The 98th Academy Awards are nearly here and, in the meantime, entertainment industry analysts continue to weigh in on the odds of who could win specific awards. Considerable chatter has been swirling around the Best Actor category, which is stacked with some serious talent. One of the stars who’s part of that roster is Michael B. Jordan, and he’s been getting some major attention this year due to his performance in Sinners. Now, per a new report, Jordan’s Oscars chances have been bolstered due to a key factor.
For his performance as the Smokestack Twins in Ryan Coogler’s critically acclaimed vampire epic, Jordan earned Outstanding Male Actor in a Leading Role at the Actor Awards over a week ago. Gold Derby’s experts now predict that this win pushes Jordan even further to the forefront for that golden statuette. Per the site’s poll, Timothée Chalamet had a considerable lead earlier in awards season, but that’s apparently changed. As of this writing, here’s where GB places all the Best Actor nominees’ odds:
- Michael B. Jordan (Sinners): 67.6%
- Timothée Chalamet (Marty Supreme): 18.9%
- Wagner Moura (The Secret Agent): 10.8%
- Ethan Hawke (Blue Moon): 2.7%
- Leonardo DiCaprio (One Battle After Another): 0%
The Actor Award was indeed a massive win for Jordan, especially considering that those votes come from SAG-AFTRA members (a number of which are also members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences). Additionally, Jordan – alongside his castmates – also won the Actor Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. All in all, Gold Derby reports that Jordan surged by 43 points in the days following the show (where Viola Davis presented him with his award). Check out the speech:
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All the while, Timothée Chalamet has reportedly fallen back 48 points in recent days. Chalamet – who won Outstanding Male Actor last year for A Complete Unknown – was arguably viewed as a frontrunner amid this year’s awards season for his turn in the acclaimed Marty Supreme. Ahead of this year’s Actor Awards, Chalamet had already won the Golden Globe and Critics’ Choice Award for his portrayal of ping pong player Marty Mauser. However, he notably lost the BAFTA Award to I Swear’s Robert Aramayo.
Chalamet’s apparently lessened Oscar odds come at an interesting time, as he’s currently getting flak for comments made about ballet and the opera. During an interview, Chalamet shared his feelings on the decline in movie theaters and expressed his concern that they could become niche and something that no one “cares about” like opera or ballet. Organizations that have propped up those art forms have since chastised Chalamet, yet it can’t be said with certainty that this situation will acually play into his Oscar chances.
Regardless, even before his latest award win, Michael B. Jordan had been receiving his share of props for his Sinners work. Jordan seemed to put a lot of thought and effort into his approach to playing Smoke and Stack. He previously explained that one strategy he used to differentiate his performances as the characters was to wear different sized shoes, which impacted his mindset and body language while portraying the siblings.
One thing that’s true for both Jordan and Chalamet is that if either of them were to win, it would mark their first Oscars. Awards analysts can be sharp when it comes to evaluating odds but, ultimately, nothing is set in stone.
So cinephiles will just have to wait and see what happens when the 98th Academy Awards air this coming Sunday, March 15, at 7 p.m. ET on ABC. In the meantime, check out Jordan’s work in Sinners by streaming it with an HBO Max subscription, and see Chalamet’s performance in Marty Supreme, which is available to buy or rent on digital platforms.