THR’s Scott Feinberg has decided to abandon the “Everything Everywhere All At Once” ship as his #1 pick for the Best Picture Oscar winner. He’s swapped it for “Top Gun: Maverick” in the top slot.
Variety’s Clayton Davis is also getting behind ‘Maverick’ with EEAAO down to fourth place in his rankings.
I’ve been drumming the beat for “Top Gun: Maverick,” which would be another unusual winner as it’s a straight-up action blockbuster. It does have the honor of having “saved” the industry by proving that moviegoers are still willing to go to theaters. The reviews have also been great. It’s appearing on an innumerable amount of top 10 lists and it won the National Board of Review.
I wrote a month ago:
“My gut is telling me that “Top Gun: Maverick” is the actual frontrunner that absolutely nobody dares acknowledge at the moment. I may be very wrong with this prediction, but I’m sticking with it for now. Whether you liked it or not, it was the movie event of the year.”
The problem with a ‘Maverick’ win are stats. I hate the stats that come with Oscar punditry, but they inevitably can’t be ignored. As it stands, the film could be the first one to ever win Best Picture without a Director or Screenplay nod.
Of course, I don’t believe EEAO is done when it comes to winning the big prize. It has a lot of passion and will be a force from now until March. What I do know is that the token white, male and over 50 voter will not warm up to this film. It’s very much a hip A24 multiverse kung-fu splatter that younger voters who scroll through Twitter will have a major affinity for.
However, one thing we cannot deny is that it’s very much a race between “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Everything Everywhere All At Once.”