If Gold Derby’s combined Oscar odds for the Best Picture category reflect reality, six out of the top 10 contenders fit the mold of a biopic. They include “Roma,” “Green Book,” “The Favourite,” “BlackKklansman,” “Vice” and “First Man.”
If these are among the titles that will make the cut come January 22, when the nominations will be announced, the number of true-life stories would equal the number in 2013 when “12 Years a Slave” won Oscar’s top prize. But the bio boom doesn’t stop there. The top 52 also features “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Can You Ever Forgive Me?,” “Boy Erased,” “Beautiful Boy,” “Mary Queen of Scots,” “The Mule,” “The Old Man and a Gun,” “A Private War,” “Welcome to Marwen,” “On the Basis of Sex,” “Colette,” “The Front Runner,” “At Eterinity’s Gate” and “Stan & Ollie.” The Oscars 2019 Live stream. To sort of quote “A Few Good Men,” can Oscar voters handle that much truth? Or will movies based on fictional premises stand out more and get a boost, including “A Star Is Born,” “Black Panther,” “If Beale Street Could Talk” and “Mary Poppins Returns”?
More likely, given that six of the Best Actor winners since 2010 have played real-life figures, from Colin Firth in 2010’s“The King’s Speech” to Gary Oldman in 2017’s “Darkest Hour,” having a glut of such characters might just guarantee a trophy for a role based on a non-fictional character. The one welcome change this year is that there are more biopics revolving around female lives. Besides “Roma,” there are “The Favourite,” “Mary Queen of Scots,” “A Private War,” “On the Basis of Sex,” “Colette” and “Can You Ever Forgive Me? The Oscars 2019 Live stream online. Be sure to check out how our experts rank this year’s Oscar contenders. Then take a look at the most up-to-date combined odds before you make your own Oscar predictions. Don’t be afraid to jump in now since you can keep changing your predictions until just before nominations are announced on January 22.