The Odyssey | Through the Shattered Lens

Now that the awards for the best of 2025 have been handed out, it’s time to think about what might be nominated next year!

Below are my first set of Oscar predictions for 2026! What am I basing these predictions on? Nothing but instinct, wild guesses, and hopeful thinking. Take them with a grain of salt. If nothing else, we’ll look back on these a year from now and we’ll laugh. Or, we’ll be amazed at my cognitive abilities.

Best Picture

Digger

Disclosure Day

Dune Part Three

I Play Rocky

The Invite

Mother Mary

The Odyssey

Queen At Sea

The Social Reckoning

Wild Horse Nine

Best Director

Lance Hammer for Queen At Sea

Martin McDonagh for Wild Horse Nine

Christopher Nolan for The Odyssey

Steven Spielberg for Disclosure Day

Denis Villeneuve for Dune Part Three

Best Actor

Nicolas Cage in Madden

Timothee Chalamet in Dune Part Three

Tom Cruise in Digger

Anthony Ippolito in I Play Rocky

John Malkovivh in Wild Hose Nine

Best Actress

Juliette Binoche in Queen At Sea

Emily Blunt in Disclosure Day

Isabelle Huppert in The Blood Countess

Mikey Madison in The Social Reckoning

Anya Taylor-Joy in Joni Mitchell

Best Supporting Actor

Tom Courtenay in Queen At Sea

Willem DaFoe in Werewulf

Stephan James in I Play Rocky

Edward Norton in The Invite

Jeremy Strong in The Social Reckoning

Best Supporting Actress

Anna Calder-Marshall in Queen At Sea

Michaela Coel in Mother Mary

Penelope Cruz in The Invite

AnnaSophia Robb in I Play Rocky

Meryl Streep in Joni Mitchell

I grew up on stuff like Jason and the Argonauts, Clash of the Titans and Jim Henson’s The Storyteller. Part of me looks at Christopher Nolan’s new Trailer for The Odyssey and is hopeful for crazy Harryhausen-like CGI and what his take may be on the Greek Gods. I’m also wondering if it’ll just focus on the humans and will give us something practical like Wolfgang Petersen’s Troy. Either way, The Odyssey will look amazing on the IMAX, I’m sure. The trailer keeps things simple, which is good.

This film hasn’t been on my radar much, but looking at the cast list, the line up is pretty nice. Nolan’s called a few friends back with Anne Hathaway (The Dark Knight Rises & The Devil Wears Prada 2), Elliot Page (Inception & Close to You) and Benny Safdie (Oppenheimer & The Smashing Machine). They are joined by Robert Pattinson (The Batman), Jon Bernthal (The Accountant 2), Lupita Nyong’o (A Quiet Place: Day One), Charlize Theron (Atomic Blonde), Mia Goth (Frankenstein) and Zendaya & Tom Holland (Spider-Man: No Way Home).