Universal Hits Awards Trail with Blockbusters and Best Picture Hopes
After breaking all box office records with its massive hits Jurassic World, Furious 7, Minions and Straight Outta Compton, Universal Pictures is now setting out for Oscar glory with the For Your Consideration page of its 2015 films. With films crossing multiple genres, the studio stands a chance at some major hardware this season after a last year saw only Unbroken managing a handful of tech nominations.
First is Jurassic World, now the third highest grossing film of all time. When you take a look at the top 10 box office films of all time only one, 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises, has missed out on at least one Oscar nomination. Visual Effects seems like the easiest and most obvious get but the Sound categories are also in play.
Furious 7, despite Vin Diesel’s cheeky claim that it will be nominated for Best Picture, comes in with plenty of box office muscle but not a single film in the franchise has earned an Oscar nomination to date. That could change with the #1 song “See You Again,” a tribute to Paul Walker (who died during the filming of the movie) that plays over the final sequence of the film.
Minions, another box office behemoth, is the 2nd highest grossing animated film (worldwide) of all time. That puts it in pretty good shape for an Animated Feature Oscar nomination but curiously, that category is missing from its FYC page. They have a Best Actress mention for Sandra Bullock (good luck with that) but nothing for the most likely nomination it can get? Weird.
One of the surprise box office hits of the summer, Straight Outta Compton, has had some pundits thinking it has a shot at a Best Picture nomination but those folks might want to ease up on whatever they’re smoking because that is never going to happen. Interestingly, Universal has chosen to submit all performances in the film in the Supporting category. Open Road’s Spotlight announced the same intention a few weeks ago. I don’t anticipate any awards attention at all for the film but I’d have it in my top 10 for Sound Mixing.
Continuing her banner year, Amy Schumer’s Trainwreck, another summer box office hit, lands a shot at an Original Screenplay nomination. It was co-written by Schumer and Judd Apatow. Schumer also is looking strong for a Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical Golden Globe nomination this year.
Universal is hoping the dual roles Tom Hardy plays in Legend get him a Best Actor nod but it seems like a stretch. His chances at a Supporting nomination for The Revenant look a lot better with his performance in Legend only boosting that.
Now to the major player in Universal’s Oscar gambit, Steve Jobs. Despite a page free of FYCs like the other films have in place, Steve Jobs currently just has a synopsis but the Telluride hit, which is playing NYFF this weekend, is the studio’s big chance at the most Oscar nominations. Best Picture, Best Actor (Michael Fassbender), Best Supporting Actress (Kate Winslet) and Best Adapted Screenplay. Best Director and Best Film Editing are also in play.
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
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