2022 Oscar Odds: The Power Of The Dog Leads Best Picture Faves

The Oscar nominees are in for the 94th Academy Awards that will be held at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on March 27 to recognize the pinnacle of the film industry in 2021.

2021 was a big year for the movie industry with so many films originally slated for 2020 pushed to last year. The result is a pretty stacked field in most categories, including a whopping 10 nominees for Best Picture, the most in more than a decade.

Leading the way in total nominations is Netflix’s new western “The Power of the Dog” with 10, followed by Denis Villeneuve’s latest epic, “Dune,” with nine. 

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Check out the latest 2022 Oscar odds below.

2022 Oscar Odds – Best Picture

Odds as of March 25 at BetUS

It looks like we could be headed for a first-ever Academy Award won by a Netflix movie with “The Power of the Dog” the big favorite in Oscar odds with a couple of days until the ceremony.

Jane Campion’s western drama already won the Golden Globe for Best Picture Drama, and is likely to be a big winner this season regardless of what happens in the Best Picture category with nominees in 10 categories, including Best Actor, Best Director, Best Supporting Actress and two Best Supporting Actor nominees. 

Beyond “The Power of the Dog,” there are a few interesting and viable alternatives including Sian Heder’s “CODA,” Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of “West Side Story,” Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast” and “King Richard” starring Will Smith.

All four of those films probably would have been much bigger hits if not for the pandemic taking a sledgehammer to box-office profits across the industry. Instead, all four seem relatively unknown by the public at large despite their quality casts and directors. Those box-office struggles could be another reason why this might be the year a Netflix movie takes home the night’s top prize.

We’re betting on “The Power of the Dog” to continue its momentum through award season, but don’t sleep on “West Side Story,” a musical with a long and successful history at the Oscars that has several nominations across the board once again this year.

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2022 Oscar Odds – Best Director

Odds as of March 25 at BetUS

While the Best Picture category is at least competitive at this point, the Best Director award is almost a lock here for bookmakers BetUS. 

Jane Campion is the overwhelming favorite at -4000 after winning the Golden Globe in the same category. The New Zealand director was previously nominated in this category in 1994 for her film “The Piano,” a movie that won her an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.

It’s hard to pick against Campion here, but there have been some rumblings that Spielberg deserves to win a third Best Director trophy. The problem for Spielberg this year is no director has won that Oscar without their film being in the running for screenplay and editing, and “West Side Story” didn’t get a nod in either category this year.

This one should go to Campion, barring an all-time shocker.

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2022 Oscar Odds – Best Actor and Actress

Odds as of March 25 at BetUS

Odds as of March 25 at BetUS

Will Smith won the Golden Globe, BAFTA, SAG and Critics Choice awards for Best Actor and is the favorite in Oscar odds as well. What once was a very close race between the men on this list now looks like a runaway for Smith. 

Benedict Cumberbatch and Andrew Garfield are Smith’s main competiton for the award with Cumberbatch in particular winning a ton of regional critics’ prizes for his role in “The Power of the Dog.” Garfield has won several awards leading up to the Oscars as well.

As for the women, Jessica Chastain is the favorite with -175 odds after winning the SAG in the same category, which is a good sign considering the winner of this year’s BAFTA in this category, Joanna Scanlan, was not even nominated for the Oscar. 

In fact, none of the women in this category were nominated for the BAFTA for Best Actress, so the SAG and Golden Globes are our best point of reference. Kidman took home the Golden Globe and could certainly pull off the upset here. 

Stewart would be just the sixth actor ever – man or woman – to win a Best Actor/Actress Oscar with their film not receiving a nomination in any other category, and that speaks to the quality of her performance. However, Stewart wasn’t nominated for a SAG award either.

She is a worthy long-shot bet, but we’ll side with Kidman for now.

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2022 Oscar Odds – Best Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress

Odds as of March 25 at BetUS

Odds as of March 25 at BetUS

At one time it looked as if these categories were spots where “The Power of the Dog” would assert its dominance over the field.

However, Ariana DeBose won the Golden Globe in this category and has become an overwheming favorite at -2000, a huge swing in odds after she was at +250 last month. 

It’s a similar situation on the men’s side where Kodi Smit-McPhee was the favorite for his performance in “The Power of the Dog”, but Troy Kotsur (who was at +300 last month) has taken over as the big-time favorite after winning the BAFTA, SAG and Critics Choice awards in this category.

Smit-McPhee won the Golden Globe.

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Best Of The Rest In Oscar Odds

Odds as of March 25 at BetUS

Odds as of March 25 at BetUS

Odds as of March 25 at BetUS

Odds as of March 25 at BetUS