With the fall festival season here, that means only one thing: the Oscars and awards race is starting to heat up. As we did last year, my podcast partner at Awards Central, Benji, and I are going to ramp up our thoughts on the podcast but also via articles on our awards predictions. From Critics Choice to Golden Globes to the Oscars, we will be covering predictions all season long. Today, we share our predictions of the Best Picture race and who is in our ten.

We have films from Paul Thomas Anderson, Guillermo del Toro, Chloe Zhao, Kathryn Bigelow, Josh Safdie, and Ryan Coogler set to ramp up the award season. Within those films, we have some star power that could feature many first-time nominees, but also some faces of the past ready to secure another nomination. 

2026 Oscar Best Picture Predictions

Ricky’s Best Picture Predictions

1. One Battle After Another
2. Sinners
3. Hamnet
4. Sentimental Value
5. Marty Supreme
6. Wicked for Good
7. It Was Just an Accident
8. Jay Kelly
9. Avatar: Fire and Ash
10. F1: The Movie

Benji’s Best Picture Predictions

1. One Battle After Another
2. Sinner
3. Hamnet
4. Marty Supreme
5. Sentimental Value
6. It Was Just an Accident ^
7. Wicked For Good
8. Frankenstein
9. Avatar: Fire and Ash
10. No Other Choice

Other Prospects: The Secret Agent, Weapons, The Testament of Ann Lee, Bugonia, Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery, The Smashing Machine