Baby Driver’s Oscar Campaign Includes Best Picture, Director

Sony Pictures has released their “For Your Consideration” Oscars campaign for Baby Driver, submitting it to 11 categories, including Best Picture and Best Director. Edgar Wright’s action comedy film was one of the most anticipated releases of the year and Baby Driver was very well received by critics and audiences alike, who mostly praised its style and soundtrack.


Baby Driver follows a young getaway driver known as Baby (played by Ansel Elgort) who, after an accident that left him with tinnitus, is continually listening to music to block it out. Baby works for a crime boss, and soon finds himself taking part in a heist doomed to fail, threatening his life and those close to him. With award season coming up, the biggest studios have begun their “For Your Consideration” campaigns, with Sony Pictures submitting Baby Driver for a few categories.


The list of categories in Sony’s campaign for Baby Driver are mostly technical, as these were the main aspects of the film that were praised. These include Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Visual Effects, among others. The studio is also submitting the film for two of the strongest categories, namely Best Picture and Best Director, in addition to Best Original Screenplay (also for Wright). Joining Baby Driver in Sony’s campaign are Only The Brave, Roman J. Israel, Esq, The Star, and All The Money in the World, though only Wright’s film and Roman J. Israel, Esq have a list of categories and screenings.


Baby Driver was Edgar Wright’s highly anticipated comeback after The World’s End in 2013, which marked the conclusion to his Cornetto trilogy, after Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. Wright is known for his visual-comedy style, with fast cuts, close-ups, whip pans, epic entrances, and on/off screen dynamic. These elements were also present in Baby Driver, so it’s not surprising that the studio is submitting the film to many categories that focus in technical aspects.


Comedies are not left behind when it comes to Oscar nominations, so in that sense – and in addition to the aforementioned technical aspects that made it stand out – Baby Driver could earn a place in next year’s Oscars ceremony. If the Academy decides to give the film a place in its main categories, it would mark Wright’s first nominations, which his fans have been waiting for a while now.