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Oscars Predictions: Best Sound – ‘Mank’ Takes on ‘The Midnight Sky’

THE MIDNIGHT SKY (2020)Caoilinn Springall as
Courtesy of Philippe Antonello/Netflix

Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars from Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis. Following Academy Awards history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar predictions are updated regularly with the current year's contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. Eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and will be displayed next to revision date.

To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit THE COLLECTIVE.

2021 OSCARS PREDICTIONS:
BEST SOUND

UPDATED: Nov. 19, 2020 (PRE-SEASON)

With the movie theater industry on life support, will the sound branch get the true quality of the blockbuster films in contention? Films like “Tenet” should be able to stay in the mix but that could allow films like “Nomadland” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” to make headway while “Mank” looks to be the frontrunner at the moment with its classic movie feel. We’ll see how the rest of the race shakes out over the next five months.

† = no release date scheduled / could be delayed / may not be eligible
†† = could be campaigned in lead or supporting categories / original or adapted screenplay categories

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Netflix’s “Mank” Netflix

AND THE PREDICTED NOMINEES ARE:

  1. "Mank" (Netflix)
    Nominees to be determined
  2. "Tenet" (Warner Bros.)
    Nominees to be determined
  3. "The Midnight Sky" (Netflix)
    Nominees to be determined
  4. "The Invisible Man" (Universal Pictures)
    Paul "Salty" Brincat (Sound Recordist), Will Files (Supervising Sound Editor), P.K. Hooker (Supervising Sound Editor and Sound Designer)
  5. "Nomadland" (Searchlight Pictures)
    Sergio Diaz, Zach Seivers, M. Wolf Snyder
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SOUND OF METAL
Courtesy of Amazon Studios Courtesy of Amazon Studios

NEXT IN LINE CONTENDERS:

  1. "Wonder Woman 1984" (HBO Max/Warner Bros)
    Nominees to be determined
  2. "The Trial of the Chicago 7" (Netflix)
    Nominees to be determined
  3. "News of the World" (Universal Pictures)
    Nominees to be determined
  4. "Sound of Metal" (Amazon Studios)
    Nominees to be determined
  5. "The Prom" (Netflix)
    Nominees to be determined
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Tom Hanks in “Greyhound” (Apple TV Plus) Apple TV Plus

TOP-TIER AWARDS CONTENDERS:

  1. "The United States vs. Billie Holiday" (Paramount Pictures)
    Nominees to be determined
  2. "Greyhound" (Apple TV Plus)
    Nominees to be determined
  3. "Da 5 Bloods" (Netflix)
    Nominees to be determined
  4. "The Mauratanian" (STX Films)
    Nominees to be determined
  5. "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" (Netflix)
    Nominees to be determined
  6. "Soul" (Pixar)
    Nominees to be determined
  7. "The Outpost" (Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment)
    Nominees to be determined
  8. "Judas and the Black Messiah" (Warner Bros.)†
    Nominees to be determined
  9. "Cherry" (Apple TV Plus)
    Nominees to be determined
  10. "Minari" (A24)
    Erik Deumig, James Russell
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Netflix’s “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey” Trash Truck: Netflix; Jingle Jangle: Gareth Gatrell/Netflix

ALSO IN CONTENTION:

  1. "Promising Young Woman" (Focus Features)
    Frederic Dubois, MPSE (Supervising Sound Editor/Re-Recording Mixer), Robert Eber, CAS (Sound Mixer), Scott Weber (Re-Recording Mixer)
  2. "Everybody's Talking About Jamie" (20th Century Studios)
    Nominees to be determined
  3. "One Night in Miami" (Amazon Studios)
    Nominees to be determined
  4. "Onward" (Pixar)
    Nominees to be determined
  5. "Wolfwalkers" (Apple TV Plus/GKIDS)
    Nominees to be determined
  6. "Over the Moon" (Netflix)
    Nominees to be determined
  7. "Ammonite" (Neon)
    Nominees to be determined
  8. "Emma." (Focus Features)
    Glenn Freemantle, John Casali, Ian Tapp, Andrew Call
  9. "Palm Springs" (Hulu/Neon)
    Nominees to be determined
  10. "Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey" (Netflix)
    Nominees to be determined
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Netflix’s “I’m Thinking of Ending Things” Netflix

UNRANKED AWARDS CONTENDERS:

  • "An American Pickle" (HBO Max) – Nominees to be determined
  • "Antlers" (Searchlight Pictures) – Nominees to be determined
  • "Arkansas" (Lionsgate) – Nominees to be determined
  • "Ava" (Vertical Entertainment) – Nominees to be determined
  • "Bad Hair" (Hulu) – Nominees to be determined
  • "Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)" (Warner Bros.) – Nominees to be determined
  • "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" (Amazon Studios) – Nominees to be determined
  • "Boys State" (A24/Apple TV Plus) – Jon Fuhrer, Tony Volante
  • "The Call of the Wild" (20th Century Studios) – Nominees to be determined
  • "First Cow" (A24) – Christian Dolan, Leslie Shatz
  • "The Glorias" (Roadside Attractions and LD Entertainment) – Nominees to be determined
  • "Herself" (Amazon Studios) – Hugh Fox (Sound Recordist), Ben Baird (Sound Designer)
  • "Hillbilly Elegy" (Netflix) – Nominees to be determined
  • "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" (Netflix) – Nominees to be determined
  • "Kajillionaire" (Focus Features) – Shawn Holden, Kent Sparling, Bjørn Schroeder, Tony Villaflor
  • "Minimata" (Vertigo Entertainment) – Nominees to be determined
  • "Never Rarely Sometimes Always" (Focus Features) – Chris Foster, Laura Cunningham
  • "Nine Days" (Sony Pictures Classics) – Nominees to be determined
  • "The New Mutants" (20th Century Studios) – Nominees to be determined
  • "On the Rocks" (A24/Apple TV Plus) – Ken Ishii
  • "Pieces of a Woman" (Netflix) – Nominees to be determined
  • "The Personal History of David Copperfield" (Searchlight Pictures) – Nominees to be determined
  • "Radioactive" (Amazon Studios) – Nominees to be determined
  • "Supernova" (Bleecker Street) – Nominees to be determined
  • "Wild Mountain Thyme" (Bleecker Street) – Nominees to be determined
  • "The White Tiger" (Netflix) – Nominees to be determined†
  • "The Witches" (HBO Max) – Nominees to be determined

† = no release date scheduled / could be delayed / may not be eligible
†† = could be campaigned in lead or supporting categories / original or adapted screenplay categories

The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars is Hollywood’s most prestigious artistic award in the film industry. The history of this category is a bit more complex to track since it’s been through many inceptions of the history of AMPAS. When it was split between sound mixing and sound editing, there are different record holders. Classic sound engineer Thomas T. Moulton and Greg P. Russell have the most nominations at 16 although the former netted five Oscars over his career. The latter has the record for most nominations and no win. Moulton has the most win record shared with Douglas Shearer and Fred Hynes, though they garnered 15 and 7 nominations respectively. Richard King and Ben Burtt have the most wins for sound editing with Alan Robert Murray having the most noms with 10.

Academy Awards Predictions (All Categories)

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