I ain't kidding. The PGA is usually the most accurate way to predict the Oscar nominees for Best Picture. Thousands of industry producers vote for the PGA awards and guess who votes for the Best Picture award at the Oscars? Those same producers that voted for the PGA. "Wonder Woman" can make it.
It’s also time we start taking “Big Sick,” “I, Tonya,” and “Molly’s Game” as very serious Best Picture contenders, also we possibly say goodbye to “Mudbound,” “Florida Project”, “Darkest Hour,” “Disaster Artist,” and “All the Money in the World.”
"Wonder Woman" notwithstanding, "Molly's Game" and "I, Tonya" being nominated is also unmerited. Both had their debut at TIFF, and both were met by yours truly with mixed reviews. I doubt they would crack the final Best Picture nominees come the last week of January.
The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures:
“The Big Sick”
Producers: Judd Apatow, Barry Mendel
“Call Me By Your Name”
Producers: Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges, Marco Morabito
“Dunkirk”
Producers: Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan
“Get Out”
Producers: Sean McKittrick & Edward H. Hamm, Jr., Jason Blum, Jordan Peele
“I, Tonya”
Producers: Bryan Unkeless, Steven Rogers, Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley
“Lady Bird”
Producers: Scott Rudin, Eli Bush, Evelyn O’Neill
“Molly’s Game”
Producers: Mark Gordon, Amy Pascal, Matt Jackson
“The Post”
Producers: Amy Pascal, Steven Spielberg, Kristie Macosko Krieger
“The Shape Of Water”
Producers: Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Producers: Graham Broadbent & Pete Czernin, Martin McDonagh
“Wonder Woman”
Producers: Charles Roven & Richard Suckle, Zack Snyder & Deborah Snyder
The following were last year's nominated films:
Arrival, Deadpool, Fences, Hacksaw Ridge, Hell or High Water, Hidden Figures, La La Land, Lion, Manchester by the Sea, Moonlight
2015 the guild foresaw seven of the eight Oscar contenders: “The Big Short,” “Bridge of Spies,” “Brooklyn,” “Mad Max; Fury Road,” “The Martian,” “The Revenant” and “Spotlight.” It missed “Room,” opting instead for “Ex Machina,” “Sicario” and “Straight Outta Compton.” While “The Big Short” won over the producers, academy voters opted for “Spotlight.”
Likewise, in 2014, the PGA went seven for eight: “American Sniper,” “Boyhood,” “Birdman,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Imitation Game,” “The Theory of Everything” and “Whiplash.” It went with “Foxcatcher,” “Gone Girl” and “Nightcrawler” over eventual Oscar nominee “Selma.” “Birdman” was the top pick for best pic with both groups.
In 2013, eight of the PGA nominees made the cut with academy: eventual Best Picture winner “12 Years a Slave,” as well as “Gravity” (which had tied with it at the PGA), “American Hustle,” “Captain Phillips,” “Dallas Buyers Club” “Her,” “Nebraska,” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.” The other two PGA contenders — “Blue Jasmine” and “Saving Mr. Banks” — were snubbed by the academy. Rather, Brit hit “Philomena” was the ninth Oscar nominee.