Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Odyssey’ Could Shatter Hollywood’s Oscar Nomination Record, According to New Predictions

Christopher Nolan has spent the better part of three decades turning his films into awards season events, and his latest epic looks like no exception. From ‘Inception’ to ‘Dunkirk’ to his Best Picture winning ‘Oppenheimer,’ the director has built a reputation for delivering movies that dominate not just at the box office but across nearly every craft category on Oscar night. That history has made prognosticators watch his newest release with particular intensity.

‘Oppenheimer’ remains the high water mark of Nolan’s career, and it set a steep bar for whatever came next. The reported 250 million dollar production was Nolan’s hotly awaited follow up to 2023’s ‘Oppenheimer,’ that nearly billion dollar grossing biopic was an Oscar juggernaut with 13 nominations and 7 victories including Best Picture, Director, Actor for Cillian Murphy, and Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr. Meanwhile, the record for total nominations in a single year currently belongs to ‘Sinners,’ which set the mark with 16 nods.

Now the numbers are starting to come in for ‘The Odyssey,’ and they are staggering. According to Next Best Picture’s team, ‘The Odyssey’ is currently predicted to receive 14 Oscar nominations, a haul that would place it among the most decorated films of the year, per analysis from Next Best Picture, whose full breakdown of the film’s chances can be found on their site. That total already edges past ‘Oppenheimer,’ and some analysts think it could climb even higher once every category is finalized.

The predicted haul leans heavily on Nolan’s usual strengths. The rest of the predicted slate includes Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Casting, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Production Design, Best Original Score, Best Sound, and Best Visual Effects. Gold Derby’s early predictions also expect nods for Best Picture, Best Director for Nolan, Best Actor for Matt Damon, Best Supporting Actress for Anne Hathaway, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Nolan.

The cast backing up those acting predictions is enormous. The film features a massive ensemble led by Matt Damon alongside Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, Charlize Theron, Benny Safdie, Jon Bernthal, John Leguizamo, Bill Irwin, Himesh Patel, Corey Hawkins, Mia Goth, Travis Scott, and Elliot Page. Early reviews have only fueled the momentum, with critics repeatedly praising the film’s practical scale and old school approach to visual effects.

The bigger question now is whether ‘The Odyssey’ can actually chase down ‘Sinners’ for the all time nomination crown. Talk in awards circles has already centered on whether ‘The Odyssey’ can tie or break the 16 nomination record set by ‘Sinners’ earlier this year, and it might, or at worst, it could come close. With the film boasting an 89 on Metacritic and a box office haul reportedly over a billion dollars, it’s hard to imagine Best Picture not being a lock.

If Nolan really does pull off a Best Picture and Best Director run two films in a row, he would be doing something no filmmaker has managed before, and with an ensemble this stacked, the acting categories alone are worth debating for weeks. Do you think ‘The Odyssey’ has what it takes to dethrone ‘Sinners’ as the most nominated film of the year?