2025 Oscar Predictions: Best Film Editing
When it comes to predicting the Oscar winner for Best Film Editing, you can’t go wrong by looking for the movie with the most cuts. Past winners “The Bourne Ultimatum” (2008), “Mad Max: Fury Road” (2016), “Ford v Ferrari” (2020), “Dune” (2022) and 2023’s champ “Everything Everywhere All at Once” included high-octane action sequences with frenetic cutting. A slew of winners — including “Saving Private Ryan” in 1999, “Black Hawk Down” (2002), “The Hurt Locker” (2010), “Hacksaw Ridge” (2017), “Dunkirk” (2018) and, to some extent, “Oppenheimer” (2024) — have been war pictures. (Scroll down for the most up-to-date 2025 Oscar predictions for Best Film Editing.)
Oscar voters also embrace film editors who skillfully juggle multiple storylines, as was the case with “Traffic” (2001) and “Crash” (2006). And they like films that expertly inter-cut music with images, such as “Cabaret” (1973), “Chicago” (2003), “Whiplash” (2015), “Bohemian Rhapsody” (2019) and 2021 winner “Sound of Metal.” Special effects extravaganzas like “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2004) and “Gravity” (2014) won by deftly blurring the lines between the real and the fantastic.
Historically, a nomination for film editing was an essential one for the ultimate winner of the big prize. Indeed, 36 films have won both awards, including last year’s double dipper “Oppenheimer” That last win comes with a caveat as the reintroduction of the preferential ballot for Best Picture in 2009 has changed the dynamic. Since then, the only other Best Picture champs to also win Best Film Editing were “Argo” in 2012 and “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
Please note: To read full descriptions of each film, check out our 2025 Oscars Best Picture predictions.
UPDATED: October 9, 2024
LEADING CONTENDERS (ordered by odds)
“The Brutalist” (A24) — David Jancso
“Anora” (Neon) — Sean Baker
“Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.) — Joe Walker
“Emilia Pérez” (Netflix) — Juliette Welfling
“Conclave” (Focus Features) — Nick Emerson
STRONG CONTENDERS (ordered by odds)
“September 5” (Paramount) — Hansjorg Weißbrich
“Blitz” (Apple Original Films) — Peter Sciberras
“Gladiator II” (Paramount Pictures) — Claire Simpson and Sam Restivo
“Challengers” (Amazon MGM Studios/Warner Bros.) — Marco Costa
“Sing Sing” (A24) — Parker Laramie
“Nickel Boys” (Amazon MGM Studios) — Nicholas Monsour
“Saturday Night” (Sony) — Nathan Orloff, Shane Reid
POSSIBLE CONTENDERS (alphabetical order)
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” (Warner Bros.) — Eliot Knapman and Margaret Sixel
“Joker: Folie à Deux” (Warner Bros.) — Jeff Groth
“Inside Out 2” (Disney) — Maurissa Horwitz
“Megalopolis” (Lionsgate) — Cam McLauchlin and Glen Scantlebury
“Nightbitch” (Searchlight) — Anne McCabe
“Nosferatu” (Focus Features/Universal) — Louise Ford
“The Substance” (Mubi) — Coralie Fargeat, Jérôme Eltabet, and Valentin Feron
“Wicked” (Universal) — Myron Kerstein