Happy World Science Fiction Day! Normally, I'd post something about the Saturn Awards, but this year's nominees still haven't been announced, although the website now says "Stay tuned!" That means that nominees will be announced soon. Watch, they'll be published on the website later today; Science Fiction Day would be a good occasion to do that.
Instead, I'm returning to the Critics Choice Awards to examine the science fiction film nominees. There aren't many, although the most nominated would be surprising if I hadn't already teased it in the preview image.
BEST PICTUREBefore I discuss the science fiction nominee(s), I'm sharing the relevant paragraph from the press release because it did a lot of work for me.
Bugonia (Focus Features)
Frankenstein (Netflix)
Hamnet (Focus Features)
Jay Kelly (Netflix)
Marty Supreme (A24)
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Sentimental Value (Neon)
Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Train Dreams (Netflix)
Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)
“Sinners” leads the Critics Choice Awards film contenders with an impressive 17 nominations, nearly matching the record of 18 that “Barbie” achieved two years ago. “Sinners” collected a nod for Best Picture, while cast members Michael B. Jordan, Wunmi Mosaku, and Miles Caton are up for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and Best Young Actor / Actress respectively. Ryan Coogler was recognized in the categories of Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, and the film also received nods for Best Casting and Ensemble, Best Cinematography, Best Production Design, Best Editing, Best Costume Design, Best Hair and Makeup, Best Visual Effects, Best Stunt Design, Best Song, Best Score, and Best Sound. “One Battle After Another” followed closely behind “Sinners,” earning 14 nominations.Frankenstein and Hamnet follow with eleven nominations, Marty Supreme with eight, Sentimental Value and Wicked: For Good with seven, Train Dreams with five, Jay Kelly with four, and Bugonia with three. Sinners and Frankenstein are horror, One Battle After Another is an action/thriller film, Hamnet, Marty Surpreme, Sentimental Value, and Train Dreams are dramas, Wicked: For Good is a fantasy musical, Jay Kelly is a comedy, and Bugonia is the only one IMDB tags as science fiction (and alien invasion, to boot). That written, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus is often considered the first science fiction story, but all of its movie adaptations are classified as horror, including this one.* Because of that, I'm focusing on Bugonia today.
Despite Sinners leading in nominations, Gold Derby's prognosticators think it's likely to lose to One Battle After Another, as 92.9% of experts, 75.0% of editors, and 85.9% of users expect the latter to win, while 7.1% of experts, 25.0% of editors, and 7.8% of users selected Sinners as their first choice. The rest of the users have split among Marty Supreme with 1.9%, Frankenstein with 1.7%, Wicked: For Good with 1.2%, Hamnet with 0.6%, and Train Dreams with 0.5%. No one has picked either Bugonia or Jay Kelly.
Before I continue with Bugonia's two other nominations, I'm examining another best movie category.
BEST ANIMATED FEATUREWikipedia lists both Arco and Elio as science fiction, while the rest are fantasy with the possible exception of Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, which is just animated drama. Interestingly, IMDB also tagged KPop Demon Hunters as superhero; I never thought of Huntrix as a magical girl team, but they are.
Arco (Neon)
Elio (Pixar Animation Studios)
In Your Dreams (Netflix)
KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix)
Little Amélie or the Character of Rain (GKIDS)
Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Animation Studios)
KPop Demon Hunters is the only nominee with a second nomination for Best Song. It's also Gold Derby's choice to win this category with every editor and expert plus 89.6% of users ranking it first. Zootopia 2 follows with 7.8% of users, then Little Amélie or the Character of Rain at 1.7%, Arco with 0.6%, then Elio and In Your Dreams tied at 0.2%. This isn't science fiction's category, either.
BEST ACTRESSThis is probably Bugonia's best category, but Gold Derby rates Emma Stone as no better than third with 2.0% of users backing her. Jessie Buckley and Rose Byrne are both ahead of her with the professionals split between them. The experts expect Buckley to win with 84.6% of them picking her along with 25.0% of editors and 67.8% of users. Meanwhile, 75.0% of editors along with 15.4% of experts and 27.6% of users believe Rose Byrne will earn the one award for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. Renate Reinsve follows with 1.6% of users, then Chase Infiniti at 0.5%, and Amanda Seyfried at 0.4%.
Jessie Buckley – Hamnet (Focus Features)
Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (A24)
Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value (Neon)
Amanda Seyfried – The Testament of Ann Lee (Searchlight Pictures)
Emma Stone – Bugonia (Focus Features)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAYOne Battle After Another leads the Gold Derby odds as the choice of every editor, 84.6% of experts, and 89.8% of users. The remaining 15.4% of experts and 6.2% of users picked Hamnet. No Other Choice, Frankenstein, Bugonia, and Train Dreams follow with 1.9%, 1.3%, 0.6%, and 0.1% of users supporting each, respectively. I plan on recycling this award for the first Sunday entertainment feature, which will be an early celebration of National Screenwriters Day.
Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar – Train Dreams (Netflix)
Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Don Mckellar, Jahye Lee – No Other Choice (Neon)
Guillermo del Toro – Frankenstein (Netflix)
Will Tracy – Bugonia (Focus Features)
Chloé Zhao, Maggie O’Farrell – Hamnet (Focus Features)
Follow over the jump for the rest of the science fiction and scifi-adjacent film nominees.
BEST VISUAL EFFECTSThe only pure science fiction nominee is Avatar: Fire and Ash. F1 and Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning are action films, Frankenstein and Sinners are horror, and Superman is a superhero film. That written, the Saturn Awards have nominated Superman movies as science fiction before they had a superhero/comic book film category.
Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, Daniel Barrett – Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios)
Ryan Tudhope, Nikeah Forde, Robert Harrington, Nicolas Chevallier, Eric Leven, Edward Price, Keith Dawson –F1 (Apple Original Films)
Dennis Berardi, Ayo Burgess, Ivan Busquets, José Granell – Frankenstein (Netflix)
Alex Wuttke, Ian Lowe, Jeff Sutherland, Kirstin Hall – Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (Paramount Pictures)
Michael Ralla, Espen Nordahl, Guido Wolter, Donnie Dean – Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Stephane Ceretti, Enrico Damm, Stéphane Nazé, Guy Williams – Superman (Warner Bros.)
At least Gold Derby's prognosticators think that the science fiction and scifi-adjacent nominees have the best chances of winning this award, as every editor and expert along with 87.3% of users expect Avatar: Fire and Ash will win this award, the only one it's nominated for. Frankenstein and Superman have the support of 10.8% and 0.8% of users, respectively, followed by F1, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning, and Sinners with less than 0.6%, 0.3%, and 0.2%.
Another scifi-adjacent superhero film earned a nomination in the next category along with Frankenstein.
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGNFrankenstein leads as the selection of 92.3% of experts, 75.0% of editors, and 90.6% of users, followed by Sinners as the choice of the remaining 7.7% of experts and 25.0% of editors, but only 3.5% of users. More users, 4.6%, chose Wicked: For Good, which places it second in Gold Derby's odds. The rest of the field is at less than one percent user support each, Hamnet at 0.7%, Marty Supreme at 0.4%, and scifi-adjacent The Fantastic Four: First Steps at 0.2%.
Kasra Farahani, Jille Azis – The Fantastic Four: First Steps (Marvel Studios)
Tamara Deverell, Shane Vieau – Frankenstein (Netflix)
Fiona Crombie, Alice Felton – Hamnet (Focus Features)
Jack Fisk, Adam Willis – Marty Supreme (A24)
Hannah Beachler, Monique Champagne – Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Nathan Crowley, Lee Sandales – Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)
I close with National Day Calendar celebrating National Science Fiction Day on January 2.
National Science Fiction Day promotes the celebration of science fiction as a genre, its creators, history, and various media, too. On January 2nd annually, millions of science fiction fans across the United States read and watch their favorites in science fiction.If Mary Shelley is the mother of science fiction, then Jules Verne is the genre's father.
The date of the celebration commemorates the birth of famed science fiction writer Isaac Asimov. An American author and Boston University professor of biochemistry, Isaac Asimov was born Isaak Yudovich Ozimov on January 2, 1920. He is best known for his works of science fiction and his popular science books. Isaac Asimov, whose works are followed by many, died on April 6, 1992.
National Science Fiction Day is recognized by the Hallmark Channel and the Scholastic Corporation.
Considered a master of hard science fiction, Asimov, along with Robert A. Heinlein and Arthur C. Clarke, was considered one of the “Big Three” science-fiction writers during his lifetime. Many regard the Foundation Series as Asimov’s most outstanding piece. His other major series are the Galactic Empire Series and the Robot Series.
That's a wrap for today's holiday. Stay tuned for NASA's look back at 2025 and ahead to 2026. *Speaking of Saturn Awards and what they consider science fiction, I wrote the following two years ago.
That Frankenstein is considered to be the first work of science fiction means that horror is its sister genre, not fantasy, as the movie and television versions of Frankenstein are portrayed as horror. This reminds me of what I wrote most recently about M3GAN and Prey at the Saturn Awards; "if the terror is technological, not supernatural, the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Films considers it science fiction, not horror." Now I wonder how the Saturn Awards would classify a new movie or TV show about Frankenstein. Hmm.We'll find out soon, unless they dodge the issue by nominating it for Best Presentation on Television. They did something like that for Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, nominating it for Best Animated Television Series or Special instead of Best Animated Film, so I wouldn't be surprised.
Previous posts about the 2025 Critics Choice Awards
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