The 45th Saturn Awards, presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films and honoring the best in science fiction, fantasy, horror, and other genres belonging to genre fiction in film, television, home entertainment, and local stage production from March 1, 2018, to July 7, 2019, were held on September 13, 2019, in Avalon Hollywood, and hosted by actress and comedian Aisha Tyler. Nominations were announced on July 15, 2019.
The ceremony notably marked considerable changes for the Saturn Awards; although the awards had rewarded solely works from the previous year until 2016 – when the eligibility was changed to works released from March of the previous year to February of the current year, the eligibility was, for this ceremony, extended to March of the previous year to early July of the current year. It is also the first Saturn Awards ceremony not to be held in Burbank, California (since 2008), and the second to air live after the 1978 ceremony (as the show was made available for livestream on several platforms). It also marked major changes for the award categories; most notably, series were split into two different sets of categories ("Television" / "Streaming") for streaming television series released on streaming media/video on demand services such as Netflix or Hulu (films released on those platforms were also eligible for the acting categories).
The number of Best Series awards for streaming (previously limited to Best New Media Television Series and Best New Media Superhero Series) extended; although they had previously shared acting categories with traditional television, streaming series also now get their own. However, certain categories for television were not present for streaming, or have been fused into one, resulting in seven categories compared to twelve for traditional television. Additionally, the Legion M Breakout Director Award, rewarding first-time film directors, was introduced and handed out this year; Ari Aster won for the psychological supernatural horror film Hereditary (2018). Conversely, Best Television Presentation, given out since 1995, was discontinued; however, the award was revived the following ceremony under a new title—Best Television Presentation (under 10 Episodes)—and renamed once again as Best Limited Event Series in 2022.
Avengers: Endgame led the nominations for film with fourteen (sharing Black Panthers nomination record as the second/third most nominated film in the Saturn Awards' history from the previous ceremony), followed by Aladdin with nine and Us with eight. Game of Thrones led the nominations for television with nine, followed by The Walking Dead with six and Outlander with five; The Haunting of Hill House led the nominations for streaming with six, followed by Lost in Space and Star Trek: Discovery with five each.
For film, Avengers: Endgame won the most awards with six, including Best Comic-to-Motion Picture Release and Best Actor in a Film (Robert Downey Jr.), followed by A Quiet Place and Spider-Man: Far From Home with two each. For television, Game of Thrones eighth and final season won the most awards with four, followed by The Walking Dead with three; Star Trek: Discovery became the streaming series with the most wins with three, followed by Stranger Things with two.
Winners and nominees
Film Best Comic-to-Motion Picture Release Best Science Fiction Film Release Avengers: Endgame Aquaman Avengers: Infinity War Captain Marvel Shazam! Spider-Man: Far From Home Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse Ready Player One Alita: Battle Angel Bumblebee Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Solo: A Star Wars Story Sorry to Bother You Upgrade Best Fantasy Film Release Best Horror Film Release Toy Story 4 Aladdin Dumbo Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald Godzilla: King of the Monsters Mary Poppins Returns Yesterday A Quiet Place The Dead Don't Die Halloween Hereditary Overlord Pet Sematary Us Best Action / Adventure Film Release Best Thriller Film Release Mission: Impossible – Fallout Cold Pursuit Escape Room Glass John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum Skyscraper Bad Times at the El Royale Bad Samaritan Destroyer Dragged Across Concrete Greta Ma Searching Best Animated Film Release Best Independent Film Release Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse The Grinch How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World Incredibles 2 Ralph Breaks the Internet Toy Story 4 Mandy American Animals Anna and the Apocalypse The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot Ophelia Summer of 84 The Tomorrow Man Best International Film Release Legion M Breakout Director Burning Aniara Border Ghost Stories The Guilty Shadow Ari Aster – Hereditary Michael Chaves – The Curse of La Llorona Lee Cronin – The Hole in the Ground Gary Dauberman – Annabelle Comes Home Steven S. DeKnight – Pacific Rim Uprising Boots Riley – Sorry to Bother You Christian Rivers – Mortal Engines Emma Tammi – The Wind Best Film Director Best Film Writing Jordan Peele – Us Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck – Captain Marvel Karyn Kusama – Destroyer Guy Ritchie – Aladdin Anthony Russo and Joe Russo – Avengers: Endgame Steven Spielberg – Ready Player One James Wan – Aquaman Zhang Yimou – Shadow A Quiet Place – Scott Beck, John Krasinski, and Bryan Woods Avengers: Endgame – Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely Bad Times at the El Royale – Drew Goddard Burning – Lee Chang-dong and Oh Jung-mi Dragged Across Concrete – S. Craig Zahler Mission: Impossible – Fallout – Christopher McQuarrie Us – Jordan Peele |- ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%"| Best Actor in a Film ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%"| Best Actress in a Film |- | valign="top" | Robert Downey Jr. – Avengers: Endgame as Tony Stark / Iron Man Jeff Bridges – Bad Times at the El Royale as Father Daniel Flynn / Dock O'Kelly Nicolas Cage – Mandy as Red Miller Tom Cruise – Mission: Impossible – Fallout as Ethan Hunt Chris Evans – Avengers: Endgame as Steve Rogers / Captain America Mel Gibson – Dragged Across Concrete as Brett Ridgeman Keanu Reeves – John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum as John Wick | valign="top" | Jamie Lee Curtis – Halloween as Laurie Strode Emily Blunt – Mary Poppins Returns as Mary Poppins Toni Collette – Hereditary as Annie Graham Nicole Kidman – Destroyer as Erin Bell Brie Larson – Captain Marvel as Carol Danvers / Vers / Captain Marvel Lupita Nyong'o – Us as Adelaide Wilson / Red Octavia Spencer – Ma as Sue Ann "Ma" Ellington |- ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%"| Best Supporting Actor in a Film ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%"| Best Supporting Actress in a Film |- | valign="top" | Josh Brolin – Avengers: Infinity War as Thanos John Lithgow – Pet Sematary as Jud Crandall Lin-Manuel Miranda – Mary Poppins Returns as Jack Lewis Pullman – Bad Times at the El Royale as Miles Miller Jeremy Renner – Avengers: Endgame as Clint Barton / Hawkeye Will Smith – Aladdin as Genie Steven Yeun – Burning as Ben | valign="top" | Zendaya – Spider-Man: Far From Home as MJ Cynthia Erivo – Bad Times at the El Royale as Darlene Sweet Karen Gillan – Avengers: Endgame as Nebula Amber Heard – Aquaman as Mera Scarlett Johansson – Avengers: Endgame as Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow Naomi Scott – Aladdin as Princess Jasmine Hailee Steinfeld – Bumblebee as Charlie Watson |- ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%"| Best Performance by a Younger Actor in a Film ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%"| Best Film Editing |- | valign="top" | Tom Holland – Spider-Man: Far From Home as Peter Parker / Spider-Man Evan Alex – Us as Jason Wilson / Pluto Asher Angel – Shazam! as Billy Batson Millie Bobby Brown – Godzilla: King of the Monsters as Madison Russell Jack Dylan Grazer – Shazam! as Frederick "Freddy" Freeman Shahadi Wright Joseph – Us as Zora Wilson / Umbrae Millicent Simmonds – A Quiet Place as Regan Abbott | valign="top" | Jeffrey Ford and Matthew Schmidt – Avengers: Endgame James Herbert – Aladdin Nicholas Monsour – Us Kirk Morri – Aquaman Evan Schiff – John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum Christopher Tellefsen – A Quiet Place Best Film Music Best Film Production Design Marc Shaiman – Mary Poppins Returns Danny Elfman – Dumbo Bear McCreary – Godzilla: King of the Monsters Alan Menken – Aladdin Alan Silvestri – Avengers: Endgame Alan Silvestri – Ready Player One Charles Wood – Avengers: Endgame Bill Brzeski – Aquaman Ruth De Jong – Us Rick Heinrichs – Dumbo Gemma Jackson – Aladdin Horace Ma Gwong-Wing – Shadow John Myhre – Mary Poppins Returns Best Film Costume Design Best Film Make-up Michael Wilkinson – Aladdin Kym Barrett – Aquaman Leah Butler – Shazam! Judianna Makovsky – Avengers: Endgame Chen Minzheng – Shadow Sandy Powell – Mary Poppins Returns John Blake and Brian Sipe – Avengers: Endgame Annick Chartier and Adrien Morot – Pet Sematary Judy Chin and Mike Marino – The Dead Don't Die Bill Corso – Destroyer Mark Coulier and Fernanda Perez – Suspiria Lisa Love and Tate Steinsiek – Dragged Across Concrete Tristan Versluis, Naomi Donne, and Duncan Jarman – Overlord Best Film Special / Visual Effects Matt Aitken, Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, and Dan Sudick – Avengers: Endgame Scott Benza, Scott Farrar, and Rick O'Connor – A Quiet Place Theodore Bialek, Brendan Seals, Janek Sirrs, and Alexis Wajsbrot – Spider-Man: Far From Home Daniele Bigi, Jeff Capogreco, Michael Mulholland, and David Seager – Aladdin Andrew Booth, Neil Corbould, Huw J. Evans, and Jody Johnson – Mission: Impossible – Fallout Matthew E. Butler, Grady Cofer, Roger Guyett, and Dave Shirk – Ready Player One Brian Connor, Eric Frazier, Peter Nofz, and Guillaume Rocheron – Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Television
Programs Television Best Superhero Television Series Best Science Fiction Television Series Supergirl (The CW) Arrow (The CW) Black Lightning (The CW) Cloak & Dagger (Freeform) The Flash (The CW) Gotham (Fox) Legends of Tomorrow (The CW) Westworld (HBO) The 100 (The CW) Counterpart (Starz) Doctor Who (BBC America) Krypton (Syfy) Manifest (NBC) The Orville (Fox) Roswell, New Mexico (The CW) |- ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%"| Best Fantasy Television Series ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%"| Best Horror Television Series |- | valign="top" | Game of Thrones (HBO) American Gods (Starz) Charmed (The CW) The Good Place (NBC) Good Witch (Hallmark Channel) The Magicians (Syfy) Outlander (Starz) The Outpost (The CW) | valign="top" | The Walking Dead (AMC) American Horror Story: Apocalypse (FX) A Discovery of Witches (AMC) Fear the Walking Dead (AMC) NOS4A2 (AMC) Preacher (AMC) Supernatural (The CW) What We Do in the Shadows (FX) |- ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%"| Best Action / Thriller Television Series ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%"| Best Animated Series on Television |- | valign="top" | Better Call Saul (AMC) Killing Eve (BBC America) The Last Ship (TNT) Mr. Mercedes (Audience) The Purge (USA Network) Riverdale (The CW) The Sinner (USA Network) | valign="top" | Star Wars Resistance (Disney Channel) Archer (FX) DuckTales (Disney Channel) Family Guy (Fox) The Simpsons (Fox) |- ! colspan="2" | Streaming Television |- ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%"| Best Streaming Superhero Television Series ! style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%"| Best Streaming Fantasy, Sci-Fi, or Action / Thriller Television Series |- | valign="top" | Daredevil (Netflix) Doom Patrol (DC Universe) Jessica Jones (Netflix) The Punisher (Netflix) Runaways (Hulu) Swamp Thing (DC Universe) The Umbrella Academy (Netflix) | valign="top" | Star Trek: Discovery (CBS All Access) Black Mirror (Netflix) The Expanse (Prime Video) Good Omens (Prime Video) Jack Ryan (Prime Video) Lost in Space (Netflix) Russian Doll (Netflix) |- ! colspan="2" style="background:#EEDD82; width:50%"| Best Streaming Horror / Thriller Television Series |- | colspan="2" valign="top" |