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DUNE: PART TWO
©Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection
Best Visual Effects commentary (Updated Feb. 12, 2025): “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” won the top Visual Effects Society Award for outstanding visual effects in a photoreal feature at the 23rd Visual Effects Society Awards. Yet on Tuesday at the Beverly Hilton, the society spread the wealth, awarding three trophies—the most in the live-action feature categories—to “Dune: Part Two.”
Wes Ball’s fourth installment in the rebooted “Planet of the Apes” series was a huge financial success, but the previous three films have yet to win a visual effects prize. Could that put 20th Century Studios in line to finally take home the Oscar?
With the BAFTA Awards coming Friday, the results could strongly indicate what Oscar voters may decide as final voting is underway. Since the best picture expansion in 2009, the Oscars and BAFTA winners for visual effects have matched 10 times. By comparison, the VES winner for outstanding visual effects in a photoreal feature has only aligned with the Oscar winner seven times—despite all three previous “Planet of the Apes” films winning the VES award.
A key factor is whether a film is nominated for best picture. This year, only two visual effects nominees — “Dune: Part Two” and “Wicked” — are also best picture nominees. Historically, there was only one instance of a non-best picture nominee winning over Best Picture nominees: “Ex Machina” in 2015. In past close races, the best picture factor has been decisive, such as when “Hugo” (2011) beat “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” or “1917” (2019) edged out “Avengers: Endgame” and “The Lion King.” This history suggests “Dune: Part Two” is the likely winner.
As for “Wicked,” no film — except last year’s winner, “Godzilla Minus One” — has won the Oscar for visual effects without a BAFTA nomination, which “Wicked” did not receive.
Additionally, 20 of the past 24 visual effects Oscar winners have been nominated for production design, further strengthening “Dune: Part Two’s” case.
The 97th Oscars will be held on Sunday, March 2. All movie listings, titles, distributors, and credited artisans are not final and are subject to change.
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More Information (Oscars: Visual Effects)
2024 category winner: “Godzilla Minus One” (Toho) — Takashi Yamazaki, Kiyoko Shibuya, Masaki Takahashi, and Tatsuji Nojima
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