Early Best Picture Oscar 2016 Contenders

by Helen Earnshaw | 6 June 2015

It does seem incredibly premature to be talking about potential Oscar contenders for 2016 - but there are a handful of movies that are already surrounded in Oscar whispers - it seems like this talks starts earlier and earlier each year.

Macbeth

Cannes Film Festival unearthed a few potentials, while there are a whole host of exciting movie projects on the horizon between now and then,

- Macbeth received its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last month and was a movie that was met with critical acclaim. Macbeth won't be released in the UK until October and will be fresh in everyone's mind as the awards season gets underway.

I suppose that it is not often we see Shakespeare adaptations in the running for Best Picture, but this new take on the well-known tale promises to be a dark and violent version - it really does look like it's going to be a terrific watch.

Justin Kurzel is in the director's chair for the film, while Michael Fassbender will take on the title role - this could be one of two movies and performances that could be in the mix involving the popular actor; the other is Steve Jobs.

- Carol was another movie that screened at the Cannes Film Festival and competed for the Palme d'Or. The movie is based on the novel The Price of Salt by Patricia Highsmith

The movie marks the return of Todd Haynes to the director's chair for the first time since I'm Not There and sees him reunite with Oscar winning actress Cate Blanchett.

Set in 1950s New York, a department-store clerk who dreams of a better life falls for an older, married woman... Carol. Blanchett is set to take on the title role in the film, alongside Rooney Mara, Kyle Chandler, and Sarah Paulson.

Carol received a standing ovation at Cannes and it really was one of the films that were flying high at the festival. Carol looks set to be one of the stars of the festival circuit this year and already looks like it is going to be a heavyweight Oscar player.

- Sicario is a Cannes film that is also being tipped as potential Oscar fodder as Denis Villeneuve returns to the director's chair. Villeneuve should have received more awards attention for the fantastic Prisoners back in 2013 and it is great to see him back at the helm.

Emily Blunt takes on the central role of an idealistic FBI agent who is enlisted by an elite government task force to fight the war on drugs on the Mexican border.

Sicario competed for the Palme d'Or at the festival and was another movie that was met with acclaim when it was screened. I do love a good crime drama and this is one that is not to be missed this September.

- Suffragette looks set to be one of the British movies not to miss this autumn and it is a film that has 'Oscar contender' written all over it.

The movie marks the return of Sarah Gavron to the director's chair for her first drama feature since she made her debut with Brick Lane. Abi Morgan is also aboard the project having penned the screenplay.

Suffragette explores the early days and footsoldiers of the feminist movement and sees Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep, Helena Bonham Carter, Brendan Gleeson & Ben Whishaw are all set to star.

Suffragette is set to see its profile rocket even further in October as it has been given the honour of opening the BFI London Film Festival - it promises to be a very powerful start to the 2015 festival.

- We haven't seen too much of Bridge of Spies so far, but you have got to think that the latest offering from director Steven Spielberg is going to be in the Oscar mix.

Starring Tom Hanks, Bridge of Spies follows an American lawyer who is recruited by the CIA during the Cold War to help rescue a pilot detained in the Soviet Union. Spielberg has made some incredibly powerful and moving war movies in the past and it is always great to see him return to this genre.

So far, we have only seen a couple of stills from the Cold War drama and nothing in the way of a first trailer. However, it does seem to be a movie that many are already looking forward to seeing - don't be surprised if this is well and truly in the mix come the beginning of 2016.

- We all know how much biopic projects are loved by the Academy and there are a handful of movies in this genre that could find themselves in contention. Steve Jobs is perhaps one of the most high profile as Danny Boyle returns to the director's chair.

There's no double that Steve Jobs is a project that has had its problems with Boyle in the director's chair, Aaron Sorkin having penned the screenplay, and Michael Fassbender in the title role, this is a movie not to be missed this November.

The movie is set to explore and follow the life and legacy of Steve Jobs with Kate Winslet, Seth Rogen, and Jeff Daniels also on the cast list.

Of all of the biopics that could potentially be in the Oscar mix, Steve Jobs could well be one that resonates with audiences the most because of how loved, admired, and respected Jobs was. This could also be the role that sees Fassbender receive his first Best Actor Oscar nomination.

- Alejandro González Iñárritu was the toast of the awards circuit this year with Birdman and he is set to return with The Revenant. Filming has been underway all year on the new film, and it won't be hitting the big screen until January 2016.

However, it is a movie that already has many film fans very excited and promises to be a really epic picture. The movie will follow frontiersman Hugh Glass, who in the 1820s set out on a path of vengeance against those who left him for dead after a bear mauling.

Leonardo DiCaprio will take on the central role of Glass and is joined on the cast list by Tom Hardy, Domhnall Gleeson, Will Poulter, and Paul Anderson.

The Revenant is based on the novel of the same name by Michael Punke and is already one of the most anticipated and talked about movies of 2016. I really cannot wait to see what Iñárritu delivers this time around - he quite realistically could enjoy Oscar success two years in a row.

- Inside Out is set to be one of the must see summer movies and is the latest offering from animation giant Pixar - it is the first film from the studio since Monsters University back in 2013.

Inside Out received its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival last month, and was another of the movies that was met with acclaim.

We have seen a handful of Pixar movies scoop the Best Animation Oscar but no animation has ever won Best Picture - Up and Toy Story 3 have both been nominated.

Inside Out goes inside the mind of a young girl to follow the emotions that are at work there. Pete Docter is in the director's chair for the film, which looks set to be the animation movie everyone is talking about this year.