Oscars 2026 predictions: Which movies will compete for the coveted trophy? | See list

New Delhi: With Venice and Telluride Film Festivals ready to roll out their red carpets, the official awards season has finally begun. The Oscar predictions for 2026 are already sparking buzz, though no clear frontrunner has emerged yet. The field is being described as open, unpredictable, and highly competitive, with every major studio preparing its strongest titles for contention.

Focus Features, Netflix and Neon are leading the charge with heavyweight projects. Chloé Zhao’s Hamnet, Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, and Jafar Panahi’s Palme d’Or winner It Was Just an Accident are among the most anticipated titles. Meanwhile, Warner Bros. is relying on Ryan Coogler’s Sinners and Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another, while also hoping Zach Cregger’s Weapons can fuel awards talk for Amy Madigan.

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Amazon MGM is centring much of its awards campaign on Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt. The film stars Julia Roberts in what insiders are calling her most commanding role in years. Roberts, who last received an Oscar nomination for August: Osage County in 2013, has been absent from major awards conversations for more than a decade. The actress famously won best actress for Erin Brockovich in 2000. Many believe After the Hunt, premiering at Venice, could mark her return to Oscar glory.

The trailer for the film has already drawn comparisons to Notes on a Scandal and Tár. If it lives up to expectations, Roberts could become a frontrunner in what’s shaping up to be a wide-open best actress race.

Elsewhere, 20th Century Studios is balancing its Bruce Springsteen biopic Deliver Me From Nowhere with James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash. Searchlight Pictures is betting on Bradley Cooper’s Is This Thing On? and Hikari’s Rental Family, while Sony Pictures Classics is pushing Russell Crowe in Nuremberg and Ethan Hawke in Blue Moon.

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Apple remains ambitious with Joseph Kosinski’s racing epic F1, while Paramount looks to position Roofman, starring Channing Tatum and Kirsten Dunst, as a mainstream crowd-pleaser. Lionsgate is eyeing Jennifer Lopez’s Kiss of the Spider Woman alongside Aziz Ansari’s debut Good Fortune.

Latecomers like Mona Fastvold’s The Testament of Ann Lee and Mubi’s Die, My Love, starring Jennifer Lawrence, are also tipped to shake up the race.