Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change based on buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.
Visit the prediction pages for the respective ceremonies via the links below:
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2024 Oscars Predictions:
Best Original Song
Weekly Commentary (Updated Dec. 22, 2023): As expected, all three “Barbie” songs that were entered — Billie Eilish’s “What Was I Made For,” Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” and Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” — made the 15-song list. Only two, under Academy rules, can be nominated, and at the moment, I’m circling Eilish and Lipa.
The shortlist also delivered two tracks each from Warner Bros’ “The Color Purple” (“Keep It Movin’” and “Superpower,” sung by Halle Bailey and Fantasia Barrino) and Apple Original Films’ “Flora and Son” (“High Life” and “Meet in the Middle”). Olivia Rodrigo’s hit “Can’t Catch Me Now” from “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” also moves one step closer to an Oscar nom alongside Lenny Kravitz (“Road to Freedom” from “Rustin”) and surprisingly Wes Anderson, who co-wrote “Dear Alien” from “Asteroid City.”
We always have to be open for surprises for what makes the ultimate cut.
Read: Variety’s Awards Circuit for the latest Oscars predictions in all categories.
The submission deadline for general categories is Nov. 15, 2023. The preliminary shortlist for eight categories is from Dec. 14-18, with the results announcement dropping on Dec. 21. The Oscar nomination period will run from Jan. 11-16, 2024, with the official nominees named on Jan. 23.
The 96th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 10.
Listed producer credits are not final and are subject to change. The Academy ultimately determines the official nominees.
And the Predicted Nominees Are:
- “Barbie” (Warner Bros.) — “What Was I Made For?” by Billie Eilish and Finneas
- “Barbie” (Warner Bros.) — “Dance the Night” by Caroline Ailin, Dua Lipa, Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt
- “Flamin’ Hot” (Hulu/Searchlight Pictures) — “The Fire Inside” by Diane Warren
- “Rustin” (Netflix) — “Road to Freedom” by Lenny Kravitz
- “American Symphony” (Netflix) — “It Never Went Away” by Jon Batiste and Dan Wilson
Next in Line
- “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” (Sony Pictures) — “Am I Dreaming” by Leland Wayne, Rakim Mayers, Michael Dean, Peter Lee Johnson, Landon Wayne
- “Barbie” (Warner Bros.) — “I’m Just Ken” by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt
- “Killers of the Flower Moon” (Apple Original Films/Paramount Pictures) — “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People” by The Osage Tribe
- “The Color Purple” (Warner Bros.) — “Keep It Movin’” by Halle Bailey, Denisia Andrews, Brittany Coney, Morten Ristorp
- “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” (Lionsgate) – “Can’t Catch Me Now” by Olivia Rodrigo, Dan Nigro
Other Top-Tier Possibilities
- “The Color Purple” (Warner Bros.) — “Superpower (I)” by Terius Gesteelde-Diamant
- “Asteroid City” (Focus Features) — “Dear Alien Who Art in Heaven” by Wes Anderson, Jarvis Cocker, Richard Hawley
- “Flora and Son” (Apple Original Films) — “High Life” by John Carney and Gary Clark
- “Past Lives” (A24) — “Quiet Eyes” by Zach Dawes and Sharon Von Etten
- “Flora and Son” (Apple Original Films) — “Meet Me in the Middle” by John Carney and Gary Clark
Eligible Titles (Alphabetized by Studio)**
- “American Symphony”: “It Never Went Away”
- “Asteroid City”: “Dear Alien Who Art in Heaven”
- “Barbie”: “Dance the Night,” “I’m Just Ken,” “What Was I Made For”
- “The Beanie Bubble”: “This”
- “Bella”: “The Easy Way”
- “Bobi Wine: The People’s President”: “Everything’s Gonna Be Fine”
- “The Boy and the Heron”: “Spinning Globe”
- “Carmen”: “Slip Away”
- “Champions”: “Tell Somebody That You Love Them Right Now”
- “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget”: “My Sweet Baby”
- “The Color Purple”: “Superpower,” “Keep It Movin’”
- “Creed III”: “Blood, Sweat & Tears”
- “Dicks: The Musical”: “Out Alpha the Alpha”
- “Dreamin’ Wild”: “A Dream Is Beautiful”
- “Drift”: “It Would Be”
- “Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves”: “Wings of Time”
- “80 for Brady”: “Gonna Be You”
- “Elemental”: “Steal the Show”
- “The Face of the Faceless”: “Barala Tribal Song,” “Ek Sapna Mera Suhana,” “Jalta Hai Suraj” “Flamin’ Hot”: “The Fire Inside”
- “Flora and Son”: “High Life,” “Meet in the Middle”
- “A Good Person”: “The Best Part,” “I Hate Myself,” “Stardust”
- “Heart of Stone”: “Quiet”
- “Here. Is. Better”: “A Little More Time”
- “The Home Fairy”: “Amar em Segredo”
- “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes”: “Can’t Catch Me Now”
- “The Inventor”: “From This Tiny Seed”
- “The Iron Claw”: “Live That Way Forever”
- “Jacob the Baker”: “Better Times”
- “Joe Haladin: The Case of the Missing Sister”: “It’s Precious We Have It Today”
- “John Wick: Chapter 4”: “Eye for an Eye”
- “Journey to Bethlehem”: “Mother to a Savior and King”
- “Killers of the Flower Moon:”: “Wahzhazhe (A Song for My People)”
- “King Coal”: “King Coal”
- “Knights of Santiago”: “Las Navas de Tolosa”
- “Leo”: “When I Was Ten”
- “The Little Mermaid”: “For the First Time,” “The Scuttlebutt,” “Wild Uncharted Waters”
- “The Magician’s Elephant”: “Found”
- “M3gan”: “Tell Me Your Dreams”
- “My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3”: “We’re All Together”
- “My Love Affair With Marriage”: “Lion / My Love Affair With Marriage”
- “Nimona”: “T-Rex”
- “Nyad”: “Find a Way”
- “Origin”: “Falling Into Place,” “I Am”
- “Orlando, My Political Biography”: “Pharma Coliberation”
- “Our Son”: “Always Be My Man”
- “Past Lives”: “Quiet Eyes”
- “PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie”: “Down Like That,” “Learning to Fly”
- “The Peasants”: “End of Summer”
- “Prisoner’s Daughter”: “Shotgun Clown”
- “Radical”: “Sader”
- “The Road Dog”: “Remember Me”
- “Ruby Gelman, Teenage Kraken”: “Rise,” “This Moment”
- “Rustin”: “Road to Freedom”
- “Saving Ana”: “Missing Children”
- “Scream VI”: “In My Head,” “Still Alive”
- “She Came to Me”: “Addicted to Romance”
- “Silver Dollar Road”: “Wounded Heart”
- “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”: “Am I Dreaming”
- “Spinning Gold”: “Greatest Time”
- “The Starling Girl”: “Ace Up My Sleeve”
- “State of the Unity”: “One Mile,” “Songbird,” “Hides”
- “Stephen Curry Underrated”: “Lil Fish, Big Pond”
- “Strays”: “All of You”
- “The Super Mario Bros. Movie”: “Peaches”
- “Suzume”: “Kanata Haluka.” “Suzume”
- “Sweetwater”: “Taking Me Higher”
- “Theater Camp”: “Camp Isn’t Home”
- “They Cloned Tyrone”: “Drunk AF”
- “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts”: “On My Soul”
- “Trolls Band Together”: “Better Place (Reunion)”
- “Uncharitable”: “All of Our Dreams”
- “We Dare to Dream”: “Don’t Need to Sleep”
- “Wish”: “I’m a Star,” “This Is the Thanks I Get?!,” “This Wish”
- “Wonka”: “A World of Your Own”
2022 category winner: “RRR” (Variance Films) — “Naatu Naatu” by M. M. Keeravani (music) and Chandrabose (lyrics)
** indicates an unconfirmed release date in 2023 or could campaign in the lead or supporting categories. All release dates are subject to change.
Oscars Predictions Categories
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About the Academy Awards
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, is Hollywood’s most prestigious artistic award in the film industry. Since 1927, nominees and winners have been selected by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). Seventeen branches are represented within the nearly 10,000-person membership. The branches are actors, associates, casting directors, cinematographers, costume designers, directors, documentary, executives, film editors, makeup and hairstylists, marketing and public relations, members-at-large, members-at-large (artists’ representatives), music, producers, production design, short films and feature animation, sound, visual effects and writers.