Hollywood’s biggest night didn’t deliver too much when it came to nerdy victories. Although some genre/nerdy movies were nominated for the Oscars in 2025, it didn’t feel quite as genre-celebratory as other years, like, for example, when Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water won Best Picture in 2018. Still, nerdy fare wasn’t completely shut out. Among the winners of the night were Dune: Part Two, Wicked, The Substance, and, unexpectedly, Scream (2022)’s Ghostface killer, Mikey Madison. Here’s what went down from a nerdy lens.
Dune: Part Two Is the Nerdiest Movie to Win at the 2025 Oscars
First up, let’s look at the 2025 Oscar winners who won for being straight-up genre delights. Dune: Part Two deserves all the applause, in our opinion, as it’s definitely the nerdiest of the films to win a prize at the 2025 Oscars. At the 97th Academy Awards, Dune: Part Two took home two Oscars. Dune: Part Two won in the categories of Best Sound (Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill) and Best Visual Effects (Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer). And taking a look at the sandworms of Arrakis and the immersive and gorgeous soundscape of the film, we are so glad that it did. We love that such an unapologetically sci-fi film, driven by complex lore and a true love of the genre, received the highest honors in movie-making.
Wicked Also Represented for Genre-Lovers at the Academy Awards
Another nerdy movie, Wicked, also won a couple of prizes at the 2025 Oscars. Wicked is differently nerdy than Dune: Part Two, but it absolutely still qualifies as a fantasy/genre film. It was one of our favorite movies of the year, to boot. Cynthia Ervio and Ariana Grande totally floored us with their vocal prowess, and the spectacle of the movie went unmatched. At the 97th Academy Awards, Wicked also won two awards. Wicked won Oscars for Best Costume Design (Paul Tazewell) and Best Production Design (Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales). The wonderful world of Oz was both very well-dressed and incredibly intricate, so we also applaud these choices. Paul Tazewell also became the first Black man to win an Oscar for Best Costume Design, a historical and important honor. Many kudos to Tazewell. (And his impeccable Oscars look.)
The Substance Takes Home One Award at the Oscars
We want to see more horror representation at the Oscars! We were rooting for The Substance, Nosferatu, and Alien: Romulus to take home some big awards, but, alas, Nosferatu and Alien: Romulus were shut out at the Oscars. Only The Substance won a prize. Still, we’re cheering it on. The Substance won the Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Pierre-Olivier Persin, Stéphanie Guillon and Marilyne Scarselli). A very well-deserved win.
Some Secretly Nerdy Winners at the 2025 Oscars Included Ghostface and Gamora
There were a couple other secretly nerdy wins at the Oscars as well. For one, Mikey Madison became the first-ever Oscar-winning Ghostface actor. Madison played Ghostface (one of two) in 2022’s Scream reboot. And now, Ghostface is officially also an Academy Award winner. Mikey Madison won the honor of 2025’s Best Actress at the Oscars for her turn in Anora. Additionally, long-time genre actress Zoe Saldaña won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Emilia Pérez. In the geeky world, Saldaña is known for playing Gamora in the MCU’s Guardians of the Galaxy franchise, Uhura in the cinematic Star Trek universe, and Neytiri in James Cameron’s Avatar movie series. Saldaña also became the first American of Dominican origin to win an Oscar.
The Full List of Oscar Winners From the 75th Academy Awards
That’s about the size of the genre celebration at the Oscars. If you want to watch any of the nerdy Oscar winners or nominees, take a look at our piece here. You can also check out the complete list of winners below.
Best Picture
WINNER: Anora
The Brutalist
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
I’m Still Here
Nickel Boys
The Substance
Wicked
Best Director
Jacques Audiard, Emilia Pérez
WINNER: Sean Baker, Anora
Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
James Mangold, A Complete Unknown
Best Lead Actor
WINNER: Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Timothée Chalamet, A Complete Unknown
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing
Ralph Fiennes, Conclave
Sebastian Stan, The Apprentice
Best Lead Actress
Cynthia Erivo, Wicked
Karla Sofía Gascón, Emilia Pérez
WINNER: Mikey Madison, Anora
Demi Moore, The Substance
Fernanda Torres, I’m Still Here
Best Supporting Actor
Yura Borisov, Anora
WINNER: Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Edward Norton, A Complete Unknown
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
Jeremy Strong, The Apprentice
Best Supporting Actress
Monica Barbaro, A Complete Unknown
Ariana Grande, Wicked
Felicity Jones, The Brutalist
Isabella Rossellini, Conclave
WINNER: Zoe Saldaña, Emilia Pérez
Best Animated Feature Film
WINNER: Flow
Inside Out 2
Memoir of a Snail
Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl
The Wild Robot
Best Animated Short Film
Beautiful Men
WINNER: In the Shadow of the Cypress
Magic Candies
Wander to Wonder
Yuck!
Best Costume Design
A Complete Unknown
Conclave
Gladiator II
Nosferatu
WINNER: Wicked
Best Live-Action Short
A Lien (Sam Cutler-Kreutz and David Cutler-Kreutz)
Anuja (Adam J. Graves and Suchitra Mattai)
WINNER: I’m Not a Robot (Victoria Warmerdam and Trent)
The Last Ranger (Cindy Lee and Darwin Shaw)
The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent (Nebojša Slijepčević and Danijel Pek)
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
A Different Man
Emilia Pérez
Nosferatu
WINNER: The Substance
Wicked
Best Original Score
WINNER: The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
The Wild Robot
Best Sound
A Complete Unknown (Tod A. Maitland, Donald Sylvester, Ted Caplan, Paul Massey and David Giammarco)
WINNER: Dune: Part Two (Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett and Doug Hemphill)
Emilia Pérez (Erwan Kerzanet, Aymeric Devoldère, Maxence Dussère, Cyril Holtz and Niels Barletta)
Wicked (Simon Hayes, Nancy Nugent Title, Jack Dolman, Andy Nelson and John Marquis)
The Wild Robot (Randy Thom, Brian Chumney, Gary A. Rizzo and Leff Lefferts)
Best Adapted Screenplay
A Complete Unknown
WINNER: Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Nickel Boys
Sing Sing
Best Original Screenplay
WINNER: Anora
The Brutalist
A Real Pain
September 5
The Substance
Best Cinematography
WINNER: The Brutalist
Dune: Part Two
Emilia Pérez
Maria
Nosferatu
Best Documentary Feature Film
Black Box Diaries
WINNER: No Other Land
Porcelain War
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Sugarcane
Best Documentary Short Film
Death by Numbers
I Am Ready, Warden
Incident
Instruments of a Beating Heart
WINNER: The Only Girl in the Orchestra
Best Film Editing
WINNER: Anora
The Brutalist
Conclave
Emilia Pérez
Wicked
Best International Feature Film
WINNER: Brazil, I’m Still Here
Denmark, The Girl With the Needle
France, Emilia Pérez
Germany, The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Latvia, Flow
Best Original Song
“Never Too Late” from Elton John: Never Too Late
WINNER: “El Mal” from Emilia Pérez
“Mi Camino” from Emilia Pérez
“Like A Bird” from Sing Sing
“The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight
Best Production Design
The Brutalist
Conclave
Dune: Part Two
Nosferatu
WINNER: Wicked
Best Visual Effects
Alien: Romulus (Eric Barba, Nelson Sepulveda-Fauser, Daniel Macarin and Shane Mahan)
Better Man (Luke Millar, David Clayton, Keith Herft and Peter Stubbs)
WINNER: Dune: Part Two (Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe and Gerd Nefzer)
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (Erik Winquist, Stephen Unterfranz, Paul Story and Rodney Burke)
Wicked (Pablo Helman, Jonathan Fawkner, David Shirk and Paul Corbould)
Editor’s Note: Nerdist is a subsidiary of Legendary Digital Networks.