I don't know about you, but I am excited for the 2016 Oscars already as there are some truly magnificent looking movies heading our way between now and when the winners are announced.
The Revenant
We have already taken a look at those that could be in the running for Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Actress and now it is time for us to cast our eye over Best Director - I have my fingers crossed that it is an exciting a race as it was earlier this year.
There could well be some filmmakers who already have a Best Director Oscar under their belt as well as those who could be nominated for the very first time.
- Alejandro González Iñárritu - The Revenant
Alejandro González Iñárritu got his hands on a Best Director Oscar for the first time earlier this year for his work on Birdman and he looks set to be in the mix once again when the nominations are announced next year.
Iñárritu has been filming The Revenant for the majority of this year and it is already one of the most anticipated films of 2016.
The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Punke as is partly based on the life of frontiersman Hugh Glass. The movie follows Glass as seeks revenge on those who left him to die after a bear attack.
Leonardo DiCaprio is set to take on the role of Glass in the film, while Tom Hardy, Will Poulter, and Domhnall Gleeson are also on board.
Iñárritu is one of the most exciting and visionary directors around and I always look forward to his film projects. 2015 marked the second time that he had been nominated for the Best Director Oscar; his first nomination came in 2007 for Babel.
- Danny Boyle - Steve Jobs
Danny Boyle is another director who has already tasted Oscar success as he picked up his Best Director Oscar for his work on the fantastic Slumdog Millionaire.
He is back on the director's chair later this year with new biopic Steve Jobs, which explores the life and the legacy of Jobs. This is the first feature film for Boyle since Trance, while Aaron Sorkin is aboard the project having penned the screenplay.
The movie sees Boyle team up with Michael Fassbender for the first time as the Oscar nominee takes on the title role. He is joined on the cast list by Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, Katherine Waterston, and Jeff Daniels.
We all know how much the Academy loves a biopic film and Steve Jobs really could be a huge contender during the awards season next year - we really could well see this film nominated for more than just Best Director.
Boyle's triumph for Slumdog Millionaire was his first Oscar nomination of his career. While 127 Hours picked up a couple of nods two years later, Boyle's work as director was overlooked.
- Steven Spielberg - Bridge of Spies
One of the autumn movies that I am really looking forward to comes in the form of Bridge of Spies, which sees Steven Spielberg back in the director's chair and Tom Hanks in the leading role.
We have seen Spielberg and Hanks work on a handful of war film/TV projects over the years and Bridge of Spies sees them tackle the Cold War for the first time.
Hanks will take on the central role of America lawyer James Donovan, who recruited by the CIA during the Cold War to help rescue a pilot detained in the Soviet Union.
Bridge of Spies is promising to be a tense political thriller and I cannot wait to see Hanks and Spielberg work together once again. Hanks is joined on the cast list by Mark Rylance, Alan Alda, and Amy Ryan.
During his career, Spielberg has picked up seven Best Director Oscar nominations; winning twice for Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List. He was last nominated in 2013 for his work on biopic movie Lincoln. It has been nearly twenty years since he won a Best Director Oscar.
- Todd Haynes - Carol
Todd Haynes is set to return to the director's chair with his new film Carol, a movie that whipped up a storm when it premiered at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.
Carol is the sixth feature film of his directing career and sees him reunite with Oscar winning actress Cate Blanchett for the second time; they first worked together on I'm Not There in 2007. This is the first time that we have seen Haynes at the helm of a feature film since that Bob Dylan movie.
Carol is set in the 1950s in New York and follows a department store clerk who wants a better life for herself. Her world is turned upside down when she meets and falls for an older, married woman. The movie is an adaptation of the Patricia Highsmith novel and has been adapted for the big screen by Phyllis Nagy.
Blanchett takes on the title role in the film, - she could well be in the Oscar mix once again - while Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler, and Sarah Paulson are also on board.
Haynes is no stranger to the Oscars, having picked up a Best Original Screenplay nod for Far From Heaven, but he has never been in the mix for Best Director.
- Tom Hooper - The Danish Girl
The Danish Girl is already one of the most talked about movies of 2016 as Eddie Redmayne is set to return to a lead role - he is being tipped as a major Best Actor Oscar contender once again.
The Danish Girl sees Tom Hooper return to the director's chair as he reunites with Redmayne for the first time since the success of Les Miserables; this is the first film for Hooper since his adaptation of the popular musical.
Hooper brings us something completely different with The Danish Girl, which follows the true story of Einar Wegener - one of the first men to undergo sexual reassignment surgery. The movie explores the changing relationship between Einar Lile and his wife Gerda.
Redmayne is joined on the cast list by Alicia Vikander, Amber Heard, Matthias Schoenaerts, Ben Whishaw, and Sebastian Koch.
The Danish Girl is the fifth feature film for Hooper and comes after Red Dust, The Damned United, The King's Speech, and Les Mis. Hooper is another of the filmmakers to have tasted Oscar triumph, winning Best Director back in 2010 for The King's Speech. This would be his second Oscar nod.
- Denis Villeneuve - Sicario
Sicario is another movie that premiered and was received well at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival and is the latest crime drama from director Denis Villeneuve, who brought us the fantastic Prisoners.
Villeneuve has also brought us movies such as Incendies and Enemy during his directing career and I am excited to see him return with Sicario, which sees him team up with British actress Emily Blunt.
Blunt takes on the role of an idealistic FBI agent who is enlisted by an elite government task force official to aid in the escalating war against drugs on the Mexico/U.S. boarder.
An impressive cast list has been assembled for the film, as Blunt is joined by Jon Bernthal, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Victor Garbder, and Jeffrey Donovan.
Sicario has already competed for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival and could be one of the dark horses in the Oscar race. Should Villeneuve bag an Oscar nomination, it would be the first of his career.
However, there are a whole host of filmmakers who are waiting in the wings and could well find themselves in the Best Director Oscar race - David O. Russell (Joy), John Crowley (Brooklyn), Pete Docter (Inside Out), Quentin Tarantino (The Hateful Eight), Sarah Gavron (Suffragette) are just some of the names that could be in the mix. Who is going to be nominated? I guess we are going to have to wait and see.