The King's Speech Closes in on The Social Network for the Best Picture Oscar
The ballots are in! With a near-sweep of the BAFTA awards last week, as well as a meaty segment on 60 Minutes, The King's Speech continues its climb up the ladder, and is nearly neck-and-neck with The Social Network in the race for the Best Picture Oscar. Meanwhile, Oscar co-host James Franco experienced a nice bump thanks to his Oscar hosting promos. Using data that track mass opinion, The Daily Beast surveys which actors, films, and directors are favorites at this Sunday's Academy Awards ceremony.
The Best Picture Oscar race is getting closer by the day, as The King’s Speech continues its climb to surpass The Social Network following its near sweep at the BAFTA awards last week, as well as a segment on CBS’ 60 Minutes. Although Speech hasn’t emerged as the favorite yet, according to our data, the two films are virtually neck-and-neck in raw opinion count, and while the regal costume drama’s odds of winning has climbed steadily over the last four weeks, all the other contenders’ odds have either decreased or stayed even.
Gallery: The Daily Beast’s Oscar Oracle
127 Hours star James Franco received a healthy bump in the Best Actor race, overtaking The Social Network’s Jesse Eisenberg for the No. 2 spot thanks to both the regular airing of Oscar promos on ABC, featuring co-hosts Franco and Anne Hathaway, as well as the dimpled actor’s entry into the Twitterverse. Although graffiti artist Banksy’s documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop is holding onto the lead in the Best Documentary Feature category—aided in part by a coterie of new Banksy artworks popping up all over Los Angeles, as well as the controversy over the anonymous artist’s request to wear a mask at the awards being denied—Lucy Walker’s art-centric film Waste Land is rising up the ranks in the race for Best Doc.
With the Academy Awards airing this Sunday evening, it’s time to place your bets: will The King’s Speech be crowned, or can The Social Network “friend” it’s way to the top? Read more about how the Oscar Oracle works here.