The race for the 2027 Academy Awards is already taking shape, with some of Hollywood’s biggest names emerging as early contenders for the Best Actor category.
Tom Cruise, Matt Damon, Robert Pattinson, John Malkovich and Brad Pitt are among the actors currently featuring prominently in early Oscar predictions. Ryan Gosling, Pedro Pascal, John Turturro and Andrew Scott are also being discussed as potential contenders.
The 99th Academy Awards will take place on March 14, 2027, with nominations scheduled to be announced on January 21. With the awards season still in its early stages, the field is expected to change as more films are released and reviewed.
Tom Cruise leads early predictions
Cruise is attracting particular attention for his performance in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Digger, which opens in cinemas on October 1.
Cruise plays oilman Digger Rockwell in the director’s dystopian drama, which has already generated strong reactions for its unconventional style and the actor’s highly physical performance.
The role could give Cruise another opportunity to compete for an acting Oscar. He has previously received three acting nominations and was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2026.
Damon enters the race with Nolan’s Odyssey
Matt Damon is another early contender following the release of Christopher Nolan’s Odyssey.
Damon stars as Odysseus in the epic adaptation, which has become a major global box-office success. The actor has four previous acting nominations but has never won the award for acting. His only Oscar win came for the screenplay of Good Will Hunting.
Pattinson seeks first Oscar nomination
Robert Pattinson is also being mentioned as a potential contender for Lance Oppenheim’s Primetime.
Pattinson plays Chris Hansen, a television personality known for turning investigations into suspected sexual predators into a television format. The film is scheduled for release on October 15.
If nominated, it would be Pattinson’s first Academy Award nomination.
Malkovich returns to the conversation
John Malkovich could also return to the Oscar race with Martin McDonagh’s Wilde Horse Nine.
Malkovich plays a CIA operative sent to Easter Island shortly before the 1973 coup in Chile. His performance earned him the Volpi Cup for Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival.
Malkovich has two previous Oscar nominations, in 1985 and 1994. Wilde Horse Nine is due to be released on November 5.
Pitt could make Oscar history
Brad Pitt is another early name in the Best Actor conversation for David Fincher’s The New Adventures of Cliff Booth.
Pitt reprises his Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood character Cliff Booth, although Leonardo DiCaprio and Quentin Tarantino are not involved in the new film.
Pitt previously won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for playing Booth in the 2019 film. A Best Actor win for the same character would create a rare Academy Awards milestone.
The film will receive an IMAX theatrical release on November 26 before arriving on Netflix on December 23.
Several high-profile outsiders
The early predictions also include several potential challengers to the leading names.
Andrew Scott is being discussed for Elsinore, which focuses on the life of actor Ian Charleson, known for his portrayal of Hamlet and who died of AIDS at the age of 40. A nomination would be Scott’s first Oscar recognition.
John Turturro is another name attracting attention for The Only Living Pickpocket in New York, a crime film about a thief attempting to recover a device stolen by another gang.
Pedro Pascal has also emerged in early predictions for Behemoth!, directed by Tony Gilroy. The film follows a former child-prodigy cellist who moves to Hollywood during a personal crisis and is scheduled to screen at the New York Film Festival before its US release in December.
Ryan Gosling is also in contention for Project Hail Mary, in which he plays a former biologist and science teacher sent into space on a mission to save humanity.
With several major releases still to come, the Best Actor field is likely to evolve significantly before the Academy announces its official nominations in January.
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