Oscars 2025 Predictions for Best Director: Nominees and Winners

The best director race for the Oscars 2025 Includes several notable directors who have yet to win in the category, as well as several previous winners hoping to upset. The 2025 awards season has a very different group of contenders for Best Director compared to 2024. While Martin Scorsese and Christopher Nolan are the clear top two choices to win, this new year is a more wide-open competition. There are big-time directors in the mix thanks to massive sequels, but a crop of rising filmmakers in Hollywood are also looking to break through the Academy.

Predicting the five nominees for best director is not a task that exists in a vacuum, because nominations for all categories in the Oscars 2025 play a role in the figures which movies are rising to the top. It is often the heavyweight contenders who can bring the credited director into the best director race. This adds attention to the predicted best picture movies in 2025 Anora, Dunn: Part Two, Emilia PerezAnd more. The overall nomination potential for these titles is a major factor in Screen Rants predicted Best Director nominations and winners for the Oscars 2025.

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The next directors in line

Some directors are still in trouble

With plenty of time remaining beforehand Oscar nominations are announced on January 17, 2025Some directors may still work their way into a nomination. Pedro Almodóvar (The room next door), Jacob Mangold (A complete unknown), Greg Quedar (sing sing), and Edward Berger (Conclave) are among those attached to potential Best Picture nominees. Robert Zemeckis (Here) and Steve McQueen (Flash) have won in the category before and could gain momentum as the season progresses.

It’s also the group of filmmakers who could break through with a nomination even if the Best Picture name doesn’t accompany the film. Jason Reitman (Saturday night), Pablo Larraín (Maria), Luca Guadagnino (funny Or Challengers), Coralie Fargeat (The substance), and Chris Sanders (The wild robot) are some directors who remain in the discussion. These names will need some excellent campaigns to become stronger contenders for a nomination, though.

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Brady Corbett – The Brutalist

Won the Silver Lion in Venice

Brady Corbett could get his first Oscar nomination in 2025 Thanks to his work on The Brutalist. Overseeing a historical epic with a runtime of more than three hours is no easy task, but reviews for The Brutalist Show that Corbett navigated the story well and executed it in a way where it wasn’t overbearing for audience. It’s a very different movie than that Oppenheimer Or Killers of the Flower MoonBut both movies are recent examples of the Academy applauding a director’s work on a sprawling epic, so perhaps Corbett can follow in Nolan and Scorsese’s footsteps.

In terms of his winning resume, Brady Corbet already has a potential leg up on his competition thanks to the Venice Film Festival. The BrutalistHis release at the festival led to a nomination for the Golden Lion, however Corbett won the Silver Lion – Venice version of Best Director. He beat out hopeful contenders like Luca Guadagnino (funny), Pedro Almodóvar (The room next door), Pablo Larraín (Maria), Todd Phillips (Joke: Folie à Deux), Halina Reijn (Baby girl), Justin Kurzel (The order), and Walter Salles (I’m still here). This already puts him ahead of many peers.

It is worth noting that the Silver Lion is not always a direct sign that a director will receive a Best Director nomination, let alone win it all. Since 2010, Only one director has won the Silver Lion and then received a Best Director nomination: Jane Campion for The power of the dog. Campion most notably won the category in 2022, but the Academy rarely followed Venice’s choice for Best Director.

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Denis Villeneuve – Dune: Part Two

He was snubbed for the first film

Denis Villeneuve is still among the favorites for a Best Director nomination in 2025 after Dunn: Part Two. The director has no shortage of supporters in Hollywood, however He was still surprisingly snubbed from the category in 2022 For the first movie. Doon 2 showed Villeneuve becoming an even greater master of his craft, and delivered a sci-fi epic for the ages. The Academy’s voters now have a chance to rectify his previous fraud and recognize the great work he did on the sequel.

This would be Denis Villeneuve’s second Best Director nomination if this happens. He was nominated in 2017 for Arrival But lost to Damien Chazle for La La Land. Getting the nomination would be a great sign for Doon 2The Oscar chances in general, but whether it can actually get Villeneuve a win in that category is a different question. If the movie came out later in the year and Villeneuve’s technical mastery was fresh in voters’ minds, it might have had a better shot.

The Plans for Doon 3 Could also hurt Villeneuve’s chances of winning. Doon 2 Was previously getting comparisons to The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King And how the Academy showered Peter Jackson’s movie with nominations and wins as a means to celebrate the entire trilogy. Since Doon 2 Now confirmed not to be the end of Villeneuve’s time on Arrakis, the Academy may wait until the trilogy is over to give him similar recognition for one of Hollywood’s best modern franchises.

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Sean Baker – Anora

He is directing a best picture frontrunner

Anora is thought to be a frontrunner for the Best Picture win at the Oscars 2025, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that director Sean Baker is seriously in contention for Best Director. He has been on top of awards contention for a few years now, thanks to movies like Tangerine, The Florida ProjectAnd Red rocket. But after the movies only one Oscar nomination between them, Anora Seems to be the movie the Academy will take more seriously, which should include a Sean Baker nomination for Best Director.

The case for Sean Baker’s nomination and possible win currently rests largely on Anora‘s standing in Oscar circles and a rather important win at Cannes. Anora Won the Palme d’Or, the highest prize of the festival. This is notable for Baker because The directors of three of the last four Palme d’Or winning movies received Oscar nominations: Bong Joon-ho (parasite), Ruben Ostlund (Triangle of sadness), and Justin Triet (Anatomy of a case). Of the three, Bong Joon-ho was the only one to win Best Director at the Oscars.

The biggest reason he can win is if Anora is the ultimate winner of Best Picture. The Oscar winners for best director and best picture have matched movies three out of the last five yearsIncluding the last two years with Everything everywhere all at once And Oppenheimer. The Academy can often split the categories to give love to two different deserving titles, but Sean Baker could win for Anora If the recent trend continues.

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Jacques Audiard – Emilia Perez

Emilia Perez

If Anora Is the best picture favorite and the Academy decided to split picture and director with two different films, then Jacques Audiard’s work in Emilia Perez May be the one to benefit. After debuting in Cannes and being picked up by Netflix, the movie picked up steam through Telluride and Toronto shows. A lot of attention went to the work of the three leading women, however Audiard’s direction did not go unnoticedPut him squarely in the mix for Best Director at the 2025 Oscars.

Audiard currently doesn’t have a lot of precursors that help point him to the competition for a win, and he doesn’t have a strong history with the academy. His film The prophet Was nominated for Best International Feature Film in 2010, but his direction was not directly recognized. That makes his selection here more than A show of faith in Emilia Perez Like a legitimate Oscars contender across the board.

with Emilia Perez Arguably best positioned to win Best Supporting Actress for Zoe Saldaña, Jacques Audiard may have a chance to recognize the film. It also helps that Netflix supports the movie now. The streaming service has helped Jane Campion, Martin Scorsese, Alfonso Cuarón, Adam McKay and David Fincher receive best director nominations in recent years. like Netflix’s biggest awards contender in 2025The push for Emilia Perez Should be expansive and keep Audiard very much in the race.

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Ridley Scott – Gladiator II

Ridley Scott could finally win Best Director

Ridley Scott is our predicted winner for Best Director at the 2025 Oscars thanks to Gladiator II. The historical epic returns the director to a world where he has already found success with the academy. The original Gladiator Won five of 12 nominationsBut Scott’s nomination for Best Director was one of the categories where the movie fell short. Now that he’s back in ancient Rome, it should be time for the Academy to give him his fourth Best Director Oscar nomination overall.

The lack of a Best Director Oscar win is a glaring omission from Ridley Scott’s career. This gap is one that the Academy may now look to fill thanks to Gladiator IIAssuming it lives up to the hype. Scott called it one of his best moviesSo an Oscar nomination for his direction would make sense if voters agree with his assessment. Even if they don’t, there might be the urge to give Ridley Scott a win for Best Director as a legacy award that symbolically represents all the great work he’s done throughout his career.

Pick Ridley Scott to win Best Director for Gladiator II is a risk since No one has seen the movie to confirm the belief that his direction is worthy of this recognition. That means being standing in the Oscars 2025 Best director race can wildly shift on the release of the movie and how reactions and reviews emerge. Since Scott’s last movies have not had any real signs of sleeping, confidence that Gladiator II May be worthy of this nomination is still high.