2021 Oscars: The Best Picture Contenders (February)

Despite a shortened Oscar season, last year saw box office hits make a big impact on the Best Picture list and a seeming return of the big studios to the race until three-year old indie Neon swooped in and turned Parasite into the first non-English language winner in Academy history. Last season also gave us four films that earned 10+ nominations for the first time ever. This year could once again see those numbers but studios are going to have to make some Sophie’s choices with the sheer volume of their content and learn some hard lessons from last season.

2021 Oscars: The Best Director Contenders (February)

At the top of that list is Netflix, which earned 24 Academy Award nominations last season, the most of any studio in Oscar history for a single year. But, it only went home with two awards: Documentary Feature (their second) and Best Supporting Actress for Laura Dern in Marriage Story (their first acting win). The streamer first broke through the year prior with Roma but last year found itself with probably too many contenders and a constantly rotating priority that ended up with $150M Martin Scorsese gangster epic The Irishman going 0/10. They’re going to run into a lot of similar issues this year with even more contenders in their pocket and how they’re going to levy each of their strengths. The most likely contender for them at this stage is Mank, from Oscar nominee David Fincher. The film details screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz’s tumultuous development of Orson Welles’ iconic masterpiece Citizen Kane and was written by Fincher’s father Jack. It’s impossible to not think this period piece, which stars Oscar winner Gary Oldman, isn’t going to make a huge impact. But will it be Netflix’s true breakthrough or another Irishman? Either way, they’ve got by far the biggest slate of heavy hitters this season with new films from Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods), George Clooney (Good Morning, Midnight), Ron Howard (Hillbilly Elegy), Charlie Kaufman (I’m Thinking of Ending Things) as well as some smaller and riskier material like Andrew Dominik’s edgy Marilyn Monroe (non)biopic Blonde with Ana de Armas, the Untitled Nora Fingscheidt Project with Sandra Bullock and Viola Davis, George C. Wolfe’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (also with Davis) and The White Tiger from Ramin Bahrani.

2021 Oscars: The Best Actress Contenders (February)

A24 is licking its wounds after bringing a stellar slate of box office and critical hits last year in The Last Black Man in San Francisco, The Farewell, Waves, The Lighthouse, Midsommar and Uncut Gems only to end up with a single nomination (for The Lighthouse‘s cinematography). Some studios are simply better when they have only one or two focuses and this year A24 has even more to work with and even harder decisions to make. I expect either Sundance winner Minari from Lee Isaac Chung or Sofia Coppola’s On the Rocks (with Apple) to be their #1 this year. They also have the Untitled Lila Neugebauer Project aka Red, White, Water with Jennifer Lawrence (could be a hit), Miranda July’s Kajillionaire (feels like Gotham/Spirit Awards material), The Humans, based on the Tony-winning play and starring Beanie Feldstein and Richard Jenkins, C’mon C’mon from Oscar nominee Mike Mills and starring newly minted Best Actor winner Joaquin Phoenix, The Green Knight from David Lowery and starring Dev Patel, and Joel Coen’s Macbeth starring Frances McDormand and Denzel Washington (if it’s ready this year).

2021 Oscars: The Best Actor Contenders (February)

20th Century and Searchlight Pictures (formerly under Fox and now Disney) are jammed with contenders including 20th with the new David O. Russell starring Christian Bale, Margot Robbie and Michael B. Jordan. Russel’s last two films earned Best Picture and Director nominations as well acting nods in all four categories. They also Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of one of the most successful Oscar films of all time, West Side Story and Ridley Scott’s King Charles VI film The Last Duel with Adam Driver, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Jodie Comer. What’s curious about those three films is that two of them have only just begun production (the Russell and the Scott) so getting them locked in time for a late 2020 release may be tough (The Last Duel is currently listed at a January 8, 2021 release). West Side Story already has a locked in date of December 18. How is the studio going to manage three huge wide releases that close together? The situation becomes even more complicated when you look at Searchlight’s slate of Nightmare Alley from Oscar winner Guillermo del Toro (currently shooting) which has been assured to be a late 2020 release and the new film from Oscar winner Taika Waititi (Next Goal Wins), Chloé Zhao’s Nomadland starring two-time Oscar winner Frances McDormand, Michael Showalter’s The Eyes of Tammy Faye starring Oscar nominees Jessica Chastain and Andrew Garfield and the summer release The French Dispatch from Oscar nominee Wes Anderson. Choices. Lots of choices.

2021 Oscars: The Best Supporting Actress Contenders (February)

Focus Features is looking to come back to the Best Picture race and their best bet might be Stillwater, from Best Picture director Tom McCarthy (Spotlight). It stars Oscar winner Matt Damon as a father who travels to Europe to be his daughter (Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin) who is accused of murder. They also have the Sundance critical hit Never Rarely Sometimes Always from Eliza Hittman, the feature directorial debut from Robin Wright (Land) and possibly the new Paul Thomas Anderson. PTA was the Oscar nomination morning surprise two years ago when his Phantom Thread went from no festival and almost no guild attention to a Best Picture and Director nominee.

2021 Oscars: The Best Supporting Actor Contenders (February)

Warner Bros looks to have some likely box office hits with the new Christopher Nolan (Tenet), who finally earned Oscar cred with Dunkirk and the feature film adaptation of the hit musical In the Heights (from a pre-Hamilton Lin-Manuel Miranda) from Crazy Rich Asians director Jon M. Chu and Denis Villeneuve’s new vision for Dune starring Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa, Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Oscar Isaac and Javier Bardem. There’s a lot of ways this could go; it could be Arrival or it could be Blade Runner 2049.

So what does reigning Best Picture studio Neon have this year? So far, just one – Oscar winner Kate Winslet and Oscar nominee Saoirse Ronan in Francis Lee’s 19th century lesbian romance Ammonite. While this doesn’t scream Oscar barn burner, the indie studio should feel a bit emboldened by its Parasite win. It’s also so early that Berlin, SXSW and Cannes are likely to give Neon multiple opportunities to pick up more properties for Oscar season.

Here is my top 10 list of Best Picture contenders for February and a full breakdown of contenders by studio with director, cast, synopsis and release date where available.

• Da 5 Bloods – Spike Lee (Netflix)
• Dune – Denis Villeneuve (Warner Bros)
• Mank – David Fincher (Netflix)
• Minari – Lee Isaac Chung (A24)
• Nightmare Alley – Guillermo del Toro (Searchlight)
• News of the World – Paul Greengrass (Universal)
• Nomadland – Chloe Zhao (Searchlight)
• On the Rocks – Sofia Coppola (A24/Apple+)
• Stillwater – Tom McCarthy (Focus Features)
• West Side Story – Steven Spielberg (20th Century)

2021 BEST PICTURE CONTENDERS BY STUDIO (with director, cast, synopsis and release date where available)

20TH CENTURY

Deep Water

• Director: Adrian Lyne
• Cast: Ana de Armas, Ben Affleck, Tracy Letts, Finn Wittrock, Jacob Elordi, Rachel Blanchard, Lil Rel Howery
• Synopsis: A well-to-do husband who allows his wife to have affairs in order to avoid divorce becomes a prime suspect in the disappearance of her lovers.
• Release date: November 13

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

• Director: Jonathan Butterell
• Cast: Max Harwood, Richard E. Grant, Lauren Patel
• Synopsis: Feature film adaptation of the musical about a teenager from Sheffield, England who wants to be a drag queen.
• Release date: October 23

The Last Duel

• Director: Ridley Scott
• Cast: Adam Driver, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Jodie Comer
• Synopsis: King Charles VI declares that Knight Jean de Carrouges settle his dispute with his squire by challenging him to a duel.
• Release date: January 8, 2021

Untitled David O. Russell Project aka Amsterdam

• Director: David O. Russell
• Cast: Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, Michael B. Jordan
• Synopsis: Plot unknown.
• Release date: TBA

West Side Story

• Director: Steven Spielberg
• Cast: Ansel Elgort, Rachel Zegler, Maddie Ziegler, Corey Stoll, Brian d’Arcy James, Ariana DeBose, Rita Moreno, Kyle Allen, David Alvarez
• Synopsis: An adaptation of the 1957 musical that explores forbidden love and the rivalry between the Jets and the Sharks, two teenage street gangs of different ethnic backgrounds.
• Release date: December 18

A24

C’mon C’mon

• Director: Mike Mills
• Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Gaby Hoffmann, Elaine Kagan, Brandon Rush, Woody Norman
• Synopsis: An artist embarks on a a cross-country trip with his young nephew.
• Release date: TBA

The Green Knight

• Director: David Lowery
• Cast: Dev Patel, Alicia Vikander, Joel Egerton, Sarita Choudhury, Sean Harris, Barry Keoghan
• Synopsis: A fantasy re-telling of the medieval story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
• Release date: May 20

The Humans

• Director: Stephen Karam
• Cast: Beanie Feldstein, Amy Schumer, Steven Yeun, Richard Jenkins, June Squibb
• Synopsis: Set inside a pre-war duplex in downtown Manhattan, The Humans, based on the Tony-winning play, follows the course of an evening in which the Blake family gathers to celebrate Thanksgiving. As darkness falls outside the crumbling building, mysterious things start to go bump in the night and family tensions reach a boiling point.
• Release date: TBA

Kajillionaire

• Director: Miranda July
• Cast: Evan Rachel Wood, Debra Winger, Richard Jenkins, Gina Rodriguez, Da’Vine Joy Randolph
• Synopsis: A woman’s life is turned upside down when her criminal parents invite an outsider to join them on a major heist they’re planning.
• Release date: TBA

Macbeth

• Director: Joel Coen
• Cast: Denzel Washington, Frances McDormand, Corey Hawkins, Brendan Gleeson, Sean Patrick Thomas, Ralph Ineson
• Synopsis: Adapted from the William Shakespeare classic, a Scottish lord becomes convinced by a trio of witches that he will become the next King of Scotland, and his ambitious wife supports him in his plans of seizing power.
• Release date: TBA (could be 2021)

Minari

• Director: Lee Isaac Chung
• Cast: Steven Yeun, Alan S. Kim, Yeri Han, Yuh-Jung Youn, Will Patton, Scott Haze
• Synopsis: A Korean family moves to Arkansas to start a farm in the 1980s.
• Release date: TBA

On the Rocks (with Apple+)

• Director: Sofia Coppola
• Cast: Rashida Jones, Bill Murray, Jenny Slate, Marlon Wayans
• Synopsis: A young mother who reconnects with her larger-than-life playboy father on an adventure through New York.
• Release date: TBA

Untitled Lila Neugebauer Project aka Red, White, Water

• Director: Lila Neugebauer
• Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Samira Wiley, Brian Tyree Henry, Steven McKinley Henderson
• Synopsis: A US soldier suffers a traumatic brain injury while fighting in Afghanistan and struggles to adjust to life back home.
• Release date: TBA

AMAZON STUDIOS

Annette

• Director: Leo Carax
• Cast: Adam Driver, Marion Cotillard, Simon Helberg
• Synopsis: A stand-up comedian and his opera singer wife, have a 2 year old daughter with a surprising gift.
• Release date: TBA

Herself

• Director: Phyllida Lloyd
• Cast: Harriet Walter, Conleth Hill, Clare Dunne, Cathy Belton, Sean Duggan
• Synopsis: This is the story of young mother Sandra who escapes her abusive husband and fights back against a broken housing system. She sets out to build her own home and in the process rebuilds her life and re-discovers herself.
• Release date: TBA

I’m Your Woman

• Director: Julia Hart
• Cast: Rachel Brosnahan, Bill Heck, Frankie Faison, Marsha Stephanie Black
• Synopsis: A woman must go on the run with her child due to her husband’s crimes. Their lives become intertwined with a man and a woman, forming an unlikely partnership that teaches them more than just how to survive.
• Release date: TBA

BLEECKER STREET

The Roads Not Taken

• Director: Sally Potter
• Cast: Javier Bardem, Ellie Fanning, Salma Hayek, Laura Linney
• Synopsis: Sally Potter’s film follows a day in the life of Leo and his daughter, Molly, as he floats through alternate lives he could have lived, leading Molly to wrestle with her own path as she considers her future.
• Release date: TBA

Wild Mountain Thyme

• Director: John Patrick Shanley
• Cast: Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan, Jon Hamm, Christopher Walken
• Synopsis: A pair of star-crossed lovers in Ireland get caught up in their family’s land dispute.
• Release date: TBA (could be 2021)

FOCUS FEATURES

Land

• Director: Robin Wright
• Cast: Robin Wright, Kim Dickens, Demián Bichir
• Synopsis: A bereaved woman seeks out a new life, off the grid in Wyoming.
• Release date: TBA

Last Night in Soho

• Director: Edgar Wright
• Cast: Thomasin McKenzie, Anya Taylor-Joy, Matt Smith, Diana Rigg, Terence Stamp
• Synopsis: A young girl, passionate about fashion design, is mysteriously able to enter the 1960s where she encounters her idol, a dazzling wannabe singer. But 1960s London is not what it seems, and time seems to fall apart with shady consequences.
• Release date: September 25

Never Rarely Sometimes Always

• Director: Eliza Hittman
• Cast: Sidney Flanigan, Ryan Eggold, Théodore Pellerin, Talia Ryder
• Synopsis: A pair of teenage girls in rural Pennsylvania travel to New York City to seek out medical help after an unintended pregnancy.
• Release date: TBA

Stillwater

• Director: Tom McCarthy
• Cast: Matt Damon, Abigail Breslin, Camille Cottin
• Synopsis: A father travels from Oklahoma to France to help his daughter who has been arrested for murder.
• Release date: November 6

Untitled Paul Thomas Anderson Project

• Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
• Cast: Unknown
• Synopsis: Set in 1970s San Fernando Valley, the film follows a high school student, who is also a successful child actor.
• Release date: TBA (could be 2021)

MGM

Respect

• Director: Liesl Tommy
• Cast: Jennifer Hudson, Marlon Wayans, Tate Donovan, Forest Whitaker, Mary J. Blige, Audra McDonald
• Synopsis: The life story of legendary R&B singer, Aretha Franklin.
• Release date: October 9

NEON

Ammonite

• Director: Francis Lee
• Cast: Kate Winslet, Saoirse Ronan, Fiona Shaw, Gemma Jones, Alec Secareanu, James McArdle
• Synopsis: 1840s England, an infamous fossil hunter and a young woman sent to convalesce by the sea develop an intense relationship, altering both of their lives forever.
• Release date: TBA

NETFLIX

Blonde

• Director: Andrew Dominik
• Cast: Ana de Armas, Julianne Nicholson, Scoot McNary, Adrien Brody, Bobby Canavale, Garret Dillahunt, Rebecca Wisocky, Sara Paxton, Xavier Samuel
• Synopsis: A fictionalized chronicle of the inner life of Marilyn Monroe.
• Release date: TBA

Da 5 Bloods

• Director: Spike Lee
• Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Giancarlo Esposito, Paul Walter Hauser, Jean Reno, Clarke Peters, Delroy Lindo, Mélanie Thierry, Jonathan Majors
• Synopsis: A group of veterans from the Vietnam War return to the jungle to find their lost innocence.
• Release date: TBA

Good Morning, Midnight

• Director: George Clooney
• Cast: Felicity Jones, George Clooney, Kyle Chandler, Ethan Peck, David Oyelowo, Sophie Rundle, Demián Bichir, Miriam Shor
• Synopsis: A scientist, alone in the Arctic, tries to make contact with a spacecraft returning to Earth.
• Release date: TBA

Hillbilly Elegy

• Director: Ron Howard
• Cast: Amy Adams, Glenn Close, Haley Bennett, Freida Pinto, Gabriel Basso, Bo Hopkins, Sunny Mabrey
• Synopsis: A man recalls his life growing up in the Midwest with Appalachian values.
• Release date: November

I’m Thinking of Ending Things 

• Director: Charlie Kaufman
• Cast: Jessie Buckley, Toni Collette, Jesse Plemons, David Thewlis
• Synopsis: An unexpected detour causes a woman who is trying to figure out how to break up with her boyfriend to rethink her life.
• Release date: TBA

The Life Ahead

• Director: Eduardo Ponti
• Cast: Sophia Loren, Abril Zamora, Renato Carpentieri, Babak Karimi
• Synopsis: An aging Holocaust survivor forges a bond with a young immigrant from Senegal.
• Release date: TBA

Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom

• Director: George C. Wolfe
• Cast: Viola Davis, Chadwick Boseman, Glynn Turman, Colman Domingo, Taylor Pagie
• Synopsis: When Ma Rainey, the “Queen of the Blues,” makes a record in a studio in Chicago, 1927, tensions boil between her, her white agent and producer, and bandmates.
• Release date: TBA

Mank

• Director: David Fincher
• Cast: Gary Oldman, Lily Collins, Amanda Seyfried, Tuppence Middleton, Charles Dance, Arliss Howard
• Synopsis: Follows screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz’s tumultuous development of Orson Welles’ iconic masterpiece Citizen Kane (1941).
• Release date: TBA

The Prom

• Director: Ryan Murphy
• Cast: Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman, James Corden, Keegan-Michael Key, Kerry Washington, Andrew Rannells, Ariana DeBose, Kevin Chamberlin, Nico Greetham
• Synopsis: A troupe of self-obsessed theater stars swarm into a small conservative Indiana town in support of a high school girl who wants to take her girlfriend to the prom.
• Release date: TBA

Untitled Nora Fingscheidt Project

• Director: Nora Fingscheidt
• Cast: Sandra Bullock, Viola Davis, Jon Bernthal, Vincent D’Onofrio, Aisling Franciosi
• Synopsis: Ruth Slater, a woman released from prison after serving a sentence for a violent crime and re-enters a society that refuses to forgive her past.
• Release date: TBA

The White Tiger

• Director: Ramin Bahrani
• Cast: Priyanka Chopra, Rajkummar Rao, Adarsh Gourav, Nalneesh Neel, Perrie Kapernaros
• Synopsis: This film adaptation of the Man Booker Prize-winning bestseller tells the story of Balram Halwai, a man born to poverty in a village in India, and his epic journey to the top of the heap.
• Release date: TBA

PARAMOUNT PICTURES

The King of Staten Island

• Director: Judd Apatow
• Cast: Pete Davidson, Marisa Tomei, Steve Buscemi, Pamela Adlon, Bel Powley, Moises Arias, Machine Gun Kelly, Kevin Corrigan
• Synopsis: A semi-autobiographical comedy-drama about Pete Davidson growing up in Staten Island, including losing his father during 9/11 and entering the world of stand up comedy.
• Release date: June 19

The Trial of the Chicago 7

• Director: Aaron Sorkin
• Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Keaton, Jeremy Strong, Eddie Redmayne. Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Rylance, Caitlin Fitzgerald, John Carroll Lynch, Frank Langella, Kelvin Harrison Jr., Ben Shenkman, William Hurt, Seth Rogen
• Synopsis: The story of 7 people on trial stemming from various charges surrounding the uprising at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.
• Release date: September 25

SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES

The French Dispatch  

• Director: Wes Anderson
• Cast: Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Jeffrey Wright, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Saoirse Ronan
• Synopsis: A love letter to journalists set in an outpost of an American newspaper in a fictional 20th-century French city that brings to life a collection of stories published in “The French Dispatch” magazine.
• Release date: July 24

Nomadland 

• Director: Chloé Zhao
• Cast: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn
• Synopsis: A woman in her sixties who, after losing everything in the Great Recession, embarks on a journey through the American West, living as a van-dwelling modern-day nomad.
• Release date: TBA

The Eyes of Tammy Faye 

• Director: Michael Showalter
• Cast: Jessica Chastain, Andrew Garfield, Cherry Jones, Vincent D’Onofrio
• Synopsis: Televangelists Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker seek redemption after their religious empire and marriage crumbles.
• Release date: TBA

Next Goal Wins

• Director: Taika Waititi
• Cast: Michael Fassbender, Elisabeth Moss, Rachel House, Armie Hammer, Frankie Adams, Rhys Darby, Kaimana
• Synopsis: Adaptation of the 2014 British soccer documentary which follows Dutch coach Thomas Rongen who attempts the nearly impossible task of turning the American Samoa soccer team from perennial losers into winners.
• Release date: TBA

Nightmare Alley

• Director: Guillermo Del Toro
• Cast: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, Richard Jenkins, Ron Perlman, Rooney Mara, David Strathairn
• Synopsis: A corrupt con-man teams up with a female psychiatrist to trick people into giving them money. A remake of the 1947 film.
• Release date: TBA

The Personal History of David Copperfield

• Director: Armando Iannucci
• Cast: Dev Patel, Tilda Swinton, Hugh Laurie
• Synopsis: A re-imagining of the Charles Dickens classic featuring the iconic character of David Copperfield on his quirky journey from impoverished orphan to burgeoning writer in Victorian England.
• Release date: May 8

SONY PICTURES CLASSICS

The Father

• Director: Florian Zeller
• Cast: Anthony Hopkins, Olivia Colman, Rufus Sewell, Imogen Poots, Mark Gatiss
• Synopsis: A man refuses all assistance from his daughter as he ages. As he tries to make sense of his changing circumstances, he begins to doubt his loved ones, his own mind and even the fabric of his reality.
• Release date: November 20

French Exit

• Director: Azazel Jacobs
• Cast: Michelle Pfeiffer, Lucas Hedges, Tracy Letts, Valerie Mahaffey, Danielle Macdonald, Isaach De Bankolé
• Synopsis: An aging Manhattan socialite living on what’s barely left of her inheritance moves to a small apartment in Paris with her son and cat.
• Release date: TBA

STX ENTERTAINMENT

Prisoner 760

• Director: Kevin Macdonald
• Cast: Zachary Levi, Benedict Cumberbatch, Shailene Woodley, Jodie Foster, Tahar Rahim
• Synopsis: A detainee at the U.S military’s Guantanamo Bay detention center is held without charges for over a decade and seeks help from a defense attorney for his release.
• Release date: TBA

UNIVERSAL PICTURES

News of the World

• Director: Paul Greengrass
• Cast: Tom Hanks, Chukwudi Iwuji, Helena Zengel, Neil Sandilands, 
• Synopsis: A Texan traveling across the wild West bringing the news of the world to local townspeople, agrees to help rescue a young girl who was kidnapped.
• Release date: December 25

WARNER BROS

Dune

• Director: Denis Villeneuve
• Cast: Timothée Chalamet, Rebecca Ferguson, Jason Momoa, Zendaya, Josh Brolin, Oscar Isaac, Javier Bardem, Dave Bautista, Stellan Skarsgård, Charlotte Rampling, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Chen Chang
• Synopsis: Feature adaptation of Frank Herbert’s science fiction novel, about the son of a noble family entrusted with the protection of the most valuable asset and most vital element in the galaxy.
• Release date: December 18

Untitled Fred Hampton Project aka Jesus Was My Homeboy

• Director: Shaka King
• Cast: Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons, Martin Sheen, Ashton Sanders, Lil Rel Howery, Algee Smith
• Synopsis: The life story of Black Panther Party member Fred Hampton.
• Release date: August 21

In the Heights

• Director: Jon M. Chu
• Cast: Anthony Ramos, Stephanie Beatriz, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Corey Hawkins, Jimmy Smits, Dascha Polanco, Marc Anthony, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Ariana Greenblatt, Olga Merediz
• Synopsis: A feature version of the Broadway musical, in which a bodega owner has mixed feelings about closing his store and retiring to the Dominican Republic after inheriting his grandmother’s fortune.
• Release date: June 26

Tenet

• Director: Christopher Nolan
• Cast: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Kenneth Branagh, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Michael Caine, Martin Donovan, Clémence Poésy
• Synopsis: An action epic revolving around international espionage, time travel and evolution.
• Release date: July 17

Those Who Wish Me Dead

• Director: Taylor Sheridan
• Cast: Angelina Jolie, Jon Bernthal, Nicholas Hoult, Aiden Gillen, Tyler Perry, Jake Weber
• Synopsis: A teenage murder witness finds himself pursued by twin assassins in the Montana wilderness with a survival expert tasked with protecting him — and a forest fire threatening to consume them all.
• Release date: October 23

CURRENTLY WITHOUT DISTRIBUTION

Benedetta

• Director: Paul Verhoeven
• Cast: Charlotte Rampling, Lambert Wilson, Virginie Efira, Daphne Patakia
• Synopsis: A 17th-century nun in Italy suffers from disturbing religious and erotic visions. She is assisted by a companion, and the relationship between the two women develops into a romantic love affair.
• Release date: TBA

Breaking News in Yuba County

• Director: Tate Taylor
• Cast: Awkwafina, Mila Kunis, Juliette Lewis, Allison Janney, Samira Wiley, Jimmi Simpson, Ellen Barkin, Clifton Collins, Jr., Matthew Modine, Regina Hall, Chris Lowell, Wanda Sykes, Bridget Everett, Dominic Burgess
• Synopsis: A woman catches her husband in bed with another woman, causing him to die of a heart attack. She buries his body and takes advantage of the growing celebrity status that comes from having a missing husband. However, she soon finds herself in over her head, dodging cops and criminals, all while trying hide the truth.
• Release date: TBA

Druk

• Director: Thomas Vinterberg
• Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Maria Bonnevie, Thomas Bo Larsen, Susse Wold, Magnus Millang
• Synopsis: Four teachers decide to embark on an experiment where they each sustain a certain level of alcohol intoxication during their everyday life, believing that all people in general would benefit from a higher Blood Alcohol Content.
• Release date: TBA

Flag Day

• Director: Sean Penn
• Cast: Katheryn Winnick, Josh Brolin, Miles Teller, Sean Penn, Eddie Marsan, Dale Dickey, James Russo, Norbert Leo Butz, Bailey Noble
• Synopsis: A father lives a double life as a counterfeiter, bank robber and con man in order to provide for his daughter.
• Release date: TBA

Harry Haft

• Director: Barry Levinson
• Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, Billy Magnussen, Danny DeVito, Ben Foster, John Leguizamo, Vicky Krieps
• Synopsis: The film is set post-World War II and will star Ben Foster as Harry Haft, a boxer who fought fellow prisoners in the concentration camps to survive. Haunted by the memories and his guilt, he attempts to use high-profile fights against boxing legends like Rocky Marciano as a way to find his first love again.
• Release date: TBA

Passing

• Director: Rebecca Hall
• Cast: Tessa Thompson, Alexander Skarsgård, Ruth Negga, André Holland
• Synopsis: Follows the unexpected reunion of two high school friends, whose renewed acquaintance ignites a mutual obsession that threatens both of their carefully constructed realities.
• Release date: TBA

The Story of My Wife

• Director: Ildikó Enyedi
• Cast: Léa Seydoux, Louis Garrel
• Synopsis: A sea captain makes a bet in a cafe with a friend that he will marry the first woman who walks in.
• Release date: TBA

The United States vs Billie Holliday

• Director: Lee Daniels
• Cast: Andra Day, Trevante Rhodes, Garrett Hedlund, Natasha Lyonne, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Rob Morgan, Evan Ross
• Synopsis: Follows Holiday during her career as she is targeted by the Federal Department of Narcotics with an undercover sting operation led by Black Federal Agent Jimmy Fletcher, with whom she had a tumultuous affair.
• Release date: TBA

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

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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