LOS ANGELES - Vatican thriller "Conclave" won top prize at an unpredictable Screen Actors Guild Awards gala on Sunday, throwing a potential late curveball into the Oscars race just a week before the Academy Awards.
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The movie about the mysterious, behind-closed-doors selection process for choosing a new pope won the prize for best cast -- the SAG equivalent to best picture -- for a stellar ensemble including Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow and Isabella Rossellini.
Collecting the award, Fiennes said the win was a celebration of "community," and "the supreme importance of it in our work and in the world."
Rossellini earlier wished "a quick recovery" to Pope Francis, who has been in hospital for 10 days with respiratory issues and remains in critical condition.
Having also won big at Britain's recent BAFTA awards, "Conclave" now appears a strong, late-breaking contender for the best picture Oscar, alongside critical darlings such as "Anora."
The SAG Awards are voted on by Hollywood actors, who represent the biggest branch of the membership of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which votes for the Oscars.
The prizes are therefore closely watched as indicators of who is likely to win Academy Awards.
More closely following pundit predictions Sunday, Demi Moore won the best actress SAG Award for her role in gory body horror "The Substance."
Moore's role as an aging celebrity who injects a serum to temporarily reclaim her younger body -- with disastrous consequences -- has marked a stunning career renaissance for the 1990s megastar.