Skyfall
Skyfall has been smashing box office records all over the globe in recent weeks and now the movie is being talked about as possible Oscar contender.
So after fifty years of 007 being overlooked by the Academy can Skyfall really be in with a shot of bagging a Best Picture Oscar?
Over the last few years it has been in the opinion of many that more mainstream and blockbuster movies should be considered for the biggest of movie prizes.
And while that may be the general opinion the likes of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2 and The Dark Knight have been overlooked in recent years - the latter being a scandal back in 2009.
But with Peter Jackson returning with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and Warner Bros having already launched an Oscar campaign for The Dark Knight Rises so it is not hard to imagine that Skyfall could well be in the mix when the nominations are announced in January.
Bond has won Oscars before as Goldfinger won best sound effects in 1964 and Thunderball scooped got best visual effects just a year later - but could this time around be when the franchise moves into the bigger categories?
And with the Oscar pedigree that is involved in this project it is not outside the realms of possibility that a few nods could come the movie’s way - and it would be incredibly well deserved.
Script writer John Logan is a three time Oscar nominated screenwriter having picked up nods for the likes or Hugo in recent years.
It is the first time that he has penned a Bond script and he is being widely tipped to return to write Bond 24 after delivering a high octane and gripping story for Skyfall.
And there is an Oscar winner behind the camera as Sam Mendes, who won for American Beauty, takes up the director’s chair for the first time.
He has delivered that has not only got the franchise back on track but has also won over the critics as well as being a huge box office smash.
He has managed to nod back to the classic Bond movies while still keeping it contemporary and giving it its own identification.
And as if a Oscar winning director and Oscar nominated scriptwriter isn’t enough there is also some acting talent on the cast list that know what it is like to win one of film’s most coveted prizes.
Judi Dench has six Oscars nominations and a win for Best Supporting Actress for Shakespeare in Love while Javier Bardem already has a Best Supporting Actor Oscar to his name.
The categories where Skyfall could find itself nominated are Best Picture, Best Screenplay, Supporting Actress for Dench and Supporting Actor for Bardem - both of whom are gaining early support - as well as Best Cinematography for Roger Deakins.
The Academy is all about recognising and rewarding the best in film and it is time to really see that the blockbusters can also be major players for the big awards.
Skyfall is on course to become the biggest Bond movie of all time and if you haven’t had chance to see the film yet then it really is one that you shouldn’t miss.
Skyfall is out now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in James Bond Javier Bardem Sam Mendes Dame Judi Dench