The 64th New York Film Festival opened Friday at Lincoln Center, and the 2026-2027 awards race has entered its most competitive stretch. Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey holds a commanding lead in updated Oscar projections, tracking for a projected 16 nominations at the 99th Academy Awards. That would make it the most-nominated film of the cycle.
The Universal release opened to $124.5 million domestically in July and has since crossed $1.5 billion worldwide, a commercial trajectory that rarely coexists with this level of awards traction. The film carries a 95% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 89 on Metacritic. On prediction market Kalshi, Nolan holds a 69% probability of winning Best Director, with Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Three at 25%.
A Best Picture/Best Director split has emerged as a real scenario in the race. Villeneuve was passed over in the directing category for his first two Dune films despite significant technical recognition, and some awards analysts project a corrective shift this cycle. Nolan won both Best Picture and Best Director for Oppenheimer. A repeat win for The Odyssey would make him the first director to claim that double in two consecutive films.
Anne Hathaway and Matt Damon are both in the acting conversation for The Odyssey. NYFF still has several yet-to-screen contenders: Tony Gilroy's Behemoth! premieres October 2 through Searchlight, and Luca Guadagnino's Artificial opens October 5 via Neon. Either could reshape the current picture before the race locks in. The 99th Academy Awards are scheduled for March 14, 2027.