The upcoming BAFTA film awards on Sunday could influence the Oscar race, with potential upsets between front-runners like One Battle After Another and British favorite Hamnet. Disney's Zootopia 2, the highest-grossing studio film of 2025, seeks a breakthrough at BAFTA to boost its Oscar chances in animated feature. Industry observers note BAFTA's inconsistent alignment with Oscar winners.
The BAFTA film awards, set for Sunday, come at a pivotal time as final Oscar voting begins on February 26 and runs through March 5. These awards, alongside the SAG Actor Awards next weekend, often provide insights into Oscar trends, though BAFTA has matched Oscar's Best Picture choice only 10 out of 24 times this century. Since 2014, alignments have occurred just twice, with Nomadland and Oppenheimer, while last year's BAFTA winner Conclave differed from Oscar's Anora.
A key contest pits the precursor-sweeping One Battle After Another against Hamnet, a British production with strong local appeal. Directed by Chloé Zhao and produced by Steven Spielberg and Sam Mendes, Hamnet has grossed over $50 million internationally and leads BAFTA Best Picture contenders in UK earnings, surpassing rival Sinners. One Battle After Another, under Paul Thomas Anderson's direction, has secured wins at the DGA, Golden Globes, and Critics Choice for directing, with Anderson maintaining a low-key campaign presence.
Observers predict Sinners may claim SAG's Outstanding Cast award, potentially challenging One Battle After Another's momentum amid Oscar's preferential ballot system. Another BAFTA contender, I Swear, a true story of a man with Tourette syndrome, gains traction with five nominations, including Best Actor for Robert Aramayo, who leads betting odds behind Timothée Chalamet.
In animation, Zootopia 2, sequel to the 2016 Oscar winner and 2025's top studio earner at $1.8 billion globally—including a record $600 million in China—faces Elio and Little Amelie: Or the Character of Rain. Despite losses to Netflix's KPop Demon Hunters at other awards, Zootopia 2 is favored at BAFTA. Disney's Asad Ayaz expressed optimism, stating, "I think this is a better film in a lot of ways," highlighting its themes of friendship, breaking barriers, and underdogs confronting corruption, which resonate across audiences.
