WILL TIMOTHEE CHALAMET WIN HIS FIRST OSCAR?
While the supporting acting categories feature overwhelming favourites in Zoe Saldana (Emilia Pérez) and Kieran Culkin (A Real Pain), both best actor and best actress are close contests.
In best actress, Demi Moore (The Substance) is most likely to win, but Mikey Madison (Anora) or Fernanda Torres (I’m Still Here) could pull off the upset.
Adrien Brody is favoured in best actor for his performance in The Brutalist. But Timothée Chalamet stands a decent chance of beating him, for his performance as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. The 29-year-old Chalamet, who won at the Screen Actors Guild, would become the youngest best actor winner ever, edging Brody’s record, set in 2003 in his win for The Pianist.
CAN THE SHOW LIFT A BATTERED HOLLYWOOD?
This year’s Oscars are unspooling after a turbulent year for the film industry. Ticket sales were down 3 per cent from the previous year and more significantly from pre-pandemic times. The strikes of 2023 played havoc with release schedules in 2024. Many studios pulled back on production, leaving many out of work. The fires, in January, only added to the pain.
Last year’s telecast, propelled by the twin blockbusters of Oppenheimer and Barbie, led the Oscars to a four-year viewership high, with 19.5 million viewers. This year, with smaller independent films favoured in the most prominent awards, the academy will be tested to draw as large of an audience.
With a not particularly starry array of best song nominees, the academy has done away with performances of original songs this year. But there will be music, including a performance by Wicked stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, and a tribute to the late Quincy Jones, with Queen Latifah.
Last year’s acting winners – Emma Stone, Robert Downey Jr, Cillian Murphy, Da’Vine Joy Randolph – will also take part in the ceremony. The acting awards won’t get the “fab five” treatment, with five previous winners per category, but producers say it will be used for some other categories that “maybe don’t normally get the spotlight on the Oscar stage”.
The ceremony will be taking place days following the death of Gene Hackman. The 95-year-old two-time Oscar winner and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, were found dead Wednesday at their New Mexico home. Morgan Freeman is to honour him during the ceremony.
