Every day between now and the Academy Awards ceremony we're predicting the result of one of the categories based on votes in our Predict the Oscars competition. Yesterday we predicted a safe win for Finding Nemo as Best Animated Feature. Today we're calling the result for Directing.

Directing
City of God	Katia Lund and Fernando Meirelles	(2%)
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King	Peter Jackson	(90%)
Lost in Translation	Sofia Coppola	(3%)
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World	Peter Weir	(3%)
Mystic River	Clint Eastwood	(3%)

Competition contestants are predicting Peter Jackson as the run-away winner, and it's not hard to see why. After his nomination in 2002 for The Fellowship of the Ring, and after being passed over for a nomination last year for The Two Towers, this just seems like Jackson's year. The academy has a history of make-up calls, and the success of Return of the King would give Jackson a good shot even without the first two movies in the series to back him up.

Among the also-rans, it's hard to pick between Sofia Coppola, Peter Weir and Clint Eastwood. In itself, that probably helps Jackson as well - those voters who shy away from fantasy movies have 3 very strong directing jobs to choose from as an alternative. Katia Lund and Fernando Meirelles should be recognized for a fantastic job on City of God, but unfortunately can't be considered serious contenders for the Oscar.

Date posted: 2004-02-25