Variety Awards Circuit section is the home for all awards news and related content throughout the year, featuring the following: the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars, Emmys, Grammys and Tony Awards ceremonies, curated by Variety chief awards editor Clayton Davis. The prediction pages reflect the current standings in the race and do not reflect personal preferences for any individual contender. As other formal (and informal) polls suggest, competitions are fluid and subject to change in response to buzz and events. Predictions are updated every Thursday.

Golden Globes Predictions Commentary (Updated: Nov. 2, 2026): The Golden Globes submission deadline has passed and we evidently everything is a comedy this year.

The Globes split their top film prize into two genres, drama and comedy/musical and the line between them has always been drawn by strategy as much as tone. Remember, this is the same awards show that “The Martian” once won best comedy.

For the third year in a row, the comedy/musical side looks more competitive than its drama counterpart. We’re used to seeing it the other way around, and several major players still haven’t declared.

On the drama side, Christopher Nolan’s summer blockbuster “The Odyssey” and “La Bola Negra,” the acclaimed epic from Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (better known as Los Javis), lead the early pack. The Netflix title picked up the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival this month, four months after the duo won best director at Cannes. That bodes well for its run.

In recent weeks, reports have emerged of Focus Features placing Curry Barker’s horror hit “Obsession” in comedy, alongside Bleecker Street’s Mike Leigh film “Tender Loving Care” which Variety exclusively reported. Most recently, Neon has steered Luca Guadagnino’s OpenAI drama “Artificial” into the same category.

The latest news is Jordan Firstman’s “Club Kid,” his feature debut as writer, director and star will be submitted in the drama categories at the 84th Golden Globe Awards. Firstman will compete for best actor in a drama, with 10-year-old newcomer Reggie Absolom, Cara Delevingne, Diego Calva, Colleen Camp, Kirby Howell-Baptiste and Eldar Isgandarov entering the supporting races.

Amazon MGM Studios will be juggling this year with Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s “Project Hail Mary” with Ryan Gosling in the comedy/musical categories, along with Peter Farrelly’s “I Play Rocky,” which finished first runner-up for TIFF’s People’s Choice Award. Bassam Tariq’s critically acclaimed “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother,” the Orion Pictures release starring Mahershala Ali as a devout hitman, will compete in drama.

Drama actress is less stacked than usual.

Sandra Hüller is heading to the supporting actress race for “Fatherland,” Variety has confirmed exclusively. Mubi, which is handling the U.S. release of Paweł Pawlikowski’s black-and-white postwar drama, will campaign both Hüller and co-star Hanns Zischler in the supporting categories at the Oscars and across the awards circuit. The move follows Hüller’s nomination for outstanding supporting performance at the Gotham Awards, which was an early signal that the strategy was changing. The move also keeps her out of direct competition with her own work, effectively clearing the lane in lead actress for “Rose,” which Mubi is also distributing and which now stands as her sole lead contender this season. “Rose” is Austria’s official entry in the Academy Awards’ international feature category.

Multiple sources tell Variety that Zendaya will campaign for awards consideration in the lead actress category for her role as Chani in “Dune: Part Three,” the final chapter of Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic. The move marks a shift from the first two films, where she was positioned in supporting actress.

Variety also confirmed that Lionsgate’s bid to have its Michael Jackson biopic compete as a comedy or musical at the Golden Globes has been denied, and sources tell Variety that Lionsgate will not be looking to appeal the decision.

The Globes don’t recognize documentaries, which means no picture, no director and no Amanda Seyfried when it comes to “You Can See Everything,” the hit film from A24. The film cannot be submitted in any category. However, with the acting eligibilities lingering, sources share the group may consider it for this upcoming run. That doesn’t mean it can be eligible across the board. And then in that case, do they consider it a drama or comedy/musical?

Laika is gearing up for a huge push behind Travis Knight’s “Wildwood,” and the stop-motion studio isn’t settling for an animated feature nom. It’s trying to change the conversation around animated movies, which too often get dismissed as “kids’ fare.” At 132 minutes, “Wildwood” is billed as the longest stop-motion feature ever made and it’s Laika’s first PG-13 release. After a Telluride conversation earlier this month with Knight and six-time Oscar-nominated cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, the studio previewed selected scenes at SCAD AnimationFest last week. The film world premieres at the BFI London Film Festival on Oct. 11, then opens AFI Fest as its U.S. premiere on Oct. 21, two days before Fathom Entertainment releases it in theaters. Sources tell Variety that in addition to animated feature, Laika plans to submit “Wildwood” for best picture (drama). The Globes reopened their top categories to animation in 2021, but the three animated films to win a top Globe (“Beauty and the Beast,” “The Lion King” and “Toy Story 2” ) all did it in comedy/musical, long before that. A drama bid is new terrain, but it also sends the message: take animation seriously.

“Wildwood” won’t be alone. Independent Film Company’s “Tangles,” Leah Nelson’s hand-drawn adaptation of Sarah Leavitt’s graphic memoir about her mother’s Alzheimer’s, is also expected to vie in drama. The biographical Cannes sensation boasts a powerhouse producing team that includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Seth Rogen (destined to be an acting nominee for “The Invite”).

Variety’s updated predictions in every film category follow below. Not all category placements have been confirmed, and are subject to change. The 84th Golden Globe nominations will be announced Monday, Dec. 7, with the ceremony, hosted by Nikki Glaser, set for Sunday, Jan. 10, 2027.

Projected nomination leaders (films): “The Odyssey” (10); “La Bola Negra” and “Project Hail Mary” (7); “The Invite” (6); “Wild Horse Nine” (5); “Artificial,” “The Debut,” “Dune: Part Three” (4)

Projected nomination leaders (studios): A24 (15); Netflix and Universal Pictures (11); Neon (8); Amazon MGM Studios and Searchlight Pictures (7); Focus Features and Warner Bros. (5)

The list of Oscar predictions in all categories can be found here.

Variety parent company Penske Media Corporation owns Golden Globes producer Dick Clark Prods. in a joint venture with Eldridge.