Best Casting Oscars Predictions (February)

Doug Jamieson February 27, 2026 Leave a comment

As we head towards the final stages before we learn who will be the very first winner of the Academy Award for Best Casting, it still feels like a fairly wide-open race. The final five nominees threw a slight curveball when the Academy went with The Secret Agent over Sentimental Value. An inspired choice, but not exactly one many were predicting.

Then BAFTA chimed in this week and awarded British gem I Swear with Best Casting. Given it wasn’t even eligible for this season’s Oscars, that win obviously means nothing for this category. At the Casting Society Artios Awards, Francine Maisler (Sinners) picked up her 17th (!) Artios win, which certainly cements her place as the frontrunner to pick up the very first casting Oscar. But if One Battle After Another sweeps like crazy, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Cassandra Kulukundis snatch this prize.

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BEST CASTING PREDICTIONS:
1. Sinners – Francine Maisler (Warner Bros.) – BAFTA, CCA, CSA
2. One Battle After Another – Cassandra Kulukundis (Warner Bros.) – BAFTA, CCA
3. Hamnet – Nina Gold (Focus Features) – BAFTA, CCA, CSA
4. Marty Supreme – Jennifer Venditti (A24) – BAFTA, CCA, CSA
5. The Secret Agent – Gabriel Domingues (NEON)

Author: Doug Jamieson

From musicals to horror and everything in between, Doug has an eclectic taste in films. Both a champion of independent cinema and a defender of more mainstream fare, he prefers to find an equal balance between two worlds often at odds with each other. A film critic by trade but a film fan at heart, Doug also writes for his own website The Jam Report, and Australia’s the AU review.