Timothée Chalamet’s tears weren’t even dry-cleaned from the red carpet, and I’m already talking about next year’s Oscars.
But the truth is, charting your path to the Academy Awards is a grueling 12 months of work. Sometimes it’s more than that.
For example, 2022 Best Picture winner “CODA” premiered at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival in January, 14 months before the Oscar ceremony.
And while fall festivals like Venice, Telluride and Toronto remain popular settings for Best Picture nominees, spring has officially arrived in recent years.
“Parasite,” which took the top spot in 2020, took a bow at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. And the 2025 winner, “Anora,” debuted there in 2024. The most important French festival of the year takes place in May, just two months away. Without a doubt, some hot prospects will say “Bonjour!” On the Croisette.
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And inevitably, some of these titles will fail. This time last year, everyone expected to see Wicked: For Good and Jay Kelly at the Dolby Theater. Oops. Not everyone deserves the opportunity to fly.
For now, here are some of the most talked about and prestige movies that will likely continue to be discussed until next March.
“Odyssey”
For Oscar-winning director Christopher Nolan, one half of #Barbenheimer, size matters. Following his work on “Oppenheimer,” which won the Best Picture award, he gave a major interpretation of Homer’s ancient Greek “Odyssey.” Star Matt Damon likened his experience on set to what it was like working with David Lean, director of “Lawrence of Arabia.” Two of Nolan’s last three films (Oppenheimer and Dunkirk, of course) have won Best Picture. The awful “Tenet” was a blessing in disguise for him, but like “Tiger King,” it’s a forgotten relic of the pandemic. Damon leads a cast that includes Tom Holland, Anne Hathaway, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Zendaya, and Charlize Theron.
“Josephine”
This powerful drama starring Gemma Chan and Channing Tatum about a girl who witnesses a sexual assault in a San Francisco park and is haunted by the memory of it won both the US Drama Award and the Audience Award at this year’s Sundance. It’s a powerful mix. Previous Best Picture nominees “Whiplash” and “Minari” pulled off the same double whammy. Tatum is great as Josephine’s protective father, but so is Mason Reeves, who was only 8 years old at the time of filming. It’s difficult to say how old the performers will be by next March before they appear on their Wikipedia pages, but the youngest-ever Best Actress nominee, Quvenzhané Wallis (“Beasts of the South”), was nominated at just nine years old. That said, this year’s Sundance Oscar staple “Train Dreams” was picked up by Netflix at the fest. “Josephine” was acquired by the young and untested distribution company Sumer Pictures.
“Dune: Part 3”
Admittedly, another trilogy, Avatar: Fire and Ash, didn’t win Best Picture this year. But no one knows when that dazzling blue alien series will end. There’s no doubt that this is the final chapter in Denis Villeneuve’s epic sci-fi trilogy, giving it more of a Lord of the Rings: Return of the King vibe. In Hollywood, the film “Dune” has received increasing positive reviews, especially among directors. Speaking of Avatar, director James Cameron recently criticized the Academy for not nominating Villeneuve for Part 2. Steven Spielberg called the same film “amazing.” What about star Timothée Chalamet? He’ll probably need more acting in the closer, as the ending of the first film proves, but perhaps the Academy wants to give the oddly controversial three-time nominee some rest.
“Wild Horse Nine”
Finally, a descriptive title. Martin McDonagh’s last two films, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and “The Banshees of Inisheline,” both deservedly won Best Picture. Three Billboards won two acting trophies: Best Actress for Frances McDormand and Best Supporting Actor for Sam Rockwell. This thriller, set in 1973 Chile, is almost certain to follow a similar path, with a cast that includes heavy hitters Rockwell, John Malkovich, Steve Buscemi, and Parker Posey.
“Digger”
Alejandro Iñárritu’s last film, 2022’s The Bardo, a False Chronicle, was a disaster despite being nominated for Best Cinematography. However, leave out the director who won Best Picture for Birdman, The Revenant, and Babel at your peril. “Digger” features an all-star cast, including Tom Cruise, Sandra Hüller, Jesse Plemons, and Michael Stuhlbarg. If all goes well, Cruise will likely be in the running for Best Actor.
“Social liquidation”
When The Social Network was released in 2011 and did well in the Best Picture category before losing out to The King’s Speech, who would have thought that this witty and sexy Facebook movie would get a sequel? And 15 years later, “The Social Reckoning” appears. Aaron Sorkin will once again write and direct the film. David Fincher is no more. But Mikey Madison, who won Best Actress for “Anora,” and Jeremy Strong, who plays Mark Zuckerberg, are sure to make this one a hot topic.
“Michael”
This will give you column material for months! “Michael” is the first major biopic about the late King of Pop Michael Jackson, starring his nephew Jafar Jackson. You may have heard that Michael was quite a controversial figure, with allegations of child sexual abuse over the years. Michael, directed by Antoine Fuqua, will likely deal with that uncomfortable theme. “As a filmmaker, I try to humanize but not sanitize, to present the most compelling, unbiased stories that can be told in a feature film, and then let the audience decide how they feel after watching it,” producer Graham King told Variety. Meanwhile, Jackson’s daughter Paris called the script “sugar-coated.” Will drama overwhelm a genre that’s hugely popular at the Oscars: stories about real-life musicians? Eh. On Broadway, actor Miles Frost won a Tony Award in 2022 for his portrayal of Michael.
“Jack of Spades”
The recent movements of the Coen brothers, who are currently separated, are unpredictable. They have given us such a long, rich and award-winning filmography that I feel guilty just to name a few: No Country for Old Men, Fargo, Burn After Reading, Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? They broke up and, well, Ethan directed the awful “Drive Away Dolls” and “Honey, Don’t!” And Joel staged a much better “The Tragedy of Macbeth” with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand. But since it was a black-and-white Shakespearean adaptation, it didn’t exactly thrill the world. Still, I have high hopes for Joel’s Jack of Spades by Josh O’Connor, McDormand, Damian Lewis, and Lesley Manville.
“Project Hail Mary”
Since expanding the Best Picture nominations to 10 nominations, the Oscars often make room for popcorn blockbusters that capture the public’s imagination. This $250 million Amazon space adventure, starring Ryan Gosling as a scientist astronaut on a mission to save Earth from annihilation, has received stellar reviews and is poised to be a big box office success. Gosling’s presence alone reminds me of “Barbie,” which received eight stars in 2024. Call it Ken Elsey.
“fjord”
A title that could soon enter the Cannes Film Festival is awards season favorite “Fjord,” starring Sebastian Stan (“Different Man”) and Renate Rijnsve (“Sentimental Values”). Directed by Romanian Cristian Mungiu, the film tells the story of a family who moves to a remote Norwegian village and becomes embroiled in controversy. Foreign films about houses with baggage generally do well with the Academy (“Parasite,” “Sentimental Value,” “Anatomy of a Fall,” “Zone of Interest”). Indie distributor Neon (Parasite, Anora, Triangle of Sorrow) has acquired the rights, which will certainly be a big boost.
