2025 Oscar Predictions: Best Cinematography

At six of the last 11 Oscars, Best Cinematography has gone hand-in-hand with Best Director: Emmanuel Lubezki and Alfonso Cuaron for “Gravity” (2014); Lubezki and Alejandro G. Inarritu for both “Birdman” (2015) and “The Revenant” (2016); Linus Sandgren and Damien Chazelle for “La La Land” (2017); Cuaron doing double duty on “Roma” (2019) and Hoyte van Hoytema and Christopher Nolan for “Oppenheimer” (2024). Will that trend hold true this year? (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2025 Oscar predictions for Best Cinematography.)

The academy usually regards award-winning cinematography as pretty pictures within an epic technical feat of filmmaking. While great lighting and framing are laudable on their own, having a movie that looks like it was difficult to shoot goes a long way to snagging an Oscar. Recent lensing winners “Avatar” (2009), “Inception” (2010), “Hugo” (2011), “Life of Pi” (2012), “Gravity” (2013), “Blade Runner 2049” (2018) and “1917” (2020) also took home the Oscar for Best Visual Effects.

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While the lensers of “Oppenheimer,” “Inception” and “Gravity” first prevailed at the American Society of Cinematographers Awards, these precursor prizes do not have a stellar track record at forecasting the Oscar winner. Indeed, since the guild started handing out prizes in 1987, the two groups have agreed only 18 times.

UPDATED: October 9, 2024

LEADING CONTENDERS (ordered by odds)
“The Brutalist” (A24) — Lol Crawley
“Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.) — Greig Fraser
“Emilia Pérez” (Pathé) — Paul Guilhaume
“Nickel Boys” (Amazon MGM Studios) — Jomo Fray
“Maria” (Netflix) — Edward Lachman

STRONG CONTENDERS (ordered by odds)
“Conclave” (Focus Features) — Stéphane Fontaine
“Gladiator II” (Paramount) — John Mathieson
“Nosferatu” (Focus Features) — Jarin Blaschke
“Blitz” (Apple TV+) — Yorick Le Saux
“Anora” (Neon) — Drew Daniels
“Joker: Folie à Deux” (Warner Bros.) — Lawrence Sher

POSSIBLE CONTENDERS (alphabetical order)
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (Warner Bros.) — Simon Duggan
“Kinds of Kindness” (Searchlight) — Robbie Ryan
“Megalopolis” (Lionsgate) — Mihai M?laimare Jr.
“Nightbitch” (Searchlight) — Brandon Tross
“The Piano Lesson” (Netflix) — Michael Gioulakis
“Saturday Night” (Sony Pictures) — Eric Steelberg
“Sing Sing” (A24) — Pat Scola
“Wicked” (Universal) — Alice Brooks

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