2025 Oscar Predictions: Best Visual Effects

The Oscar for Best Visual Effects is particularly tough to predict because of the complicated system by which the nominees are determined in three stages. The members of the executive committee of the branch cast preferential ballots to determine 20 films for further consideration. These are then winnowed down to 10 semi-finalists, which will be announced on December 17, 2024. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2025 Oscar predictions for Best Visual Effects.)

All members of the branch are invited to a virtual screening of excerpts from these 10 films in January at which potential nominees may discuss their work. Ballots are counted using a system of re-weighted range voting to determine the five nominees, which will be revealed on January 17. The entire voting membership of the academy will then vote for the winners, which will be revealed during the 97th Academy Awards ceremony on March 2.

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When it comes to picking the winner of Best Visual Effects, you can’t go wrong with the film that is most reliant on effects to tell its story. Recent winners “Godzilla Minus One” (2024), “Avatar: The Way of Water” (2023), “Dune” (2022), “Tenet” (2021), “Blade Runner 2049” (2018), “The Jungle Book” (2017), “Gravity” (2014), “Life of Pi” (2013), “Avatar” (2010) and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” (2009) would have been impossible to make without the advent of computer-generated effects. Titles that blend such CGI with old-school practical effects, such as “1917” (2020), “First Man” (2019), “Interstellar” (2015), “Hugo” (2012), and “Inception” (2011), have also prevailed in recent times.

Please note: To read full descriptions of each film, check out our 2025 Oscars Best Picture predictions.

UPDATED: October 16, 2024

LEADING CONTENDERS (ordered by odds)
“Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.)
“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” (20th Century Studios)
“Gladiator II” (Paramount Pictures)
“Twisters” (Universal)
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (Warner Bros./Universal)

STRONG CONTENDERS (ordered by odds)
“Here” (Sony Pictures)
“Mufasa: The Liong King” (Disney)
“A Quiet Place: Day One” (Paramount Pictures)
“Wicked” (Universal)
“Blitz” (Apple Original Films)
“Deadpool & Wolverine” (Disney)
“Alien: Romulus” (20th Century Studios)

POSSIBLE CONTENDERS (alphabetical order)
“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” (Warner Bros.)
“Civil War” (A24)
“The Fall Guy” (Universal)
“Godzilla X Kong: A New Empire” (Warner Bros.)
“Megalopolis” (Lionsgate)
“Nosferatu” (Focus Features/Universal)

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