For our fifteenth Rundown article, we review the production design category. After the jump, you’ll find our winner and runner-up predictions for Best Production Design as well as general commentary about the race. Thursday, we’ll cover Best Costume Design.

Best Production Design

Winner Predictions

• The Father
• Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (PP R) [New]
• Mank (WL O) (TB O) (TL O)
• News of the World
• Tenet

Runner-Up Predictions

• The Father (PP O) (TB R) [New]
• Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (WL O)
• News of the World (TL O) [New]

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Wesley Lovell: Mank has been one of the consistent victors in this category and I see little reason for the Academy to ignore it.
Peter J. Patrick: Some interesting choices here, but Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom seems to be the one most people remember best. On the other hand, the subtle changes in design from scene to scene in The Father are interesting enough to cause a possible upset.
Tripp Burton: Mank has won the most precursors and should easily win the Oscar too. The re-creation of San Simeon and old time Hollywood sets and landmarks will be too good for the Academy to pass up. Both Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Tenet have one precursor each but seem unlikely to win. The first is mostly set in two rooms of a building, which seems like not much to win. The second is set in modern day, which tends not to win. The Father did a nice job with the design as it laid down confusing but similar sets for the befuddled title character. News of the World probably had the second most interesting sets with its depictions of small towns in the post-Civil War west. However, nothing will stop Mank from winning.
Thomas La Tourrette: BAFTA Winner Mank is easily the frontrunner here, both for a lack of real competition and as probably the only way to honor the film at this point, but if there is a lot of love for The Father out there, it could be a dark horse here.

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