Incredible -Who’s Already in the Running for 2025 Oscars? Angelina Jolie and Demi Moore Heat Up the Race…See More Details 👇

Some might say it’s too early to think about the 2025 Academy Awards, which officially air on March 2 of next year. But the conclusion of film festivals at Cannes, Venice, Telluride and Toronto — and another Emmy Awards — can only mean one thing: the race for Oscar gold is officially on.

The coming awards season will be an especially starry one, considering the highly anticipated return of previous Oscar winners Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman and Adrien Brody, as well as A-listers overdue for a nomination, like Demi Moore, Daniel Craig and Zoe Saldaña. But watch out for the up-and-comers, including festival breakouts like Mikey Madison and Danielle Deadwyler, whose inspiring screen performances could make them awards season standouts.

Read on for our early predictions of which actors could — and should — be in the running for that coveted little gold man.

Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón, Selena Gomez and Adriana Paz kicked off early Oscar buzz with a historic win at May’s Cannes Film Festival. The four Emilia Perez stars collectively received the Jury Prize for best actress, making the Spanish-born Gascón the first transgender performer to win a major award at the French fest.

The bold, Mexico-set musical from French writer-director Jacques Audiard then titillated Toronto festival audiences, who voted the film the runner-up for their People’s Choice Award. Academy prognosticators often look to that prize for clues of the race to come: previous winners, from last year’s American Fiction to Nomadland and La La Land, have gone on to earn nominations in top Oscar categories, including best picture.

Emilia Perez , which costars Édgar Ramírez and Mark Ivanir, will screen in U.S. theaters on Nov. 1 before its streaming debut on Netflix Nov. 13, putting it in prime position for awards attention.

Brody, 51, could make a triumphant return to the Oscars stage over 20 years after his win for 2002’s The Pianist. His role in Brady Corbet’s The Brutalist had Venice Film Festival audiences and critics raving despite the movie’s whopping runtime of three hours and 35 minutes.

A24’s historical drama film follows Brody’s László Tóth, a Hungarian-born Jewish architect emigrating to the U.S. after the devastation of WWII. Still awaiting a release date, it costars Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Alessandro Nivola and Joe Alwyn.

Fans of Craig, 56, may be surprised to learn he has never made the Academy’s shortlist. Could that change thanks to his heralded work in Luca Guadagnino’s Venice competitor Queer?

Adapted from William S. Burroughs’ 1985 novel of the same name, Queer finds the former James Bond playing an American expat in Mexico who establishes a romantic connection with a younger man — played by Outer Banks star Drew Starkey, whose sex scenes with Craig are already generating buzz for the A24 film with a to-be-determined release.

The controversy surrounding the Oscars’ lack of recognition for Deadwyler, 42, for her work as Mamie Till-Mobley in 2022’s Till could propel voters to jump at the chance to honor her undeniable talent in her latest film. She’s sensational once again, this time as Berniece Charles, a matriarch and pianist contending with a haunted family heirloom in Malcolm Washington’s adaptation of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson, in theaters Nov. 8 and streaming on Netflix Nov. 22. The film drew acclaim following its premieres at Telluride and Toronto.

A24’s prison drama Sing Sing has technically been a 2025 awards contender since it premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival — but a rapturous reception following its July 12 theatrical release guarantees it’s in the running.

The meteoric career rise of Domingo, 54, means Oscar voters are surely ready to honor him for the second year in a row after his work in 2023’s biopic Rustin.

After decades of memorable performances, Fiennes, 61, remains Oscar-less, a fact that may shock voters enough to put him atop their shortlists. They’ll have two chances: Edward Berger’s Conclave (in theaters Oct. 25), in which Fiennes plays a cardinal choosing a successor to the Pope; and the British star’s reunion with The English Patient costar Juliette Binoche in Uberto Pasolini’s Odyssey adaptation The Return (in theaters Dec. 6). For the latter, The Daily Beast critic Nick Schager called Fiennes “one of cinema’s most versatile and adventurous actors.”

Todd Phillips’ sequel to Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar-winning Joker (in theaters Oct. 4) has been destined for awards conversation since its announcement – even more so once Gaga, 38, was announced to play popular D.C. comics character Harley Quinn.

Following an acting nod and songwriting win for 2018’s A Star Is Born, it’s easy to imagine the pop superstar back at the Academy Awards. That’s especially true after strong reviews for the star from critics at the Venice Film Festival. The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney wrote, “Gaga is a compelling live-wire presence, splitting the difference between affinity and obsession.”

It wouldn’t be awards season without a sports drama based on real-life athletes, and this year there are two: Jharrel Jerome and Jennifer Lopez’s Unstoppable (in theaters Dec. 6) and Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry’s The Fire Inside (in theaters Dec. 25).

The latter film, from Oscar-winning writer Barry Jenkins and Oscar-winning cinematographer-turned-director Rachel Morrison, stars Destiny, 29, as Olympian boxer Claressa Shields and Henry, 42, as her coach Jason Crutchfield. Following his supporting nod for 2022’s Causeway, the charismatic Henry has Oscar momentum.