Betting on the Oscars will once again be possible in the United States in 2021, permitted in certain regions since it became legal to place wagers on the awards ceremony last year.
Another round of the Academy Awards means certain frontrunners will dominate the headlines in the month to come, with Nomadland leading the way in the race for Best picture.
Best Actor and Best Actress make up the remaining components of the Oscars’ holy trifecta, which annually attract the most attention from fans of the silver screen. But as Parasite proved with its surprise win in 2020, not only the favorites are worthy of attention in the Oscars stakes.
CelebsNet.com takes a look at the Academy Awards odds outside the favorites in a bid to determine which nominees could offer major value when the awards return to Hollywood on April 25.
Best Picture Underdog: Promising Young Woman (+1000)
Favorite: Nomadland (-400)
The main award on everyone’s mind ahead of any Oscars ceremony, Best Picture also happens to have emerged as a breeding ground for major upsets in more recent years.
Bong Joon-ho stunned Hollywood when Parasite was named victor from +200 odds last year, and Promising Young Woman has the potential to stun from five times that price in 2021.
Not only does Carey Mulligan deliver a stunning performance as chaotic-but-collected Cassie Thomas, but director Emerald Fennell captures the relevant commentary of today’s patriarchal and often predatory society. That message is sure to hit a strong chord among the fairer sex, and many men will appreciate the importance of the black comedy thriller, too:
https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1375348677687054337
Best Actor Underdog: Anthony Hopkins (+900)
Favorite: Chadwick Boseman (-1400)
Two years after Olivia Colman collected one of the biggest Best Actress upsets this side of the millennium, she’s back alongside fellow Brit Anthony Hopkins in another strong Oscars contender, The Father.
Colman and Hopkins are each in the running for individual Academy Awards of their own, with the film receiving six nominations in total, but it’s the Best Actor contender who stands perhaps the best chance:
https://twitter.com/sonyclassics/status/1374405138698231818
The Welshman—who won Best Actor in 1992 for his portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, and has been nominated twice since—finds himself in a category that looks almost decided. Chadwick Boseman performed the role of Levee Green in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom with aplomb, the last role he played prior to his death in 2020, per CNN, and looks a shoo-in for the win.
A big gap separates Marvel’s Black Panther from the odds runner-up Hopkins, but even in his 80s, the latter is well able to summon up his world-class talents on camera.
Best Actress Underdog: Viola Davis (+1200)
Favorite: Carey Mulligan (-163)
If Promising Young Woman isn’t considered the favorite in Best picture, Mulligan can at least hold high hopes for one Academy Award as she leads the way for Best Actress.
However, the competition is strong in the category this year, and the time could be now for Viola Davis to end what many will consider a long-overdue wait for the biggest individual prize available to women. She came close to the award after being nominated for The Help in 2011, but her work as the blues-singing lead in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom may be the role that pushes her over:
https://twitter.com/MaRaineyFilm/status/1372639248197718018
The hair and makeup team should also receive recognition for their work in transforming Davis into LGBT pioneer Ma Rainey, but the lead herself is in with a great chance at huge odds.
