2025 Oscar predictions: 7th time’s the charm for Amy Adams? She leads early Best Actress odds for ‘Nightbitch’
It took six tries for Kate Winslet to win her Oscar. It took eight tries for Geraldine Page and Al Pacino. Is seven the lucky number for Amy Adams? She has been nominated six times without a win, and according to the early predictions of Gold Derby users, “Nightbitch” is the film that will finally claim her that elusive golden guy. Sight unseen, she’s our initial front-runner for Best Actress with 9/2 odds.
Adams had a career breakthrough with 2005’s “Junebug,” which earned her a bid for Best Supporting Actress. Then came additional Best Supporting Actress noms for “Doubt” (2008), “The Fighter” (2010) and “The Master” (2012). “American Hustle” (2013) earned her her first — and to date only — nom as a leading lady. And it was back to the supporting race for “Vice” (2018). It has been six years since that bid, making this her longest gap between nominations.
“Nightbitch” is a heck of a gamble, though. The premise, according to Searchlight Pictures, is as follows: “A woman pauses her career to be a stay-at-home mom, but soon her domesticity takes a surreal turn.” The book it’s based on is about a woman who transforms into a dog. Can such an unusual story be a true Oscar contender?
Perhaps we shouldn’t doubt the adventurousness of an academy that just gave Emma Stone her second Oscar for playing a woman implanted with a baby’s brain in “Poor Things.” Before her Michelle Yeoh won for hopping between parallel universes — including one where she has hot dog fingers — in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” And Natalie Portman won for turning into an animal too, taken to the brink of madness in “Black Swan.”
“Nightbitch” has a lot going for it on paper. It’s written and directed by Marielle Heller, whose last two feature films earned Oscar nominations for acting. “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” scored noms for lead actress Melissa McCarthy and supporting actor Richard E. Grant. And “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” scored Tom Hanks his most recent nom, for playing children’s TV icon Fred Rogers.
And the film is backed by Searchlight Pictures, the company that has produced five of the last seven Best Actress-winning films, including “Poor Things.” The company will first premiere “Nightbitch” at the Toronto International Film Festival in September before a December 6 theatrical release, by which point we’ll have a much better idea of Adams’s candidacy.
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