Oscars 2025: Predictions & Rumours

The 97th Academy Awards are just around the corner, meaning we will finally get to see the red carpet stacked with Hollywood’s shiniest stars, what’s inside those illustrious goody bags, and which films have earned votes from the Academy’s circa 10,000 members. But who has the most Oscar nominations this year? And who will walk away with the most gongs?

Zoe Saldaña as Rita Moro Castro and Karla Sofía Gascón as Emilia Pérez in Emilia Pérez. (Netflix © 2024)

Which Movie Has The Most Oscar Nominations This Year?

Jacques Audiard’s Emilia Pérez is the most nominated movie at the 2025 Oscars with 13 nods – a decision from the Academy that would soon prove controversial. Ever since the contentious (yet critically lauded) film was revealed as 2025’s top scorer, the 2024 Netflix drama has faced an uphill battle – dare we say one more captivating than the film itself. More on that below.

Emilia Pérez didn’t just make headlines: the musical drama made history as the most Oscar nominated non-English language film ever, while lead star Karla Sofía Gascón is the first trans actor to be nominated for Best Actress – and in any acting category at all, for that matter. Emilia Pérez is trailed by Wicked and The Brutalist, which have 10 nominations each at the 97th Academy Awards.

Selena Gomez as Jessi in Emilia Pérez. (Netflix)

What’s The Drama With Emilia Pérez?

While a Spanish-language drama set in Mexico directed by a Frenchman and filmed in Paris was never going to please everyone, it is lead star Karla Sofía Gascón that has cinched the controversy spotlight. After vehemently defending the film in the face of criticism (from Mexican audiences especially, many of whom describe the film as inauthentic, especially considering the lack of Mexican stars in it), old Tweets of Gascón’s emerged, many attacking Islam, Christianity, Catholicism, Catalonia, the Black Lives Matter movement and diversity at the Academy Awards.

The star later apologised, deleted her X account, and appeared on an hour-long TV interview with CNN en Español where she compared her struggles as a trans star to the struggles of Black people. Eventually, Netflix decided to entirely defund Gascón’s travel and fashion for the remainder of awards season, totally removing her from the film’s campaign in fear the drama surrounding her would damage the film’s chances. However, rumour has it Netflix will be funding Gascón’s attendance the Oscars this weekend.

Audiard, meanwhile, isn’t entirely scot-free. Emilia Pérez centres on an ex drug cartel boss in Mexico who decides to undergo gender affirming surgery. Mexican people have slammed the film for its inauthentic depiction of the nation’s intense pain and struggles. Mexican screenwriter Héctor Guillén in particular wrote: ‘Mexico hates Emilia Pérez. Racist Euro Centrist Mockery. Almost 500K dead and France decides to do a musical.’

‘There’s a drug war, nearly 500,000 deaths [since 2006] and 100,000 missing in the country,’ Guillén tells the BBC. ‘We are still immersed in the violence in some areas. You are taking one of the most difficult topics in the country, but it’s not only any film, it’s an opera. It’s a musical. So for us and many activists, it’s like you are playing with one of the biggest wars in the country since the Revolution [in the early 20th Century]. Part of the plot is about searching mothers of the disappeared [searching for their children]: one of the most vulnerable groups in Mexico. And there were zero words in the four Golden Globe acceptance speeches to the victims.’

Anora

Oscars 2025: Predictions & Rumours

The Oscars are like a crescendo in awards season, with each and every ceremony leading up to it painstakingly analysed for clues on who might bag the Academy Award. Last year, Oppenheimer seemed perfectly poised to sweep the ceremony – and it did. But thanks to the above controversy, 2025 is still wide open. We’ve scoured the media to find the following rumoured and predicted winners for the biggest six categories:

• Best Picture: Anora and The Brutalist are the most likely winners, with Emilia Pérez seeming dead in the water, though some think Conclave could emerge from the shadows, too
• Best Actor: After bagging his first ever high-profile award at the SAG Awards and leading two films in the Best Picture category, Timothée Chalamet seems a shoe-in – but Adrien Brody might just clinch it. (Poetically, Brody is currently the youngest Best Actor winner, having bagged the award aged 29 in 2003; if Chalamet wins, the just-younger 29-year-old will steal that title, too)
• Best Actress: After Mikey Madison bagged the Bafta and the Independent Spirit and Demi Moore clinched the Golden Globe and the SAG in this category, the two seem neck and neck – another contest between a Hollywood veteran and a 20-something star
• Best Supporting Actor: Kieran Culkin tops most prediction lists for his turn in A Real Pain, though Edward Norton is the second bet for A Complete Unknown
• Best Supporting Actress: Emilia Pérez may not walk away empty handed, with many critics citing Zoe Saldana here – or could Ariana Grande claim the crown?
• Best Director: Sean Baker seems a shoe-in thanks to Anora, though Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist is also a mean feat. As for who should win? Corlie Fargeat for The Substance is the cult favourite

Elle Fanning and Timothée Chalamet in A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures. © 2024 Searchlight Pictures All Rights Reserved.

What Movie Has The Most Oscar Nominations Ever?

All About Eve (1950), Titanic (1997) and La La Land (2016) are tied for the most Oscar nominations in history, garnering 14 apiece in their respective years. Emilia Pérez just missed out with 13 nominations.

What Movie Has The Most Oscar Wins Ever?

Ben-Hur (1959), Titanic (1997) and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) are tied for the most Oscar wins in history, garnering 11 gongs each in their respective years. It was a clean sweep for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King which won all 11 of its nominations. Ben-Hur had 12 nominations so missed out on one prize, while Titanic missed out on three prizes from its 14 nominations.

West Side Story (1961) is just behind them with 10 wins. Only Emilia Pérez has the potential to join the most Oscar-lauded films of all time this year, and only if it concedes in a maximum of two categories. Let’s see what happens on Sunday, but we’re not holding our breath.

WATCH

The 97th Academy Awards will return to Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre on Sunday 2 March 2025. The ceremony will begin at 4pm Pacific Time (midnight here in the UK). The ceremony will be hosted by Conan O’Brien.

There’s still time to watch all 10 Best Picture nominees ahead of the ceremony. Find out how here.