After toppling Troy, escaping the Cyclops, and navigating past Scylla and Charybdis, Odysseus and crew are sailing toward a mythic showing at the 2027 Oscars.
Christopher Nolan and The Odyssey team kicked off an appropriately epic awards blitz this week, with a slate of screenings, junkets, panels, exhibits, and special events headlined by the likes of Steven Spielberg, Guillermo del Toro, and Robert Downey Jr. — all designed to remind voters who this year’s front-runner is.
Sight unseen, The Odyssey jumped to the top of the Gold Derby leaderboard as soon as we began tracking odds for the 2027 Oscars. By the time the film launched in July, we suggested it could challenge the record for most nominations set nearly a year ago by Sinners, which tallied 16 nods. We saw a path where The Odyssey would score a nomination in every eligible category to match the Sinners mark, and would just need one additional acting bid to put the Nolan joint over the top.
Based on the current Gold Derby odds, The Odyssey is positioned to set a new milestone. Here’s a category-by-category breakdown.
Best Picture
Three years ago, when Nolan unleashed Oppenheimer, the film instantly established itself as the Best Picture front-runner and led the Oscar race wire to wire, ultimately banking seven of its 13 nominations. The Odyssey could duplicate that feat. It has 93% odds of being nominated here, tops among all comers.
Best Picture
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Best Director
Few filmmakers would have the audacity or skill to pull off The Odyssey, which is why Nolan is the clear favorite in this category, with 93% odds to be nominated.
Best Director
1.
Christopher Nolan
The Odyssey
2.
Javier Ambrossi, Javier Calvo
La Bola Negra
3.
Martin McDonagh
Wild Horse Nine
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5.
Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim
You Can See Everything
Best Actor
As the movie’s standard-bearer, Matt Damon is poised secure his third Best Actor nod, following 1997’s Good Will Hunting and 2015’s The Martian (he also had a Best Supporting Actor bid for 2009’s Invictus). At No. 2 in the odds, Damon might be the biggest threat to the perceived favorite in the category, Wild Horse Nine‘s John Malkovich.
Best Actor
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John Malkovich
Wild Horse Nine
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4.
Ryan Gosling
Project Hail Mary
5.
Robert Pattinson
Primetime
Best Supporting Actress
Anne Hathaway could have run as Best Actress for her role as Penelope and been in line for a second career nod in that category. However, she made the strategic choice to duck Julianne Moore and campaign in the more wide-open Supporting Actress field. Hathaway currently ranks No. 1, giving her a strong chance of earning a bookend to the statuette she won for Les Misérables in 2013.
Meanwhile, Samantha Morton‘s witchy turn as Circe has charmed our prognosticators. She ranks No. 2 in the race, with an 84% chance of collecting a third career nomination. She previously contended for Best Supporting Actress for 1999’s Sweet and Lowdown and Best Actress for 2002’s In America.
Best Supporting Actress
1.
Anne Hathaway
The Odyssey
2.
Samantha Morton
The Odyssey
3.
Penelope Cruz
La Bola Negra
4.
Tao Okamoto
All of a Sudden
5.
Best Supporting Actor
While Tom Holland as dutiful son Telemachus and Robert Pattinson as the treacherous Antinous have meatier roles, consensus among Gold Derby users is that John Leguizamo, doing career-best work at Odysseus’ stalwart swineherd Eumaeus, is the lead contender in this category. He sits at No. 4 with a 77% chance at his first career Oscar bid.
Best Supporting Actor
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Sam Rockwell
Wild Horse Nine
3.
Andrew Garfield
Artificial
4.
John Leguizamo
The Odyssey
5.
Guitarricadelafuente
La Bola Negra
Best Adapted Screenplay
Three of Nolan’s eight career nominations have come for screenwriting. He’s in good shape for another, thanks to his take on Homer.
Best Casting
With an ensemble for the ages, we’ve had casting director John Papsidera penciled in for a nomination since before this category officially debuted at the 98th Academy Awards. He should be getting his tux ready for the upcoming 99th ceremony, as he ranks No. 1 here.
Best Cinematography
In the unlikely event you haven’t heard, Nolan and DP Hoyte van Hoytema shot the whole film using Imax cameras, inventing some technology along the way. The results are breathtaking, and van Hoytema, the clear front-runner, could find a friend for his Oppenheimer Oscar.
Best Costume Design
Ellen Mirojnick’s work on The Odyssey is next-level. Mirojnick, who was nominated for Oppenheimer, authored her own epic in this department, overseeing an army of 500-plus artisans working across nine countries to create 5,300 costumes.
Best Film Editing
Another frequent Nolan collaborator, Jennifer Lame, won for Oppenheimer and will be back in contention for The Odyssey in a category that is traditionally closely aligned with Best Picture.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Makeup designer Luisa Abel and hair designer Gloria Casny, both previous nominees, spent months researching historical looks to maintain authenticity and had to adhere to Nolan’s strict no-wig policy. Working with teams in multiple countries, they oversaw the hair and makeup of 7,000 extras. Plus, they helped turned Bill Irwin into a Cyclops.
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Best Production Design
The Trojan Horse. The palace of Ithaca. The Cyclops cave. Ruth De Jong, who was nominated for Oppenheimer, has a good chance of winning for The Odyssey. She sits atop the chart with nearly 99% odds of a nomination — the highest percentage in any category.
Best Score
If he isn’t already, Ludwig Göransson is well on his way to becoming the millennial John Williams. Göransson is 3-for-3 in this category (Black Panther, Oppenheimer, Sinners), and with his use of ancient Greek vocal stylings and instruments like aulos and the lyre, he is No. 1 in our odds with a 98% chance of earning his fourth nomination.
Best Song
Outside of, say, an unexpected Sirens’ earworm, this is one category where we weren’t anticipating The Odyssey to be competitive. But the end-credits cut, “When I’m Home,” can’t be ignored. Written and performed by six-time Grammy winner Göransson, two-time Grammy winner James Blake, and 10-time Grammy nominee Travis Scott (who, aptly enough, plays “the bard” in the film), the track is holding onto the No. 5 spot, with a 59% chance at a nomination. Of all the categories, this is one that will need to break in The Odyssey‘s favor to beat the Sinners record.
Best Song
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The Debut
This City May Have Chewed Me Up
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Toy Story 5
I Knew It, I Knew You
4.
By Any Means
By Any Means
5.
The Odyssey
When I’m Home
Best Sound
Led by one-time nominee Craig Henighan (sound editor) and eight-time nominee and two-time winner Willie Burton (sound mixer), The Odyssey is leading this category over the likes of Project Hail Mary and Dune: Part Three, with better than 98% odds of being nominated.
Best Visual Effects
From Scylla and Charybdis to the Cyclops to Circe’s transformed captives, The Odyssey‘s effects work is only behind the flashier sci-fi spectacles Project Hail Mary and Dune: Part Three. Led by visual effects supervisor Scott Fisher (a two-time winner for Nolan’s Tenet and Interstellar) and special effects supervisor Andrew Jackson (also on the winning Tenet team), The Odyssey is a virtual shoo-in for a nomination, with 94% odds.
