The Oscars don’t take place for another two weeks, but it looks like the Best Picture winner may already be decided. On Saturday night, “Birdman” Director Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu won top honors at the Directors Guild Awards, besting presumed favorite, “Boyhood” director Richard Linklater, for the award. With the Directors Guild of America win, Iñárritu’s film has swept the three major guilds, following previous victories at the Producers Guild of America and Screen Actors Guild award ceremonies.
As The Hollywood Reporter notes, in the last 19 years, only one film that turned the guild hat trick has failed to go on to win Best Picture: “Apollo 13” at the Academy Awards in 1996. Previous films to win all three guild citations and then Best Picture include “American Beauty,” “Chicago,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” “No Country for Old Men,” “Slumdog Millionaire,” “The King’s Speech” and “Argo.”
