Oscars 2020: 15 Insanely Early Predictions For Next Year's Academy Awards

15. Best Visual Effects: The Lion King

The Lion King Simba
Disney

Other Nominees: Ad Astra, Avengers: Endgame, The Irishman, Star Wars Episode IX

Next year's VFX race looks to be stacked: in addition to those mentioned above, there's also the likes of Alita: Battle Angel and Gemini Man (with Weta Digital doing the effects) that could be in the mix. These seem the more likely nods right now though: Infinity War was nominated, so it stands to reason Endgame will be; Ad Astra follows on from First Man's win; The Irishman has lots of de-ageing effects and is a huge player overall; Star Wars has been nominated four years in a row in this category.

The Lion King, though, looks like it's going to blow them all away. We've only seen a glimpse of the VFX so far, but it looks absolutely stunning. Like he did with The Jungle Book, Jon Favreau and his team are taking a photorealistic approach to the animals here, and it looks like the work has gone to another level still. It's worth remembering that The Jungle Book won this award. With even better effects and a film likely to gross double that amount, this is the VFX King.

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NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.