2025 Oscar Predictions: Best Cinematography
At six of the last 11 Oscars, Best Cinematography has gone hand-in-hand with Best Director: Emmanuel Lubezki and Alfonso Cuaron for “Gravity” (2014); Lubezki and Alejandro G. Inarritu for both “Birdman” (2015) and “The Revenant” (2016); Linus Sandgren and Damien Chazelle for “La La Land” (2017); Cuaron doing double duty on “Roma” (2019) and Hoyte van Hoytema and Christopher Nolan for “Oppenheimer” (2024). Will that trend hold true this year? (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2025 Oscar predictions for Best Cinematography.)
The academy usually regards award-winning cinematography as pretty pictures within an epic technical feat of filmmaking. While great lighting and framing are laudable on their own, having a movie that looks like it was difficult to shoot goes a long way to snagging an Oscar. Recent lensing winners “Avatar” (2009), “Inception” (2010), “Hugo” (2011), “Life of Pi” (2012), “Gravity” (2013), “Blade Runner 2049” (2018) and “1917” (2020) also took home the Oscar for Best Visual Effects.
While the lensers of “Oppenheimer,” “Inception” and “Gravity” first prevailed at the American Society of Cinematographers Awards, these precursor prizes do not have a stellar track record at forecasting the Oscar winner. Indeed, since the guild started handing out prizes in 1987, the two groups have agreed only 18 times.
Although Lubezki pulled off an impressive three-peat, two men — Leon Shamroy and Joseph Ruttenberg — won this award a record four times. Shamroy won for “The Black Swan” in 1943, “Wilson” in 1945, “Leave Her to Heaven” in 1946, and “Cleopatra” in 164. Ruttenberg, meanwhile, won for “The Great Waltz” in 1939, “Mrs. Miniver” in 1943, “Somebody Up There Likes Me” in 1957, and “Gigi” in 1959. Shamroy racked up a record 18 nominations as did Charles Lang, who won only once for “A Farewell to Arms” in 1934.
UPDATED: July 16, 2024
LEADING CONTENDERS
“Challengers” (Amazon MGM Studios/Warner Bros.) — Sayombhu Mukdeeprom
“Civil War” (A24) — Rob Hardy
“Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.) — Greig Fraser
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (Warner Bros.) — Simon Duggan
“Kinds of Kindness” (Searchlight) — Robbie Ryan
“Nosferatu” (Focus Features/Universal Pictures) — Jarin Blaschke
“Wicked” (Universal) — Alice Brooks
STRONG CONTENDERS
“Blitz” (Apple TV+) — Yorick Le Saux
“Conclave” (Focus Features) — Stéphane Fontaine
“Gladiator II” (Paramount) — John Mathieson
“Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell” (Kino Lorber) — Đinh Duy Hưng
“Joker: Folie à Deux” (Warner Bros.) — Lawrence Sher
“Nightbitch” (Searchlight) — Brandon Tross
“Sing Sing” (A24) — Pat Scola
POSSIBLE CONTENDERS
“Anora” (Neon) — Drew Daniels
“Emilia Pérez” (Pathé) — Paul Guilhaume
“I Saw the TV Glow” (A24) — Eric K. Yue
“Megalopolis” (Lionsgate) — Mihai Mălaimare Jr.
“The Piano Lesson” (Netflix) — Michael Gioulakis
“Queer” (TBC) — Sayombhu Mukdeeprom
“SNL 1975” (Sony Pictures) — Eric Steelberg
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