Filmmakers looking to score a triple play at Oscars: Greta Gerwig, Christopher Nolan, Martin Scorsese …

Jacob Sarkisian
·5 min read
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Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig. Those are just three names that suggest that the upcoming Academy Awards could well be the year of the auteur — a beloved director who takes their movie through every stage of the filmmaking process from script to screen. This all-hands-in approach sees these types of filmmakers take on scriptwriting, directing, and producing roles — the “holy trinity” of filmmaking if you like.

We’ve had plenty of these types of creatives before but not all of them have resulted in Oscars success. Only nine filmmaker across Oscar history have pulled off a triple play with wins for Best Picture, Best Director, and either Best Adapted Screenplay or Best Original Screenplay:

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  • Leo McCarey, “Going My Way” (1945)

  • Billy Wilder, “The Apartment” (1961)

  • Francis Ford Coppola, “The Godfather Part II” (1975)

  • James L. Brooks, “Terms of Endearment” (1984)

  • Peter Jackson, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2004)

  • Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, “No Country for Old Men” (2008)

  • Alejandro G. Iñárritu, “Birdman” (2015)

  • Bong Joon Ho, “Parasite” (2020)

  • Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2023)

Five of those big hitters are from the last 20 years — rewarding filmmakers across the board in these sweeps is becoming more common. Who will be next?

Scorsese returns this year with “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which tells the true story of the murders of Osage tribe members during the 1920s in the USA. This historical epic is predicted to land a number of key nominations according to our Oscars odds charts, including the holy trinity of Best Picture, Best Director, and, in this case, Best Adapted Screenplay. Scorsese and Eric Roth adapted David Grann‘s non-fiction book of the same name. We are currently predicting that “Killers of the Flower Moon” will win Best Adapted Screenplay, although the film is currently in second place in Best Picture and Best Director. Who to? Nolan’s “Oppenheimer.”

“Oppenheimer” is Nolan’s biopic of J. Robert Oppenheimer, who created the atomic bomb. We expect his hit film to be one of the heavy hitters this year and, as such, we are currently predicting that “Oppenheimer” will win Best Picture and Best Director. Nolan adapted the script from Kai Bird‘s non-fiction book “American Prometheus.” “Oppenheimer” is in second spot in Best Adapted Screenplay.”

Meanwhile, Gerwig is also in the mix — for “Barbie,” which follows Margot Robbie‘s titular doll suffering an existential crisis. “Barbie” is in third place in our Best Picture odds while Gerwig is in fourth spot on our Best Director chart. “Barbie,” which was written by Gerwig and her partner Noah Baumbach, was originally placed in Adapted Screenplay (it’s based on the Mattel toys, of course) but the studio has officially decided to campaign it in Original Screenplay. It’s a bold move — and a play that failed for “The LEGO Movie,” another toy-based film that campaigned in Original Screenplay but was ultimately snubbed. Currently, “Barbie” is in fifth spot in our Original Screenplay chart but don’t be surprised to see it climb up the ranks.

Bradley Cooper could actually go one better and win Best Actor, too, for his biopic of Leonardo Bernstein, “Maestro.” Cooper co-wrote the script with “Spotlight” Oscar-winner Josh Singer and we are predicting them to reap a bid for Original Screenplay. We also think that “Maestro” will be nominated for Best Picture, although Cooper is currently outside of our predicted nominees for Best Director (he is predicted to snag a Best Actor nom, though).

There’s also Jonathan Glazer, who has the WWII drama “The Zone of Interest,” which follows the Nazi commandant in charge of Auschwitz trying to build a family life with himself next to the concentration camp. He adapted the script from Martin Amis‘ novel of the same name and we predict that Glazer will be nominated for all three of Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay.

Celine Song has earned plaudits for her original film “Past Lives,” which follows two childhood friends who reconnect after years of journeying down different paths. We think that Song will be nominated for Best Picture, win Best Original Screenplay, but miss out on a Best Director bid.

Emerald Fennell (an Oscar winner for the original script of her directorial debut “Promising Young Woman”) is back in the race this year with “Saltburn,” which follows a college student becoming obsessed with a classmate and his aristocratic family. “Saltburn” is currently outside of our predicted nominees for all three of Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay, although it could move further up later on in the race.

So, currently, it looks like it could be a straight fight between Scorsese and Nolan for who could become the 10th filmmaker to win this holy trinity, with Gerwig in the wings. More likely, however, is that it splits — that one film takes one or two of the holy trinity and another filmmaker sweeps in and takes the final piece of the jigsaw for themselves. Let’s see what happens.

Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play) to compete against legions of other fans plus our experts and editors for best prediction accuracy scores. See our latest prediction champs. Can you top our esteemed leaderboards next? Always remember to keep your predictions updated because they impact our latest racetrack odds, which terrify Hollywood chiefs and stars. Don’t miss the fun. Speak up and share your huffy opinions in our famous forums where 5,000 showbiz leaders lurk every day to track latest awards buzz. Everybody wants to know: What do you think? Who do you predict and why?

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