
With the nominees for the 93rd Academy Awards now set in stone, and with the ceremony set to take place on April 25th, our betting expert is here to run you through the 2021 Oscars Odds and offer up his best prediction for each of the main categories.
The likes of Nomadland, Tenet and Monk are all favorites to sweep up the awards this year, with Monk being the film that’s had the most nominations in total with 10.
Nomadland managed to pick up six nominations, including ones for Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, and is favorite to win in the majority of categories it’s been nominated for.
Ahead of the ceremony taking place this Sunday, we’re here to run you through the odds for this year’s Academy Awards, as well as offering up our expert pick for select categories.
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Best Picture odds and predictions
All odds in this piece come courtesy of bet365. Correct at the time of publishing and subject to change.
From the Golden Globes to the British Independent Film Awards, Nomadland has been a nominee at pretty much every major film awards show out there, thus it’s no surprise to see it named the out-and-out favorite by the bookies for the Best Picture Oscar.
The film’s already been nominated for seven BAFTA’s and six Academy Awards, recognition that shows just how critically-acclaimed the film itself actually is.
Nomadland doesn’t have too much competition this year, something that is partly down to the Covid-19 pandemic, one that has seen postpone and cancel filming for a number of films, thus limiting the number of films that have been released in the last year.
Nomadland, and it’s director Chloe Zhao, recently won two awards at the Golden Globes back in February, with these being ‘Best Motion Picture – Drama’ and ‘Best Director’, and it’d be a huge shock for any other nominated film to take home the award on the 25th.
Best Director odds and predictions
Director (Film) | Odds |
Chloe Zhao (Nomadland) | -1000 |
David Fincher (Mank) | +900 |
Lee Isaac Chung (Minari) | +1200 |
Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round) | +1400 |
Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) | +2000 |
Much like the ‘Best Picture’ category, Chloe Zhao and Nomadland are heavy favorites to win the ‘Best Director’ award, and given the awards it’s already won, it’s hard to argue against that.
Zhao has been nominated for 13 different ‘Best Director’ awards at various award shows this year, and has won every single one of them, numbers that doesn’t make it a surprise to see her priced at -1000 to do the same at this year’s Oscars.
It is important to remember that a female director has only ever won the award for ‘Best Director’ at the Oscars once before, which was Kathryn Bigelow in 2009. However given the hype surrounding Nomadland, it’s hard to look past Zhao claiming this award.
Best Actor odds and predictions
Actor | Odds |
Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) | -3300 |
Anthony Hopkins (The Father) | +1000 |
Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal) | +2000 |
Gary Oldman (Mank) | +3300 |
Steven Yeun (Minari) | +3300 |
Following his untimely passing from colon cancer in August 2020, it’d only be right to see Chadwick Boseman handed the Oscar for Best Actor, especially when you consider how brilliant he was in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.
This will most likely be the only time Boseman is nominated for an Oscar, therefore it seems just for him to named Best Actor this year ahead of legends such as Anthony Hopkins and Gary Oldman.
At odds of -3300, it seems the bookies think this is as much of an open and shut case as you can get.
Best Actress odds and predictions
Actress | Odds |
Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman) | +125 |
Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) | +187 |
Frances McDormand (Nomadland) | +450 |
Andra Day (The United States vs Billie Holiday) | +600 |
Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman) | +1000 |
Carey Mulligan was absolutely fantastic in Promising Young Woman, however despite this, we feel Frances McDormand is the one to bet on when it comes to the Best Actress category.
Much like Mulligan, McDorman was excellent in Nomadland, and given how good the film itself is, it wouldn’t be a shock to see her take home the Oscar for Best Actress this year.
McDormand has already been nominated in this category for 42 other awards shows, winning 19 of them, thus at odds of +450, we feel the bookies may have made a mistake here, making it our choice to go with ahead of the Academy Awards on the 25th.
Best Supporting Actor odds and predictions
Actor | Odds |
Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah) | -1400 |
Sacha Baron Cohen (The Trail of the Chicago 7) | +900 |
Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night in Miami) | +1400 |
Paul Raci (Sound of Metal) | +1400 |
LaKeith Stanfield (Judas and the Black Messiah) | +2500 |
Having failed to win the Oscar for Best Actor in 2017 for his role in Get Out, it seems this year may finally be the year Daniel Kaluuya gets his hands on an Academy Award.
Kaluuya has already won the Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actor, with the 32-year-old also winning two of the three Best Supporting Actor awards he was nominated for for other awards shows.
It’s easy to see why given how impressive he was in Judas and the Black Messiah, and unless there’s a huge upset in store, Kaluuya should take his first Oscar on the 25th.
Best Supporting Actress odds and predictions
Actress | Odds |
Youn Yuh-Jung (Minari) | -163 |
Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm) | +250 |
Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy) | +550 |
Olivia Coleman (The Father) | +1000 |
Amanda Seyfried (Mank) | +1200 |
Yuh-Jung has been sweeping the award for Best Supporting Actress this year, however we feel the talented Maria Bakalova may get the edge over her at the Oscars this year.
Bakalova was brilliant in Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, a role that has seen her earn 36 nominations in this category over a number of different award shows, winning 16 of them.
When a certain film or actor/actress is expected to sweep up a number of awards, like Minari is this year, it’s not uncommon for the Oscars to hand out one or two awards to other films/people in certain category to make sure one film doesn’t sweep them all.
With this in mind, we feel it’s wise to bet on Bakalova for this category, especially at odds of +250, which seems a little overpriced to us.
Best Visual Effects odds and predictions
Tenet was one of the biggest box-office smashes of the year, with Christopher Nolan proving once again that he truly is one of the best directors in the world.
The film itself had a large number of it’s scenes shot in reverse and then reversed themselves during the editing process, a factor that only makes the film’s visual effects more impressive.
Tenet has already won two awards for Best Visual Effects at both the Critics Choice Awards and the Satellite Awards, and it’d come as a big surprise if if didn’t pick up the award in the Best Visual Effects category come the 25th.
Best Original Screenplay odds and predictions
Film | Odds |
Promising Young Woman | -225 |
The Trail of the Chicago 7 | +162 |
Minari | +1200 |
Sound of Metal | +2800 |
Judas and the Black Messiah | +2800 |
Promising Young Woman has been nominated for 11 Best Original Screenplay awards in total, winning six of them, with director Emerald Fennell receiving heaps of praise for her work in the process.
The Trial of the Chicago 7 is a strong competition for the award, with Aaron Sorkin doing an excellent job directing, however given it’s prevalence in this category this year, it’s hard to look past Promising Young Woman claiming this award, and a few select others, come April 25th.
Best Cinematography odds and predictions
Film | Odds |
Nomadland | –225 |
Mank | +200 |
News of the World | +1200 |
Judas and the Black Messiah | +1600 |
The Trail of the Chicago 7 | +2000 |
Having been nominated for 20 different Best Cinematography awards over the past few months, it’s not particularly hard to see why Nomadland is clear favorite to win the Oscar for Best Cinematography.
Of those 20 nominations, Nomadland ended up winning 11 of them, with Joshua James Richards being lauded with praise for his exceptional work on the film’s cinematography in the process.
Mank will expect to win a few awards on the 25th, however we doubt Best Cinematography will be one of then, as it’d be a huge shock to see anything other than Nomadland win this Academy Award in a few weeks time.
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