VES Awards: ‘Kingdom Of The Planet Of The Apes’ Takes Top Film Prize As ‘Dune: Part Two’ & ‘Wild Robot’ Lead With Four Each; ‘Shōgun’ & ‘Penguin’ Pace TV – Full List

It was a rather curious night at the 23rd VES Awards, which were handed out Tuesday at the Beverly Hilton.

The Visual Effects Society knelt before The Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, handing it the marquee prize for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature — but it was the lone win on six nominations for the 10th film in the venerable franchise.

More from Deadline

• 2025 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Oscars, Spirits, Grammys, Tonys, Guilds & More

• The 2025 Oscars: Everything We Know So Far About The Nominations, Ceremony, Date & Host

• Allison Janney To Receive Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild's Distinguished Artisan Award

The bigger winners with four apiece were Dune: Part Two, which came into the night with a leading seven nominations, and The Wild Robot, hot off dominating the Annie Awards over the weekend.

That raises a question: Which film has the inside track for the Oscar next month?

Well, the VES Awards and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences haven’t followed the same script much during the past decade-plus, with only five of the Visual Effects Society’s marquee winners since 2013 going on to score the FX Oscar. That trend held last year, when VES bowed before The Creator, but the Academy Award was fed to Godzilla Minus Zero.

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Dune: Part Two will vie for the Oscar against Alien: Romulus, Better Man and Wicked. The Wild Robot is up for Animated Feature.

Two more for the history buffs: Dune led the VES Awards in 2022, and War for the Planet of the Apes won the Photoreal Feature category in 2018.

A24’s Civil War triumphed in the Supporting VFX category, and Paramount’s Better Man won for Character in a Photoreal Feature — that being the CGI chimp portraying Robbie Williams in the musical biopic. Not a bad night for the apes overall.

20th Century Studios’ Alien: Romulus took the VES Award for Outstanding Model for its Renaissance Space Station.

On the TV side, Disney+’s The Penguin and FX’s Shōgun tied with three awards apiece after coming into the ceremony with four noms each to lead all TV programs.

The team behind FX’s Emmy-laden series Shōgun took the first trophy of the night, for Outstanding Environment in an Episode, Commercial, Game Cinematic or Real-Time Project and later picked up a Effects Simulations win. It capped its big night with the award for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Episode.

The Penguin waddled home with Supporting Visual Effects. Earlier it won two categories in a row, picking up the statuette for Compositing in an Episode before winning for Special (Practical) Effects in a Photoreal Project.

The Coca-Cola commercial titled “The Heroes” also was a double winner Tuesday, picking up trophies for Visual Effects and Compositing & Lighting.

Multiple Emmy-winning Shōgun actor-producer Hiroyuki Sanada received the VES Award for Creative Excellence, a lifetime achievement award presented by one Keanu Reeves. He delighted the crowd of VFX pros by saying, “Y’all do some amazing shit here.” The honoree then promised that Season 2 “would take it to the next level.”

The other special honorees Tuesday night were VR/immersive technology pioneer Dr. Jacquelyn Ford Morie (VES Georges Méliès Award) and Oscar-winning director and VFX supervisor Takashi Yamazaki (VES Visionary Award).

The VES Awards — which recognizes outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in 25 categories spanning features, TV, animation, commercials, games and new media — opened with Visual Effect Society Exec Director Nancy Ward thanking the first responders who risked it all to say lives and property during the devastating Los Angeles wildfires last month. Cheers to that.

The Sklar Brothers made their hosting debut for the event.

Here are the winners at the 2025 VES Awards:

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes
Erik Winquist
Julia Neighly
Paul Story
Danielle Immerman
Rodney Burke

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
The Wild Robot
Chris Sanders
Jeff Hermann
Jeff Budsberg
Jacob Hjort Jensen

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
Shōgun; Anjin
Michael Cliett
Melody Mead
Philip Engström
Ed Bruce
Cameron Waldbauer

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Civil War
David Simpson
Michelle Rose
Freddy Salazar
Chris Zeh
J.D. Schwalm

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE
The Penguin; Bliss
Johnny Han
Michelle Rose
Goran Pavles
Ed Bruce
Devin Maggio

OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
The Wild Robot; Roz
Fabio Lignini
Yukinori Inagaki
Owen Demers
Hyun Huh

OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
Ronja the Robber’s Daughter; Vildvittran the Queen Harpy
Nicklas Andersson
David Allan
Gustav Åhren
Niklas Wallén

OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Better Man; Robbie Williams
Milton Ramirez
Andrea Merlo
Seoungseok Charlie Kim
Eteuati Tem

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Dune: Part Two; Atomic Explosions and Wormriding
Nicholas Papworth
Sandy la Tourelle
Lisa Nolan
Christopher Phillips

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
The Wild Robot
Derek Cheung
Michael Losure
David Chow
Nyoung Kim

OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
Shōgun; Broken to the Fist; Landslide
Dominic Tiedeken
Heinrich Löwe
Charles Guerton
Timmy Lundin

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE
Dune: Part Two; Wormriding, Geidi Prime, and the Final Battle
Christopher Rickard
Francesco Dell’Anna
Paul Chapman
Ryan Wing

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL
Coca-Cola; The Heroes
Ryan Knowles
Alex Gabucci
Jack Powell
Dan Yarcigi

OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE
The Penguin; After Hours
Jonas Stuckenbrock
Karen Chang
Eugene Bondar
Miky Girón

OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT
The Penguin; Safe Guns
Devin Maggio
Johnny Han
Cory Candrilli
Alexandre Prod’homme

OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT
Alien: Romulus; Renaissance Space Station
Waldemar Bartkowiak
Trevor Wide
Matt Middleton
Ben Shearman

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT
Pittura (entry from ARTFX – Schools of Digital Arts)
Lauriol Adam
Lassère Titouan
Vivenza Rémi
Marre Helloïs

EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD
Here; Neural Performance Toolset
Jo Plaete
Oriel Frigo
Tomas Koutsky
Matteo Oliviero Dancy

OUTSTANDING CG CINEMATOGRAPHY
Dune: Part Two; Arrakis
Greig Fraser
Xin Steve Guo
Sandra Murta
Ben Wiggs

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT
D23; Real-Time Rocket
Evan Goldberg
Alyssa Finley
Jason Breneman
Alice Taylor

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT
Star Wars Outlaws
Stephen Hawes
Lionel Le Dain
Benedikt Podlesnigg
Bogdan Draghici

OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL
Coca-Cola; The Heroes
Greg McKneally
Antonia Vlasto
Ryan Knowles
Fabrice Fiteni

OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE
Dune: Part Two; The Arrakeen Basin
Daniel Rhein
Daniel Anton Fernandez
Marc James Austin
Christopher Anciaume

OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE
The Wild Robot; The Forest
John Wake
He Jung Park
Woojin Choi
Shane Glading

OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT
Shōgun; Osaka
Manuel Martinez
Phil Hannigan
Keith Malone
Francesco Corvino
Peter Stubbs

Best of Deadline

• ‘Paradise’ Episode Release Guide: When Are New Episodes Streaming On Hulu?

• 2025 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Oscars, Spirits, Grammys, Tonys, Guilds & More

• Everything We Know About Christopher Nolan’s Next Film – ‘The Odyssey’: Release Date, Cast And More

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.