The Oscar race continued to surprise as the Directors Guild of America handed out the Best Director award to Alejandro González Iñárritu for his work on "The Revenant."

The director became the first to win the DGA prize in two consecutive years. Last year he won the award for his work on "Birdman."

This year it was thought that George Miller would be the winner for his work on "Mad Max: Fury Road." The win for "The Revenant" once again shakes up the Oscar race, as many expected Miller, Adam Mckay or Tom McCarthy to win the DGA in order to seal the Oscar race.

However, it seems the Academy will keep pundits guessing until Oscar Sunday. The year has already been unpredictable, and the Guilds have proven divisive.

The SAG award went to "Spotlight," while the Producers Guild of America went to "The Big Short." Now "The Revenant" is back in the race, especially after winning the Golden Globe. It is also the most nominated film at the Oscars, which is always a plus, and it also surprised at the Visual Effect Society awards.

As a result, the race now comes down to three films. The last time the three guilds diverged was in 2004 when "The Aviator" won the PGA, "Sideways" won the SAG and "Million Dollar Baby" won the DGA. In 2001 a similar thing happened when "A Beautiful Mind' won the DGA, "Moulin Rouge" won the PGA and "Gosford Park" won the SAG. The year before "Gladiator" won the PGA, "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon" won the DGA" and "Traffic" won the SAG.

These three occasions showed that the DGA was correct on two and the PGA was right on one. The SAG did not have any effect on the ultimate Oscar winner.

The question that most will ask is: Which of the three films has the best chance? "The Revenant" has high hopes but it did not get nominated for the SAG award's ensemble category. Meanwhile "Spotlight" lost the PGA, which uses preferential voting, as does the Academy. The film also lost the Golden Globe and is unlikely to take home the BAFTA. 

As a result, it really comes down to "The Big Short," which surprised at the PGA, received the SAG ensemble nomination and also won the editing award at the EDDIE. It is also nominated for Best Director and is likely to go home with the Writers Guild of America, giving it two out of four guild awards. In the end, "The Big Short" is likely to win three Oscars, while "Spotlight" will likely only win the screenplay award.

The director award will be the prize that will be most unpredictable. In the last decade the DGA has only diverged from the Oscars once, and that was when Ang Lee won the Oscar for "Life of Pi." On that occasion, DGA winner Ben Affleck was not nominated for the Oscar. Before that it diverged in 2002 when Rob Marshall won for his work on "Chicago."

With the lack of diversity in this year's Oscar race it could be possible the Academy to give Iñárritu the Oscar for the second time in a row.

However, pundits will now look to the BAFTA for more answers, as there are only three more weeks until the Academy Awards.