Yaasss, Queen! Oscar nominees Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie fight for the crown in the ‘Mary Queen of Scots’ trailer

In a time of kings, two queens rule.

Saoirse Ronan (Lady Bird) and Margot Robbie (I, Tonya) went head to head at the Oscars earlier this year as Best Actress nominees (they both lost to Frances McDormand) and will now fight for the crown in Mary Queen of Scots.

Mary Stuart became Queen of France at just 16, and a widow two years later. Instead of remarrying, she returned home to Scotland to claim her throne. Soon, England and Scotland both fall under the reign of Elizabeth I, and a struggle for power between the two women ensues.

In her feature film debut, theater director Josie Rourke shows a deft eye for richly cinematic large battle sequences as well as keenly intimate drama. At one point, Robbie literally snatches her own wig (that’s going to be a fun gif soon). But casting two of the brightest stars in a lush and lavish period piece isn’t always the key to box office or awards success though, The Other Boleyn Girl anyone? Then again, with Fox Searchlight’s The Favourite being a likely Oscar contender as well we may have a Shakespeare in Love/Elizabeth duel on our hands.

The pair have some big wigs to fill as these roles have been played by legendary actresses like Bette Davis, Katharine Hepburn, Glenda Jackson, Vanessa Redgrave and Cate Blanchett. I currently have Mary Queen of Scots factoring into multiple Oscar categories this season including Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. Official July predictions will drop next week but you can take a peek at them as they stand now right here.

It also stars Jack Lowden, Joe Alwyn, Gemma Chan, Martin Compston, Ismael Cordova, Brendan Coyle, Ian Hart, Adrian Lester, James McArdle, David Tennant, and Guy Pearce. It is written by Beau Willimon (Emmy nominee for House of Cards, Oscar nominee for The Ides of March) from the book by John Guy.

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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), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) 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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