Fall Preview
The most anticipated releases of the season ahead.
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
Last August, the Academys Twitter accountannouncedthree forthcoming changes to the Oscars ceremony.
(1) There would be a brand-new category called Best Popular Film.
(2) To keep the show from running over, certain categories would be presented during commercial breaks.
And (3) the 2020 ceremony would air on February 9, about three weeks earlier than usual.
But the third is still with us, at least for now.
(The ceremony will be back in late February for 2021.)
Its like training for a 5K, then trying the fire off the sprints.
How will the abbreviated season affect this years race?
Its going to be tough, says one awards strategist.
The schedules just a lot more grueling.
I think well find out quicker whether somethings a contender or not, says another insider.
Thats eight weeks away.
If youre not on the board by then, beware.
(Incidentally, that sentence will also be the last time those two films are ever mentioned together.)
But with a shorter late-season runway, trying to sneak into the last month looks like a riskier move.
I wouldnt go past mid-December, says one of our strategists.
Youve got a lot of people who need to see your movie.
(More on that film later.)
Past seasons have seen numerous early Oscar front-runnersfalter under the crush of a backlash.
In a shorter race, is bursting out of the gate a safer play?
Heres a very early guide to this years field.
Best Picture
Let us begin, as this Oscar season did, with Tarantino.
What will it take to win Best Picture in 2020?
), literary adaptationsThe GoldfinchandMotherless Brooklyn, Todd Hayness environmental dramaDark Waters, and this years sad-dad-astronaut movieAd Astra.
Could results differ once voting expands beyond the French Riviera?
Meow, meow, meow!
Thats two past winners in this category.
(That Gerwig and Baumbach happen to be a couple is one of the races most delicious coincidences.)
(Though I could see Tarantino considering it.)
And ifWaveshas legs, 30-year-oldTrey Edward Shultscould dethrone Damien Chazelle as the youngest Best Director winner in Oscar history.
(The movie is based on her actual family.)
Heres hoping this is the year that pattern changes.
(Banderas has never been nominated, which should only add to his efforts.)
InJokerJoaquin Phoenixis inheriting the only superhero-movie role ever to win an acting Oscar.
Either way, have fun imagining a future where the part of the Joker becomes the next Elizabeth I.
Its closer than you think.
Then theresAdam Driver, who will be faced with a big decision sometime soon.
Pundits tend to be assumingMarriage Storyis Drivers stronger play (he gets a musical number!)
though that could change if enough voters disagree.
If youre looking for a dark horse, consider these.
If so, Ill consider it a fitting justice for hisWidowssnub.
(TIFF will tell if Hawley kept in Nowaks infamous diaper.)
I want to see that bucket hat in an Oscars montage!
Itll be hard to bet against him, unlessAd Astraends up splitting the pro-Pitt vote.
(Its actually an imaginary Hitler, but whos counting?)
And dont count outThe Farewells Nai Nai,Shuzhen Zhou, who could become this years June Squibb.
At this early date, though, its more fun to get unpredictable.
CouldJ.Lonab her first nomination forHustlers?
Could past winnersJennifer HudsonorJudi Denchclaw their way into the race forCats?
CouldDark WaterswinAnne Hathawaya second trophy, setting off another go-round on the backlash/rebirth cycle?
CouldRise of SkywalkersCarrie Fisherget a posthumous nomination for a performance cobbled together from the cutting-room floor?
Its September speak your Oscar dreams into existence!
