It’s July 1st. The year is half over, and the Oscar prognosticators must be getting nervous.
There is little on the docket so far that would qualify for Best Picture.
So far, the only real nominee would be “Dune Part Two.” It’s a long shot, but Richard Linklater’s excellent “Hit Man” could well be be a qualifier.
But “Challengers,” “Civil War,” “Fall Guy,” and so on are not the stuff of Best Picture.
Think about: last year at this time, we knew about “Barbie,” “Oppenheimer,” and “Killers of the Flower Moon,” at least. “Past Lives” was released on June 2, 2023.
This summer brings a few maybe’s, but nothing anyone has raved about. A24 will make a push out of “Sing Sing,” but I’ve heard mixed things. July is otherwise a wasteland as we wait for “Deadpool vs. Wolverine” to be a financial hit.
August isn’t much more promising, but I’m looking forward to Zoe Kravit’s “Blink Twice,” Nathan Silver’s “Between the Temples,” Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” Jon Watts’s “Wolfs,” and Ethan Berger’s “The Line.”
But are these box office hits or actual Oscar movies?
October 1st will kick off the big ten week period when we see what’s what. Those include Jesse Eisenberg’s well received Sundance film, “A Real Pain” and Sean Baker’s Cannes winner, “Anora.”
On a larger scale, there’s the “Joker” sequel, and, of course, Francis Ford Coppola’s “Megalopolis.” Everyone’s hoping for good things from “Gladiator II,” which has already started campaigning. Also already releasing PR materials: the major “Here,” reuniting “Forest Gump” players Tom Hanks, Robin Wright with director Robert Zemeckis.
And that’s when we make the turn into big studio films on the warpath for attention: “Wicked” is the front runner, as well as Best Actress possibilities with Nicole Kidman in “Babygirl” and Amy Adams in “Nightbitch.” And don’t count out June Squibb, very popular in “Thelma.”
Any surprises coming? You never know. One studio publicist indicated to me that they had something up their sleeve. We can only hope! I’m curious about “Nickel Boys,” from Searchlight, and “The Piano Lesson,” and Cannes winner, “Emile Perez,” each from Netflix.
What are hoping for? A Title hiding in plain sight that turns out to be a winner. Kate Winslet in “Lee”? An all star cast in “Concave,” directed by Edward Berger? Or maybe “The Apprentice” will get released and surprise everyone!
