Only two science fiction films have won the Best Picture Oscar

In the 97 years that the Academy Awards have been around, certain genres have always remained superior, regardless of how the general audience may feel about them at any point in history. When it comes to science fiction, for example, only two members of the genre have actually won a Best Picture Oscar, and both are younger than you might expect. In fact, until 2017, when Guillermo del Toro's sci-fi horror romance The Shape of Water hit the airwaves, no sci-fi film from Guillermo del Toro had ever won a Best Picture award. However, del Toro's tale of a woman (Sally Hawkins) who falls in love with a mermaid (Doug Jones) managed to tick all the right boxes at the time, winning Best Picture. likes “Call Me By Your Name”, “Get Out”, “Dunkirk”, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”, “Darkest Hour”, “The Post”, “Lady Bird” and “Phantom Thread”.

This was also the win that seemingly broke the sci-fi genre seal at the Oscars; just five years later, directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert continued the sweep at the Academy Awards with their Best Picture sci-fi hit “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” Daniels' strange tale of alternate dimensions and the dream of simply doing laundry with someone was a huge hit throughout the 2022 awards season, culminating in stars Michelle Yeoh, Ke Hui Kwan and Jamie Lee Curtis winning Oscars and confirming that sci-fi was finally getting some well-deserved (and long overdue) recognition from the Academy. This brings us to the present day, where at the time of writing, another sci-fi picture is vying for a shiny golden statuette.

For example, The Godfather Part II and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King are the only sequels in history to win the Best Picture Oscar (and are considered some of the best movies of all time)is there any chance that Dune: Part Two will join as a rare champion and another contender from the sci-fi genre receiving some well-deserved acclaim? Ever since Peter Jackson's initial departure from Middle-earth, an epic like this has been so beloved by critics and audiences alike, making it a film worthy of the Academy's attention.

Denis Villeneuve's direction on a sci-fi tentpole alone earns the Academy's attention not only with impressive performances from the likes of Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson and Austin Butler (all deserving of Oscar consideration). indeed “Dune” and “Dune: Part Two” star Josh Brolin has even threatened to quit acting if Villeneuve doesn't get an Oscar nomination for his efforts in the Dune sequel (and it seems he's only half-joking). Triumphantly closing the book on Frank Herbert's “unfilmable” story, The Dune: Part Two surely deserves to be one of the rare sci-fi films to be crowned Best Picture on Oscar night. The Academy may have denied Hans Zimmer's sequel The Dunes a nomination but there is no reason to insult Villeneuve and the rest of the film.

Who knows — with any luck, 2025 will be the year we add a third Best Picture sci-fi feature.