Oscar odds update: ‘Avatar: The Way of Water’ ascends in Best Picture race
“Avatar: The Way of Water” opened on December 16 with solid reviews and huge box office (almost half a billion dollars already grossed worldwide). But what about the Oscars? It seems that the more people see the film, the better its chances. It has shot up to seventh place in our odds for Best Picture based on the combined predictions of thousands of users. Might it do just as well at the Oscars as the original — maybe even better? Scroll down to see the film’s sharp upward trajectory on our graph.
The predictions spike for the film doesn’t just come from critical and commercial success. It likely stems from a good week of awards announcements for the film. It earned Best Picture and Best Director (James Cameron) nominations at both the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Awards. Those directing bids put the film in an especially strong position as an Oscar contender, though the importance of the Critics Choice bid is diluted somewhat by the fact that that organization nominated 10 directors instead of just five.
Nevertheless, we now have 18 out of 24 Expert journalists betting on it to win. It’s also backed for a nom by 10 out of 11 Gold Derby Editors who cover awards year-round, with Paul Sheehan currently picking it to win. All of our Top 24 Users, who got last year’s highest prediction scores, agree it will be nominated, as do 21 out of 24 All-Stars who got the highest prediction scores when you combine the last two years’ Oscar nomination results. The original “Avatar” from 13 years ago won three Oscars out of nine nominations, but lost Best Picture and Best Director to the indie war drama “The Hurt Locker.” Do you think the sequel will avenge its predecessor?
Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?