The long season of red carpets and emotional winning speeches is finally coming to an end. After months of stars chasing trophies and studios spending millions on award campaigns, everyone is now looking at the Dolby Theatre. The 98th Academy Awards, aka the Oscars, are just around the corner, and you can feel how nervous Hollywood is right now.

The final votes are being sent in, and there are a lot of chances that some movies might pull up a shocker at Hollywood's biggest night. This year's Oscars race has been thrilling, and we are still wondering who or which movie will emerge victorious in major categories. The momentum is with films like Sinners and One Battle After Another. These films not only turned out to be two of the best-rated movies of 2025 but also became the ultimate awards darlings, sweeping major guild awards.

While Paul Thomas Anderson's black comedy solidified its frontrunner status by winning the Producers Guild Award (PGA), Ryan Coogler's horror-drama made history as the most-nominated film in the Academy's history. On the other hand, Michael B. Jordan's victory at the 2026 Actor Awards, previously known as the Screen Actors Guild Awards (SAG), has made the Best Actor race really interesting.

With no clear victor in sight, it would be interesting to see who takes the golden statuette home. And with that, here are our predictions for the 98th Academy Awards.

There is no doubt that it has been a heavyweight battle between One Battle After Another and Sinners. While Anderson's film has the PGA and DGA wins behind it, Sinners has won almost every award on the horizon and broke the record of most Oscar nominations, that is, 16. Moreover, the film's victory for Best Ensemble at this year's Actor Awards indicates it has the momentum to pull off an upset. However, the stats show that OBAA has a higher chance of winning BP at the biggest night of Hollywood.

Predicted Winner: One Battle After Another

Could Win: Sinners

This category seems to have no competition. Early on, the conversation centered on Coogler vs. Anderson, but once awards season began, it became clear that Anderson was the filmmaker to beat. With every major award in his briefcase, including Critics' Choice, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and DGA, the helmer of One Battle After Another is poised to take home his first-ever Oscar for direction. However, the Academy has a chance to flip the script and award the Oscar to a director who has made one of the most original films in decades.

If Coogler wins the award, he would not just be the first Black filmmaker to do so; he would also become the first filmmaker to defy the odds and take the Directing trophy for helming a horror flick, which will be historic in its own right.

Predicted Winner: Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another

Could Win: Ryan Coogler, Sinners

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When was the last time we saw this category being so interesting? Brendan Fraser had already won most Best Actor awards before winning the Oscar for The Whale, while Cillian Murphy was already deemed an Oscar winner halfway through the awards season for Oppenheimer. However, this year, the Best Actor race has been enthralling. Timothée Chalamet emerged as a frontrunner with wins at Critics' Choice and Golden Globes (Musical or Comedy) for Marty Supreme. But his campaign lost its steam when he lost at the BAFTAs and the recently held Actor Awards.

Meanwhile, with his victory at the Actor Awards, Michael B. Jordan has become the potential frontrunner for the accolade. Since 2000, every actor who has won the Best Actor trophy at the Oscars has won either the BAFTA or the Actor Award. Jordan has the latter, while Chalamet has neither. However, that is not all. There is a third contender in this list, and his name is Wagner Moura.

Despite only winning the Critics' Choice award for Best Actor (Drama), Moura has a real chance of winning this accolade. He has the support of the ever-growing international wing of the Academy, and his win could open doors for many.

Predicted Winner: Michael B. Jordan, Sinners

Could Win: Timothée Chalamet, Marty Supreme; Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

I can sum up this category in just two words: Jessie Buckley. However, I have to adhere to the word count and mention how one-sided this race has been. Buckley received worldwide acclaim for her performance in Chloe Zhao's Hamnet. She immediately became an Oscar frontunner and when the awards season began, it became clear that it was Buckley's award to lose.

She completed a monumental sweep this awards season, becoming the first female actor since Cate Blanchett in 2013 to win all four major honors: Critics’ Choice, Golden Globe, BAFTA, and the Actor Award. There have been only four instances since 2000 where an actress has won all four major trophies and gone on to lose the Oscar. But it is highly unlikely that we would see an upset in this category.

Predicted Winner: Jessie Buckley, Hamnet

Could Win: Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You

Another category where we do not have a clear winner. Even though Sean Penn is now leading the pack with wins at the BAFTAs and the Actor Awards, he is facing stiff competition from his fellow nominees, especially from Stellan Skarsgård.

Penn received universal acclaim for his menacing performance in One Battle After Another and immediately became a frontrunner in the aforementioned category. But the losses at Critics' Choice and Golden Globes made everyone believe that guilds might be going the other way. Fast forward to today, Penn has taken home two prestigious accolades, becoming a favorite once again.

Still, there is a level of uncertainty, and Skarsgård might just eclipse him to win the trophy for his powerful portrayal in Sentimental Value. With Penn not interested in showing up at the award ceremonies, the Academy might want to give it to someone who will grace the red carpet.

Predicted Winner: Sean Penn, One Battle After Another

Could Win: Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value

I always heard that you need a lot of patience covering the awards season. Why? Because there can be a lot of twists and turns. After covering this category, I can proudly say that I am very patient. The race began with Amy Madigan being named the winner by several critics' organizations for her haunting performance in Weapons. Her win at the Critics' Choice Awards stunned everyone, and it seemed that she was going surpass all the expectations.

However, her golden run hit a rough patch when Teyana Taylor (One Battle After Another) won at the Golden Globes, while Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners) took home the Supporting Actress accolade at the BAFTAs. Even though Madigan emerged victorious at the Actor Awards, there is no clear frontrunner in this category, and there are some specific reasons for it.

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Weapons has received no other nominations at the Oscars, and traditionally, it is really hard for an actor to win an acting accolade when their movie is not up for any award. That is where Taylor turns out to be a little ahead because One Battle After Another is not just nominated, it is also a frontrunner for winning the Best Picture. Meanwhile, Mosaku's BAFTA win cannot be discarded as well. With Madigan still in the picture with her Actor Awards win, this is one category where anybody could be a victor.

Predicted Winner: Amy Madigan, Weapons

Could Win: Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another; Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners

There was a time when three films were going as favorites in this category: Sentimental Value, It Was Just an Accident, and The Secret Agent. But now, we clearly have a forerunner in the group, and that is Joachim Trier's family drama Sentimental Value. 

Norway's official entry to the Oscars picked up a lot of momentum during the awards season and is now the film to beat. However, this category has always been one of the toughest, and whatever is happening around the world right now, it might just shift the entire conversation, making Jafar Panahi's It Was Just an Accident a formidable contender.

We will not get into politics and answer the "why." But an enthralling film made by an Iranian filmmaker might turn out to be something more than just a win.

Predicted Winner: Sentimental Value

Could Win: It Was Just an Accident

Just like the Best Actor (Female), the Animated Feature is another category where we have a clear winner. Netflix's K-pop Demon Hunters not only became the most-watched Netflix title of all time, but it also became a cultural phenomenon. 

There has been no real competition, and the Netflix flick has already been locked in for the prize by almost everyone. You can start congratulating the team from today. 

Predicted Winner: K-pop Demon Hunters

In this category, the race is a duel between a literary miracle and a heart-shattering epic. Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another, which is based on the 1990 novel Vineland by Thomas Pynchon, was notoriously difficult to adapt, and the fact that Anderson knocked it out of the park with his big-screen adaptation made its victory inevitable during the awards season. 

This screenplay has already won the BAFTA, the Critics' Choice, the Golden Globes, and the USC Scripter Award. With so many victories in its briefcase, One Battle After Another is the film to beat. The only film that might pull off an upset here is Chloe Zhao's Hamnet, which has received a lot of acclaim for its screenplay and storytelling. But, for now, it's Anderson's award to lose.

Predicted Winner: One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson

Could Win: Hamnet, Chloe Zhao

Ryan Coogler is winning this for sure. Sinners works not only because of its performances, direction, and music, but mainly because of the way the story has been written for the screen. For decades, vampire stories had some stereotypical tropes and less seriousness. Coogler tapped into that genre and gave us something so unique that it became an instant classic. 

The film has already won at the BAFTAs and Critics' Choice, along with several victories during the awards season. Although it is clearly the forerunner in this category, a win at the Writers Guild of America Awards (WGA) on March 8 will make Sinners the clear winner.

Predicted Winner: Sinners, Ryan Coogler

Could Win: It Was Just an Accident

Our Predicted Winners in Other Categories:

Best Casting: Sinners

Best Production Design: FrankensteinBest Cinematography: Train Dreams

Best Costume Design: FrankensteinBest Editing: One Battle After Another

Makeup and Hairstyling: FrankensteinBest Sound: F1

Visual Effects: Avatar: Fire and AshOriginal Score: Sinners

Original Song: Golden, K-pop Demon HuntersDocumentary Feature: The Perfect Neighbor

Documentary Short: All the Empty RoomsLive-Action Short: Two People Exchanging Saliva

Animated Short: The Girl Who Cried Pearls

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Which movie are you rooting for? Who do you want to see holding an Oscar trophy? Let us know your thoughts.