Oscars Betting 2024: How Will The Irish Fare?

The 96th Academy Awards take place at the Dolby Theatre and, as was the case last year, there will be a strong Irish contingent making their way to Hollywood on Sunday.

While it was always going to be difficult to match the extraordinary Celtic flavour of the 2023 Oscars - when a whopping 25% of the acting nominations were made up of Irish talent - there are enough Emerald Isle hopefuls this time around to pique the interest of betting sites for entertainment.

Irish-Backed Poor Things Makes History

This time 12 months ago, Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin secured an impressive nine Academy Award nominations - the most for an Irish-produced film in the long and varied history of the Oscars. 

However, that has now been smashed as Poor Things has been shortlisted in 11 separate categories.

Although it is set in Victorian London and was filmed in Hungary, the Dublin-based Element Pictures are one of three production companies behind Poor Things - the others being Film4 and TSG Entertainment. 

The film’s Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos has enjoyed a strong relationship with Element since transitioning into English-language productions, beginning with The Lobster in 2015.

That was the only one of his four films with Element Pictures to have been filmed in Ireland, but the acclaim that was received by the subsequent collaborations with Lanthimos - The Killing of a Sacred Deer, The Favourite and Poor Things - has certainly shone a bright light on the film industry on these shores.

While the majority of the people nominated for Poor Things at this year’s Oscars hail from different parts of the globe, there are some key Irish figures that will be embarking on a trip to the West Coast of America.

Murphy Expected To Take Home Best Actor Oscar

Oppenheimer appears to be the odds-on favourite in most of the categories that it is nominated in, which isn’t a surprise when you consider it has received 13 nods. 

This could be good news for Irish hopes in one of the categories at this year’s Oscars, however.

Raised in the suburban village of Ballintemple in Cork City, Cillian Murphy is the current favourite amongst several betting apps to be crowned Best Actor at the Academy Awards for his performance as J. Robert Oppenheimer.

Despite the presence of previous nominees Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers) and Bradley Cooper (Maestro), Murphy is rated at 1/20 with some firms.

It seems likely that Murphy could add to the Golden Globe he recently picked up for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama.

If he was to win the Oscar, he would be the first Irish-born star to do so - albeit Daniel Day-Lewis won two of his three Best Actor awards after becoming a citizen of Ireland.

For a man who first graced the silver screen all of 26 years ago in The Tale of Sweety Barrett (the first of five films that he co-starred in with Brendan Gleeson), this would represent a remarkable journey for Murphy.

Guiney And Lowe In The Running For Poor Things

Back in 2019, Element Pictures co-founder Ed Guiney was one of four producers nominated for a Best Picture Oscar for The Favourite. 

In the end, the Dubliner and his colleagues lost out to Green Book - the biographical comedy-drama helmed by Peter Farrelly, who incidentally was the grandson of Irish immigrants.

This was actually Guiney’s second nomination as he was previously shortlisted in the same category for Lenny Abrahamson’s Room. 

On this occasion, he is joined by his fellow Element Pictures co-founder Andrew Lowe, and they are accompanied as nominees for Best Picture by Lanthimos and Emma Stone - the star of the film, who has also been shortlisted for Best Actress.

Poor Things Featuring Heavily Amongst Best Picture Chasing Pack

Even though Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is the red-hot favourite to secure the Best Picture gong on Sunday - there are odds as short as 1/20 with Oscars betting sites on it being awarded this particular prize - Poor Things is regarded as one of their main challengers in a 10-strong list.

Bookies are offering odds of 12/1 on a film that has made just shy of $104 million at the global box office to date with only the likes of The Holdovers and Barbie (which features Galway actress Nicola Coughlan) coming close to rivalling them in the chasing pack behind Oppenheimer.

Ryan In The Running for Best Cinematography

Like the majority of Lanthimos’ filmography to date, Poor Things has been praised for its aesthetic and for this the Greek helmer has his cinematographer Robbie Ryan to thank. 

Hailing from Dublin, Ryan is a graduate of Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology and first got behind a lens for the 2002 British film This Is Not A Love Song.

He has worked with directors such as Andrea Arnold, Marc Evans, Ken Loach, Stephen Frears and Noah Baumbach since then, but also linked up with Lanthimos for the first time on The Favourite. 

This earned him a first Academy Award nomination in 2019, when he eventually lost out to Alfonso Cuaron - who served as Director of Photography on his own film Roma.

Yet Ryan is now back on the Oscars shortlist for his work on Poor Things and he is currently rated as a 10/1 prospect for the Best Cinematography award with specials betting sites. 

A fourth-time nominee, Mexico’s Rodrigo Prieto is available at the same odds for his work on Killers of the Flower Moon.

Their fellow previous nominees Edward Lachman (El Conde) and Matthew Libatique (Maestro) are rated at 25/1 and 20/1 respectively, but there is another overwhelming favourite in this category. 

Hoyte van Hoytema is nominated for his work on Oppenheimer and with odds of 1/7 available on the Dutchman, it seems likely that Ryan might miss out on the ultimate prize.