The lush, evocative designs of Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale moves Mank into the top spot this month. Just like Best Picture, it was a category Citizen Kane lost to How Green Was My Valley back in 1941, but Burt and Pascale’s gorgeous recreations of 1940s Hollywood seem destined to have better luck with the Academy.
We know the Academy loves to nominate the production design of space epics (First Man, The Martian, Passengers, Interstellar, Gravity, to name a few), so there’s every likelihood The Midnight Sky will join that list. With a late December release, it’s poised to strike at just the right time to capture attention.
While contemporary films rarely break into this category, keep an eye on The Prom. As is the case with practically everything crafted by director Ryan Murphy, the production design is wildly elaborate and over-the-top. The musical numbers are all extravagant set-pieces and the film could easily razzle-dazzle enough Academy votes in this category.
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN PREDICTIONS:
1. Mank (Netflix)
Donald Graham Burt (production designer), Jan Pascale (set decorator)
2. News of the World (Universal Pictures)
David Crank (production designer), Elizabeth Keenan (set decorator)
3. Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Netflix)
Mark Ricker (production designer), Karen O’Hara and Diana Stoughton (set decorators)
4. The Personal History of David Copperfield (Searchlight Pictures)
Cristina Casali (production designer), Charlotte Dirickx (set decorator)
5. Emma. (Focus Features)
Kave Quinn (production designer), Stella Fox (set decorations)
Jim Clay (production designer), Abi Groves (set designer)
MAJOR CONTENDERS:
Ammonite (Neon)
Sarah Finlay (production designer), Sophie Hervieu (set decorator)
Hillbilly Elegy (Netflix)
Molly Hughes (production designer), Merissa Lombardo (set decorator)
Judas and the Black Messiah (Warner Bros)
Sam Lisenco (production designer), Rebecca Brown (set decorator)
The Midnight Sky (Netflix)
Jim Bissell (production designer), John Bush (set decorator)
Mulan (Disney)
Grant Major (production designer), Anne Kuljian (set decorator)
One Night in Miami (Amazon Studios)
Page Buckner (production designer), Janessa Hitsman (set decorator)
The Prom (Netflix)
Jamie Walker McCall (production designer), Gene Serdena (set decorator)
Rebecca (Netflix)
Sarah Greenwood (production designer), Katie Spencer (set decorator)
The United States vs. Billie Holiday (Paramount Pictures)
Daniel T. Dorrance (production designer), Pascale Deschênes (set decorator)
Wonder Woman 1984 (Warner Bros.)
Aline Bonetto (production designer), Anna Lynch-Robinson (set decorator)