10 potential Oscars 2025 nominated movies that have already been released

This year’s awards season hasn’t fully kicked off yet, however A bunch of great movies that could be nominated for Oscars in 2025 have been released. The 97th Academy Awards aren’t set to take place until March 2, 2025, but there’s already plenty of buzz surrounding the frontrunners for nominations. But most of the buzzy movies are yet to arrive in theaters after their much-hyped festival debuts. Sean Baker Anora Will be released on October 18, Luca Guadagnino funny will be released on November 27, and Brady Corbett’s The Brutalist Will be released on December 20th.

The biggest potential Oscar contenders have yet to be released, but some possible nominees have already emerged. Some of the year’s biggest box office hits viz Dunn: Part Two And Inside Out 2Could be populist choices for Oscar nods. Acclaimed lead performances in smaller drama films viz sing sing And The outrun Are sure to get acting nominations. From an eye-popping Best Visual Effects contender to a heartwarming Best Animated Feature contender, some movies with really strong chances at the 2025 Academy Awards have already landed.

10

Dunn: Part Two

Dune: Part II could repeat the success of its predecessor Oscars

One of the strongest contenders for the 2025 Oscars actually appeared a few days before the 2024 Oscars. Denis Villeneuve Dunn: Part Two was One of the biggest critical and commercial hits of the year. It completed Villeneuve’s cinematic adaptation of Frank Herbert’s sci-fi opus, bringing immersive world building and rich social commentary to the silver screen in spectacular style.

The first volume of Villeneuve’s Don Saga was a massive hit at the Oscars – scoring six awards out of 10 nominations – and the sequel received even better reviews, so it stands to reason that it will repeat its predecessor’s Oscars success in 2025.

Greig Fraser could win another Best Cinematography award, Hans Zimmer could win another Best Original Score award, and Joe Walker could win another Best Film Editing award. Maybe this time, Villeneuve can land a coveted Best Director nod.

9

sing sing

Colman Domingo is a likely Best Actor nominee

Greg Kwedar’s prison docudrama sing sing turns around The real-life rehabilitation through the arts program at Sing Sing Maximum Security PrisonWhich allows incarcerated people to find a new passion by putting on stage shows. Professional actors Colman Domingo and Paul Raci lead a cast made up mostly of actual alumni of the program. Although it premiered at TIFF in 2023, sing sing Didn’t get a wide release until it was picked up by A24 in 2024, which is eligible for the 2025 Oscars.

The most likely Oscar nomination for sing sing Is the best actor for Domingo. Domingo was nominated for best actor last year for his turn as civil rights activist Bayard Rustin in the Netflix biopic. RustinBut he lost to Cillian Murphy for Oppenheimer. Now that Domingo is an established Oscar favorite – and he has a terrific performance in sing sing – He could be in line for another nomination.

8

The wild robot

The Wild Robot is the frontrunner for Best Animated Feature

Since arriving in theaters on September 27, DreamWorks’ The wild robot quickly became the frontrunner for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. Based on Peter Brown’s favorite children’s book of the same name, The wild robot Starring Lupita Nyong’o as a shipwrecked robot who washes up on a remote island, adapts to her surroundings and becomes the adoptive mother of an orphaned goose. With dazzling animation and heartfelt storytelling, The wild robot Oscar winner wrote about him.

with A near perfect Rotten Tomatoes score of 98%, The wild robot is a shoo-in for a Best Animated Feature nomination. This would be DreamWorks Animation’s first Oscar nomination since 2022 Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. If it wins, it will be the studio’s first Oscar win since 2005 Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit Won Best Animated Feature.

7

Inside Out 2

Pixar’s Box Office Smash is a contender for Best Animated Feature

Before The wild robot came, The frontrunner for Best Animated Feature was Inside Out 2The highest-grossing film of the year. The sequel begins with a 13-year-old Riley entering puberty and contending with a bunch of new emotions – primarily anxiety, which immediately takes over her mind and turns her into a nervous wreck.

The movie was praised for recapturing the touching emotionality of the original. Given that almost all of Pixar’s movies have been nominated for Best Animated Feature since the category was introduced, it seems very likely that Inside Out 2 Will follow suit.

It was a huge box office hit and received mostly positive reviews from criticsAnd since animated films are expensive to produce, there is usually not much competition in this category. Whether it will take home the gold is another story – especially after The wild robot arrived as an untouchable masterpiece – but it’s practically guaranteed a nomination.

6

Challengers

Challengers could receive nominations for its screenplay and score

Luca Guadagnino funny has yet to be released in theaters, but the Call me by your name The director already has another movie in the 2025 Oscars race. The tennis drama with Zendaya Challengers is in the running for a handful of Oscar categories. The movie revolves around an injured tennis star-turned-coach, played by Zendaya, and her 13-year love triangle with her low-life tennis player ex-boyfriend, played by Josh O’Connor, and her tennis champion husband, played by Mike faces.

While Zendaya, O’Connor and Faist all have a slim chance of scoring acting nominations, Challengers is most likely to be nominated for Best Original Screenplay or Best Original Score. Justin Kuritskes’s script was praised for its Steamy romance, rich characterization and complex non-linear narrative structure. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross previously won Oscars for their music in soul And The Social Networkand scored a nomination for LackThat’s how they were already inside.

5

The outrun

Saoirse Ronan is already a frontrunner for Best Actress

Saoirse Ronan is already touted as a frontrunner for the 2025 Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in The outrun. Based on the 2016 memoir of the same name by Amy Liptrot, The outrun Follows a recovering alcoholic as she returns to the Orkney Islands In Scotland, where she grew up, to deal with her sad past. Ronan has been praised for her gripping portrayal of a battle against addiction.

Ronan currently has three Best Actress nominations under her belt – for her work in Brooklyn, Lady BirdAnd Little women – tying with the likes of Faye Dunaway and Jodie Foster. If she scores a fourth for The outrunShe will join the ranks of Diane Keaton, Nicole Kidman and Barbara Stanwyck. Ronan was also previously nominated for Best Supporting Actress for atonement.

4

Kinds of kindness

Yorgos Lanthimos’ latest is a possible dark horse for various categories

Although it’s far too weird to be a frontrunner, Yorgos Lanthimos’ surrealist black comedy Kinds of Kindness Could be a dark horse in a handful of Oscar categories. Kinds of Kindness is a three-part anthology Revolving around a mysterious man named RMF, with each major player in the ensemble cast playing a different role in each segment.

The Oscar success of Lanthimos’ last two movies, The favorite And Poor things (including Best Actress wins for both), has earned him some good will with the Academy. There are a few categories where Kinds of Kindness Could earn a nomination, if not a win.

Robbie Ryan’s cinematography is intoxicating, Jesse Plemons and Emma Stone are captivating in all three of their rolesAnd Lanthimos and Efthimis Filippou’s script is more than unconventional enough to catch the Academy’s attention. Kinds of Kindness Not necessarily a shoo-in, but it could be a surprise inclusion.

3

The substance

The substance could get a Best Makeup nomination — or even a Best Actress nod for Demi Moore

Coralie Fargeat’s mind-bending body horror opus THe substance is considered one of the wildest films of the year. Demi Moore stars as a celebrity who uses a black-market de-aging drug with horrifying side effects. Fargeat has already won Best Screenplay at Cannes, so there is a precedent for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars.

The Best Actress race is highly competitive this year, and the Oscars rarely reward horror movies, but the Academy loves a comeback story, so Moore may have a chance. The substanceThe best hope for an Oscar nomination may be best makeup and hairstyling. Not only does The substance Have some of the best makeup seen on the big screen this year; The makeup ties in its themes and narrative. The movie is all about cosmetic enhancements, and the makeup encapsulates that.

2

His three daughters

Three Best Supporting Actress contenders in one movie

Finally released on Netflix on September 20, just over a year after its TIFF premiere, Azazel Jacobs’ His three daughters Is A strong contender for three nominations in a single Oscar category. His three daughters It stars Carrie Coon, Natasha Lyonne and Elizabeth Olsen as three estranged sisters who are forced to live under the same roof as their father succumbs to his terminal illness. This character-driven premise puts the film’s focus squarely on their performances.

None of the three leads have enough precedence for a Best Actress nod, but all three are in the running for Best Supporting Actress. Although all three of them have been nominated for an Emmy, none of them has ever been nominated for an Oscar. But their performances have been so widely praised (and deservedly so) that an Oscar nod could be on the cards for either of them.

1

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes

The Last Planet of the Apes film is a show-in for Best Visual Effects

Although it had no chance of receiving more prestigious nominations like Best Picture or Best Director, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Has a good chance of getting a Best Visual Effects nod. 300 years after the death of Caesar, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes It revolves around a small resistance group that rose up against an evil map dictator. Much like its predecessors, it brings life with the ape characters Breathtaking performance-enhancing effects.

So far, the only Oscar that the Planet of the Apes Franchise has won is an Academy Honorary Award for the classic original film. All three Movies in the last Planet of the Apes Prequel Trilogy are nominated for Best Visual Effects in the OscarsBut none of them took home the trophy. With even more advanced motion-capture effects, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Could be the franchise’s chance to finally get one in the bag.