91st Academy Awards (2019)

[imsounoriginal]

Oscars 2019: A way-too-early look at next year's Academy Awards contenders

Oscar hasn't even dried off yet after swimming with The Shape of Water and already it's time to think about the big fish at next year's 91st Academy Awards.

While much of the awards season bait won't be out until fall, the good stuff can come at any time: Oscar winner Get Out arrived in February 2017 — and that bodes well for Black Panther, which is making scads of money as a full-on cultural phenomenon. Oscar hasn't even dried off yet after swimming with The Shape of Water and already it's time to think about the big fish at next year's 91st Academy Awards.

While much of the awards season bait won't be out until fall, the good stuff can come at any time: Oscar winner Get Out arrived in February 2017 — and that bodes well for Black Panther, which is making scads of money as a full-on cultural phenomenon.

So which movies could loom large at the 2019 Oscars ceremony? Here's a way-too-early look ahead:

Best picture

Black Panther is bound to be a player in technical categories like costume, makeup, production design and special effects, but more importantly, it could become the first superhero film ever to be nominated for Hollywood's biggest prize. The Academy likes historical films, and Adam McKay's as-yet-untitled film centering on former vice president Dick Cheney (Dec. 14) fits the bill. The Irishman, Martin Scorsese's new Mob movie that just finished filming with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, seems like a safe bet if it's released in time for consideration.

Steve McQueen and Barry Jenkins, directors of respective best-picture winners 12 Years a Slave and Moonlight, return with a pair of female-centric crime thrillers: McQueen's Widows (Nov. 16) and Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk (release date not yet set). The latter may be in the race with La La Land's Damien Chazelle again: Chazelle's last two films both earned best-picture nominations, so the streak could continue with his Neil Armstrong biopic First Man (Oct. 12).

Actor

Gary Oldman won the category this year for his Winston Churchill transformation in Darkest Hour, paving the way for Christian Bale in 2019: The one-time Batman gained weight to get the right look as Dick Cheney for McKay's political film. Steve Carell has a double feature of noteworthy movies: He stars as the dad of a meth-addicted son in Beautiful Boy (Oct. 18) and as an assault victim who builds a miniature World War II battlefield as part of his recovery in Robert Zemeckis' The Women of Marwen (Nov. 21).

Ryan Gosling could get back in the best-actor field as Chazelle's Armstrong in First Man. And Lucas Hedges, who earned a supporting nod for Manchester By the Sea, plays a Baptist preacher's son forced into gay conversion therapy in Boy Erased (Sept. 28).

Actress

Saoirse Ronan is only 23 and already has three Oscar nominations — No. 4 might come playing Mary Stuart, who attempted to overthrow her cousin Queen Elizabeth I, in the historical epic Mary, Queen of Scots (Nov. 2). Melissa McCarthy earned a nod for Bridesmaids, yet breaks serious to play disgraced celebrity biographer Lee Israel in Can You Ever Forgive Me? (Oct. 19). Viola Davis heads up McQueen's Widows as one of four women who have to pull off a heist after their criminal husbands are killed.

Oscars favorite Glenn Close plays the devoted spouse of a Nobel Prize winner who reaches her breaking point in The Wife (release date not yet set), while Cate Blanchett stars as the anxiety-filled and AWOL title mom of Richard Linklater's Where'd You Go, Bernadette (Oct. 19).

Felicity Jones inhabits the role of young Ruth Bader Ginsburg in On the Basis of Sex (release date not yet set), and Emily Blunt also takes on an iconic woman — this one with a spoonful of sugar instead of a gavel — in Mary Poppins Returns (Dec. 25).

Supporting actor

Heath Ledger opened the door for supervillains snagging Oscars, and Michael B. Jordan, who impressed everybody with his nuanced Black Panther antagonist Erik Killmonger, will be hard to ignore.

Timothée Chalamet, nominated for best actor this year in Call Me By Your Name, could be up again in the supporting or lead categories as the drug-addicted youngster in Beautiful Boy. Boy Erased raises two possibilities: Russell Crowe as the small-town preacher and Joel Edgerton (who also directs) as the head conversion therapist.

Honestly, McKay's Cheney film alone could take up most of the field: Newly minted Oscar winner Sam Rockwell is President George W. Bush, Carell plays Donald Rumsfeld and Tyler Perry co-stars as Colin Powell. Or maybe 2019 is the year Lin-Manuel Miranda achieves his EGOT (he's already won three Tonys, three Grammys and one Emmy) playing a charismatic lamplighter in Mary Poppins Returns.

Supporting actress

There's a chance Margot Robbie could join her Queen of Scots co-star Ronan in lead-actress competition, or go here inhabiting the crown of Queen Elizabeth I. Amy Ryan and Nicole Kidman play the struggling mothers of Beautiful Boy and Boy Erased, respectively. Amy Adams — with five career nominations and no wins -— stars opposite Bale as Lynne Cheney in McKay's movie. And Cynthia Erivo, who already has some awards cred as a Tony winner for A Color Purple, makes her big-screen debut as one of McQueen's Widows.

from USA Today

[DanTheMan]

"Oscar hasn't even dried off yet after swimming with The Shape of Water and already it's time to think about the big fish at next year's 91st Academy Awards."

[imsounoriginal]

[CyberpunkCentral]

If Black Panther gets nominated, then I'm done.

[AaronJ]

Originally Posted by CyberpunkCentral

If Black Panther gets nominated, then I'm done.

I haven't seen it, so can't comment on the quality of the film. But I wouldn't be surprised if it gets nominated. I seriously doubt it stands a chance to win. But that's different entirely than having a chance at being nominated.

I think McKay's movie is going to get a lot of noms, and may even win some big ones. He makes some great stuff. And let's face it: The subject matter is going to appeal to those who have the votes.

Shock would be my response if Saoirse doesn't get nominated -- and very possibly win -- Best Actress. That Mary Stuart thing is going to be fantastic, and it's not like historical dramas haven't had their finger on the Oscar button in the past.

[Creed]

Originally Posted by CyberpunkCentral

If Black Panther gets nominated, then I'm done.

It may (costume, production design, song)

[Cremildo]

I expect Glenn Close to become a Best Actress frontrunner. Her film was screened last year. Early word is that her performance has what it takes to finally give her the elusive statuette.

[Predatorix38417]

Originally Posted by Cremildo

I expect Glenn Close to become a Best Actress frontrunner. Her film was screened last year. Early word is that her performance has what it takes to finally give her the elusive statuette.

It’ll be either her or Felicity Jones for Best Actress.

[shinobipopcorn]

Robbie is playing Elizabeth? Yech.

[Kazutaka]

Originally Posted by shinobipopcorn

Robbie is playing Elizabeth? Yech.

[Talal86]

I wonder which hashtag is going to set the theme next year

[sawdustandtinsel]

Given the subject matter and initial reaction, I think Keira Knightley seems destined for a nomination in Colette. I'm also curious about Disobedience, Lelio has a way of getting great performances out of actresses, I wonder if Mcadams or Weisz will emerge(maybe both).

[Falaskan]

Originally Posted by imsounoriginal

That's a misconception, but apparently Marvel would still agree with ya.

[bootsy]

Originally Posted by CyberpunkCentral

If Black Panther gets nominated, then I'm done.

Good

[traths]

I must be one of the few people who haven't seen Black Panther. I really have no desire to watch it. I'm getting burned out from super hero movies anyway.

[Talleyrand]

Originally Posted by CyberpunkCentral

If Black Panther gets nominated, then I'm done.

Yeah, I agree. One can't always agree with the Academy, but this would be a preposterous mistake to make.

Originally Posted by Talal86

I wonder which hashtag is going to set the theme next year

#NotAllMenAreRapists would be a nice one

[xbs2034]

Originally Posted by AaronJ

I haven't seen it, so can't comment on the quality of the film. But I wouldn't be surprised if it gets nominated. I seriously doubt it stands a chance to win. But that's different entirely than having a chance at being nominated.

I think McKay's movie is going to get a lot of noms, and may even win some big ones. He makes some great stuff. And let's face it: The subject matter is going to appeal to those who have the votes.

Shock would be my response if Saoirse doesn't get nominated -- and very possibly win -- Best Actress. That Mary Stuart thing is going to be fantastic, and it's not like historical dramas haven't had their finger on the Oscar button in the past.

Yeah, I really see no path to a Best Picture victory for Black Panther. There definitely are a significant group of academy members who look down on superhero films, and with a ranked ballot, that can be killer (we've just now see ranked ballots sink The Revenant, La La Land, and Three Billboards, which arguably all had precursor advantages heading into Oscar night but were more divisive movies than the winners). But could get the small faction of passionate support needed to score a nomination, I think that's very possible (and probably something the academy is hoping for with an expanded Best Picture line-up and declining Oscar ratings).

Ronan definitely seems to have a strong role, though I always think it's best to wait until a film has actually been seen before saying it would be shocking if someone misses, there are always a couple films pegged as contenders in advance which are DOA.

[ILoveSteamwhistle]

Originally Posted by CyberpunkCentral

If Black Panther gets nominated, then I'm done.

I can see if being nominated cuz race/sex matters now.
I’m not watching the Oscars anymore.

To much SJW crap now.

[spanky87]

Michael B Jordan is in the Academy Awards conversation for Black Panther but Adam Driver wasn't this year for The Last Jedi? **** that.

Not to mention Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart for Logan.

[ILoveSteamwhistle]

Originally Posted by spanky87

Michael B Jordan is in the Academy Awards conversation for Black Panther but Adam Driver wasn't this year for The Last Jedi? **** that.

Not to mention Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart for Logan.

Last Jedi was garbage. He looked like a whiny kid.

I was hoping Patrick Stewart to be nominated; ugh. He did a great job