Denis Villeneuve was debate an obvious competitor for Best Director at the2025 OscarsfollowingDune : Part Two ’s release , but that promise is now over . Villeneuve has a complicated chronicle with the Oscars heading into the 97th Academy Awards . He ’s been nominated for his work as a director only once withArrival , as the deficiency of a nominating speech for the firstDunemade him one of the more famed cold shoulder . That is whythere was an former consensus that Villeneuve would get a Best Director Oscar nominating speech forDune 2once the breathless megahit was released last March .

However , the honor season has not exactly played out as Denis Villeneuve had hoped . Dune 2is only predict for Oscar nominationsin several below - the - ancestry family , even if it successfully secured a Best Picture nomination . Villeneuve ’s performance throughout the honor season is a reflection of this . His most famed nominations to engagement came from the Critics Choice Awards and BAFTA Awards . He missed out on the Golden Globes entirely . This left the Director ’s Guild of America Awards as a spot for Villeneuve to re - establish his position in the2025 Oscars Best Director raceas a potential nominee and darkhorse winner .

Denis Villeneuve Missing A DGA Nomination Really Hurts His Oscar Hopes

The DGA’s Have A Great Track Record With The Oscars

The DGA nominations for Best Director have now been announced , and Denis Villeneuve did not get a nominating address . That ’s a monumental blow to his hope of winning the Oscar . The DGAs are well - base as a strong harbinger for who will win the Best Director category at the Academy Awards . In the previous 76 years , there have only been eight instances where the DGA Best Director winner did not gain the Oscar . Making thing sorry for Villeneuve , there ’s only been one instance where someone without a DGA nomination win the Best Director Oscar .

The 1948 Best Director Oscar winner , John Huston , was not put up at the DGAs the same year . Joseph L. Mankiewicz come through the DGA that year for A Letter to Three Wives , and he then gain the Oscar in 1949 for the same pic .

This suggests that Denis Villeneuve now has almost no shot of winning Best Director at the 97th Academy Awards , if he is even nominate . History leaven that a DGA Best Director nominating speech is imperative to win the Oscar . That ’s good news for Jacques Audiard ( Emilia Pérez ) , Edward Berger ( Conclave ) , Sean Baker ( Anora ) , Brady Corbet ( The Brutalist ) , and James Mangold ( A Complete Unknown ) , as they are the five nominees . Villeneuve ’s going is their profit when it comes to being among thepredicted 2025 Oscars campaigner .

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Villeneuve Looks To Be On The Outside Of The Best Director Race

All Bob Hope of Denis Villeneuve getting nominated for an Oscar forDune 2is not lost . The DGAs and Oscars have not completely adjust on the five Best Director nominee since 2009 , with the Academy Awards typically nominating one or two multitude who lose out . This has often come down to recognizing more international filmmaker in the directing category . Still , Oscar voters have also made exceptions for bigger public figure like Paul Thomas Anderson , Todd Phillips , Mel Gibson , and others . Both of these movement mean Villeneuve could find enough favour then to get nominated .

Denis Villeneuve has been nominated by Critics Choice Awards and BAFTA for Dune 2 so far

The return for theDune 2director is that the DGAs show how he ’s fading in the race . Audiard , Berger , Baker , and Corbet have the quartet of nomination from BAFTA , Golden Globes , Critics Choice , and now DGAs . James Mangold ’s nomination forA Complete Unknownis an outlier during awards season , suggesting he could be a former riser main . Coralie Fargeat ( The Substance ) seems to be Villeneuve ’s biggest challengerwith BAFTA , Golden Globes , and Critics Choice nomination . While her miss out on the DGAs also indicate she wo n’t acquire theOscar , she could take the final nomination from Denis Villeneuve .

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Timothée Chalamet as Paul Atreides in Dune 2 with Oscars statues

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Denis Villeneuve and Timothee Chalamet on Dune 2 set

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