stefan Dechant & Nancy Haigh)
West Side Story (Rena DeAngelo & Adam Stockhausen)
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Dune
Free Guy
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
No Time to Die
Spider-Man: No Way Home
BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain (The Eyes of Tammy Faye)
Olivia Colman (The Lost Daughter)
Penélope Cruz (Parallel Mothers)
Nicole Kidman (Being the Ricardos)
Kristen Stewart (Spencer)
BEST ACTOR
Javier Bardem (Being the Ricardos)
Benedict Cumberbatch (The Power of the Dog)
Andrew Garfield (Tick, Tick … Boom!)
Will Smith (King Richard)
Denzel Washington (The Tragedy of Macbeth)
BEST DIRECTOR
Paul Thomas Anderson (Licorice Pizza)
Kenneth Branagh (Belfast)
Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog)
Steven Spielberg (West Side Story)
Drive My Car (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi)
BEST PICTURE
Belfast
CODA
Don’t Look Up
Drive My Car
Dune
King Richard
Licorice Pizza
Nightmare Alley
The Power of the Dog
West Side Story
While you wait for the actual Academy Awards ceremony on March 27, why not brush up on all of your Oscars trivia by reading up on the greatest (and occasionally awkward) moments in the history of the Academy Awards by clicking here.
You can also check out all our Oscars coverage here.
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