SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Publishing its early ‘Academy Awards 2017 (The Oscars)’ markets, bookmaker William Hill has placed ‘Blade Runner 2049’ as a surprise 12/1 longshot to win the ‘Best Picture’ category.
Released last week, director Denis Villeneuve’s 35-year sequel of Ridley Scott’s sci-fi film-noir classic ‘Blade Runner’ has been met with glowing critical response.
To date, no sci-fi film has ever won the ‘Best Picture’ Academy Award, could Denis Villeneuve’s dystopian and existential thriller break the Academy’s mould?
“Blade Runner 2049 has opened to almost universal acclaim and has to be a major contender for Oscar Glory,” said William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams.
At present, all bookmakers have priced Christopher Nolan’s World War II epic ‘Dunkirk’ as early Oscars 2017 Best Picture favourite, leading the market at 4-1/3-1 odds.
Still very early days for Academy 2017 contention, the majority of Hollywood studios have yet to release their awards contenders which will begin to hit theatres this autumn.
In the run-up to Oscars 2017, Bookmakers and movie insiders expect a strong showing from ‘The Shape of Water’ (Guillermo del Toro – Fox Search Light), ‘Call Me by Your Name’ (Luca Guadagnino – Sony Classics) and ‘Downsizing’ (Alexander Payne – Paramount Pictures).
Blade Runner 2049 – Trailer
