When are the 2023 Academy Awards nominees announced? Who are the favorites?

The 95th Academy Awards will take place 12 March 2023 and the members of the academy are selecting the contenders to compete for the coveted Oscar statuettes. The final list of nominees will be announced on 24 January but the guessing game is already on for who they will be. As well which actors and movies will walk away with an award.

The year 2022 gave cinemagoers some wonderful reasons to experience a movie in the theater once more after pandemic restrictions were lifted allowing unhindered viewing on the silver screen. One of the top contenders ‘Top Gun: Maverick’ for example was held back from release just so that it could be seen on the big screen.

As well, a more recent release the long-awaited ‘Avatar: The Way of the Water’, which hit theaters just before Christmas, drew fans by the droves and is expected to be in the running. David Cameron’s sequel to his revolutionary CGI movie having come out more recently may dash the hopes of those rooting for ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, which also had its own mighty box office showing, of taking best picture.

But the list doesn’t end there. Here’s a look at what the experts are saying about who they think the contenders will be…

Best Picture

The choices to be the nominees for Best Picture cover just about all the genres with something to tickle everyone’s fancy. The category will once again be limited to 10 nominees and topping the lists of the experts in alphabetical order are the following films:

Best Director

While only five of the following directors will get the final nod to compete for Best Director here are six that are though likely to be contenders for an Oscar.

Best Actor

The Best Actor category has some familiar names but the first three are considered the frontrunners to take home the Oscar.

Best Actress

There is general agreement that while the list of potential contenders is loaded with fabulous actresses who put on great performances, the favorites to win the Best Actress Oscar are Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh.

Best Supporting Actor

The possible contenders for Best Supporting Actor all come from movies that are considered shoo-ins to be nominated for Best Picture. However, top of the critics Bingo cards is Ke Huy Quan for his performance in ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’.

Best Supporting Actress

There isn’t much consensus on which of the fantastic performances this past year will earn one of the actresses below an award for Best Supporting Actress. However, some are hoping that this could be the year for Jamie Lee Curtis who has never been nominated for an Oscar. Other top contenders are Angela Bassett after her win at the Golden Globes and Kerry Condon, who along with Curtis, was a nominee.