With the Academy’s nominations announcement drawing closer by the day, it’s time to lay it all on the line with my final Oscar nomination predictions. All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, Elvis, and Top Gun: Maverick all scored nominations with the Cinema Audio Society, the Motion Picture Sound Editors, and BAFTA, so they all feel like the safest bets in this category.
Avatar: The Way of Water and Top Gun: Maverick have held locks on nods for Best Sound since their inception. And the two will likely battle it out for the win. Both All Quiet on the Western Front and Elvis have surged late in the season and it’s hard to see either missing out at this point. BAFTA’s fifth pick was oddly TÁR, which wasn’t even shortlisted by the Academy, so they’re no help in predicting that final slot.
I think that fifth spot comes down to being between Everything Everywhere All at Once and The Batman. Normally, I would just pick the loudest film and that’s certainly the latter. But the former earned the most nominations of any film with CAS and that’s hard to ignore. Plus it’s a broader contender overall and maybe that’s enough to sweep it along for another nomination here.
BEST SOUND PREDICTIONS:
1. Top Gun: Maverick (Paramount Pictures) – BAFTA, CAS, MPSE
2. Avatar: The Way of Water (20th Century Studios) – BAFTA, CAS, MPSE
3. Elvis (Warner Bros.) – BAFTA, CAS, MPSE
4. All Quiet on the Western Front (Netflix) – BAFTA, CAS, MPSE
5. Everything Everywhere All at Once (A24) – MPSE
Alternate: The Batman (Warner Bros.) – CAS, MPSE