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Every week until the 86th Oscars on March 2, 2014, The Hollywood Reporter‘s lead awards analyst Scott Feinberg will post an updated “Feinberg Forecast,” reflecting his latest take on the standings of the contenders in each of the major categories. For more about Scott and how he arrives at his projections, scroll to the bottom of this post. Here, meanwhile, is a list of developments since the last forecast that helped to shape this one…
- Several high-profile contenders — Sony Pictures Classics’ Foxcatcher and The Weinstein Co.’s The Immigrant and Grace of Monaco — have been pulled out of the 2013 awards season and into 2014, for a variety of reasons, making the path to a nomination a little easier for other contenders. Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Paramount’s The Wolf of Wall Street will not make its previously-announced Nov. 15 release date. Christmas Day is the new target, but it could also end up getting pushed to 2014.
- The 51st New York Film Festival got underway on Friday night. The opening night screening was the world premiere of Sony’s Captain Phillips, with the director, stars and real people who inspired the film all in attendance.
- The Hollywood Film Awards announced that it will present, at its 17th edition on Oct. 21, its Hollywood Supporting Actor Award to Prisoners‘ Jake Gyllenhaal, Hollywood Supporting Actress Award to August: Osage County‘s Julia Roberts and Hollywood Breakout Performance Award to Dallas Buyers Club‘s Jared Leto.
- Racing against the Oct. 1 deadline to name their official submission for consideration for the best foreign language film Oscar, a number of new countries revealed their picks. Among others, Hong Kong went with Wong Kar-Wai‘s kung-fu flick The Grandmaster, Israel tapped Yuval Adler‘s Ophir Award-winning thriller Bethlehem and India ruffled a lot of feathers by picking Gyan Correa‘s The Good Road over Ritesh Batra‘s The Lunchbox, which was a fan favorite at the recent Telluride and Toronto film fests.
- This weekend at the box-office, Warner Bros.’ returning Prisoners — which topped the charts last weekend with a $21.4 million take in the same corridor from which the studio’s Argo launched with a $19.5 million take the previous year — held off Universal’s newcomer Rush to claim the #2 spot ($11.3 million to $10.3 million) behind Sony’s best animated feature Oscar hopeful Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2, which led the field with $35 million in sales. The film with the highest per-screen average though, and growing buzz, is Fox Searchlight’s Enough Said, which held strong in its second week in limited release, averaging $9,317 on 227 screens.
And, without further ado, here is the latest forecast…
BEST PICTURE
Frontrunners
American Hustle (Sony, 12/13, TBA, trailer)
The Wolf of Wall Street (Paramount, 11/15, TBA, trailer)
12 Years a Slave (Fox Searchlight, 10/18, R, trailer)
Gravity (Warner Bros., 10/4, PG-13, trailer)
Lee Daniels’ The Butler (The Weinstein Co., 8/16, PG-13, trailer)
Blue Jasmine (Sony Pictures Classics, 7/26, PG-13, trailer)
Captain Phillips (Sony, 10/11, TBA, trailer)
All Is Lost (Lionsgate-Roadside Attractions, 10/18, PG-13, trailer)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (20th Century Fox, 12/25, TBA, trailer)
The Monuments Men (Sony, 12/18, TBA, trailer)
Major Threats
Inside Llewyn Davis (CBS Films, 12/6, R, trailer)
Philomena (The Weinstein Co., TBA, TBA, trailer)
Saving Mr. Banks (Disney, 12/20, PG-13, trailer)
Dallas Buyers Club (Focus Features, 11/1, R, trailer)
Nebraska (Paramount, 11/22, TBA, TBA)
Rush (Universal, 9/27, TBA, trailer)
Fruitvale Station (The Weinstein Co., 7/12, R, trailer)
Possibilities
Her (Warner Bros., 11/20, TBA, trailer)
Prisoners (Warner Bros., 9/20, TBD, trailer)
August: Osage County (The Weinstein Co., 11/8, TBA, trailer)
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (The Weinstein Co., 11/29, TBA, trailer)
Before Midnight (Sony Pictures Classics, 5/24, R, trailer)
The Past (Sony Pictures Classics, 12/20, TBA, TBA)
Blue Is the Warmest Color (Sundance Selects, 10/25, NC-17, TBA)
Long Shots
The Great Gatsby (Warner Bros., 5/10, PG-13, trailer)
The Book Thief (20th Century Fox, 11/15, TBA, trailer)
Lone Survivor (Universal, 12/27, R, trailer)
Out of the Furnace (Relativity Media, 12/6, TBA, trailer)
Labor Day (Paramount, 12/25, TBA, TBA)
Mud (Lionsgate-Roadside Attractions, 4/26, PG-13, trailer)
The Place Beyond the Pines (Focus Features, 3/29, R, trailer)
BEST DIRECTOR
Frontrunners
David O. Russell (American Hustle)
Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)
Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)
Lee Daniels (Lee Daniels’ The Butler)
Major Threats
Woody Allen (Blue Jasmine)
Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips)
George Clooney (The Monuments Men)
Ben Stiller (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty)
J.C. Chandor (All Is Lost)
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (Inside Llewyn Davis)
Alexander Payne (Nebraska)
Ron Howard (Rush)
John Lee Hancock (Saving Mr. Banks)
Possibilities
Spike Jonze (Her)
Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station)
Stephen Frears (Philomena)
Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners)
Richard Linklater (Before Midnight)
Jean-Marc Vallee (Dallas Buyers Club)
John Wells (August: Osage County)
Abdellatif Kechiche (Blue Is the Warmest Color)
Asghar Farhadi (The Past)
Long Shots
Baz Luhrmann (The Great Gatsby)
Brian Percival (The Book Thief)
Jason Reitman (Labor Day)
Justin Chadwick (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)
Peter Berg (Lone Survivor)
Scott Cooper (Out of the Furnace)
Derek Cianfrance (The Place Beyond the Pines)
Jeff Nichols (Mud)
Noah Baumbach (Frances Ha)
BEST ACTOR
Frontrunners
Robert Redford (All Is Lost)
Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyer’s Club)
Forest Whitaker (Lee Daniels’ The Butler)
Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)
Tom Hanks (Captain Phillips)
Major Threats
Christian Bale (American Hustle)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis)
Michael B. Jordan (Fruitvale Station)
Idris Elba (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)
Possibilities
Joaquin Phoenix (Her)
Ben Stiller (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty)
Matt Damon (The Monuments Men)
Hugh Jackman (Prisoners)
Ethan Hawke (Before Midnight)
Ralph Fiennes (The Invisible Woman)
Long Shots
Christian Bale (Out of the Furnace)
Mark Wahlberg (Lone Survivor)
Chris Hemsworth (Rush)
Will Forte (Nebraska)
Daniel Radcliffe (Kill Your Darlings)
Casey Affleck (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints)
BEST ACTRESS
Frontrunners
Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks)
Judi Dench (Philomena)
Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)
Major Threats
Adele Exarchopoulos (Blue Is the Warmest Color)
Amy Adams (American Hustle)
Kate Winslet (Labor Day)
Berenice Bejo (The Past)
Possibilities
Brie Larson (Short Term 12)
Greta Gerwig (Frances Ha)
Julie Delpy (Before Midnight)
Kristen Wiig (The Secret Life of Walter Mitty)
Paulina Garcia (Gloria)
Long Shots
Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Enough Said) NEW
Sophie Nelisse (The Book Thief)
Naomi Watts (Diana)
Shailene Woodley (The Spectacular Now)
Rooney Mara (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints)
Amanda Seyfried (Lovelace)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Frontrunners
Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)
Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
Bradley Cooper (American Hustle)
Jeremy Renner (American Hustle)
Jake Gyllenhaal (Prisoners)
Major Threats
Tom Hanks (Saving Mr. Banks)
Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Steve Coogan (Philomena)
Daniel Bruhl (Rush)
Harrison Ford (42)
Andrew Dice Clay (Blue Jasmine)
Alec Baldwin (Blue Jasmine)
John Goodman (Inside Llewyn Davis)
Possibilities
George Clooney (Gravity)
James Gandolfini (Enough Said) NEW
Chris Cooper (August: Osage County)
Josh Brolin (Labor Day)
Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)
Matthew McConaughey (Mud)
Matthew McConaughey (The Wolf of Wall Street)
John Goodman (The Monuments Men)
Long Shots
Geoffrey Rush (The Book Thief)
Sam Rockwell (The Way Way Back)
Casey Affleck (Out of the Furnace)
James Franco (Spring Breakers)
Ryan Gosling (The Place Beyond the Pines)
Bradley Cooper (The Place Beyond the Pines)
Ben Foster (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints)
Dane DeHaan (Kill Your Darlings)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Frontrunners
Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)
Oprah Winfrey (Lee Daniels’ The Butler)
Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
Julia Roberts (August: Osage County)
Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine)
Major Threats
Naomie Harris (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom)
Melissa Leo (Prisoners)
June Squibb (Nebraska)
Lea Seydoux (Blue Is the Warmest Color)
Margo Martindale (August: Osage County)
Octavia Spencer (Fruitvale Station)
Possibilities
Carey Mulligan (Inside Llewyn Davis)
Rooney Mara (Her)
Juliette Lewis (August: Osage County)
Felicity Jones (The Invisible Woman)
Emily Watson (The Book Thief)
Jennifer Garner (Dallas Buyers Club)
Long Shots
Sarah Paulson (12 Years a Slave)
Zoe Saldana (Out of the Furnace)
Kristin Scott Thomas (Only God Forgives)
Sharon Stone (Lovelace)
Portia Doubleday (Her)
Melonie Diaz (Fruitvale Station)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Frontrunners
The Wolf of Wall Street (Terence Winter)
12 Years a Slave (John Ridley)
The Monuments Men (George Clooney, Grant Heslov)
Before Midnight (Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater)
Philomena (Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope)
Major Threats
Captain Phillips (Billy Ray)
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (Steve Conrad)
August: Osage County (Tracy Letts)
Possibilities
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (William Nicholson)
Labor Day (Jason Reitman)
The Spectacular Now (Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber)
Long Shots
The Book Thief (Michael Petroni)
The Invisible Woman (Abi Morgan)
Lone Survivor (Peter Berg)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Frontrunners
American Hustle (David O. Russell, Eric Singer)
Inside Llewyn Davis (Ethan Coen, Joel Coen)
Blue Jasmine (Woody Allen)
Lee Daniels’ The Butler (Danny Strong)
Fruitvale Station (Ryan Coogler)
Major Threats
Gravity (Alfonso Cuaron)
All Is Lost (J.C. Chandor)
Nebraska (Bob Nelson)
Her (Spike Jonze)
Prisoners (Aaron Guzkowski)
Dallas Buyers Club (Craig Borten, Melisa Wallack)
Possibilities
Saving Mr. Banks (Kelly Marcel, Sue Smith)
Rush (Peter Morgan)
Enough Said (Nicole Holofcener) NEW
The Way Way Back (Nat Faxon, Jim Rash)
Frances Ha (Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig)
The Past (Asghar Farhadi)
Long Shots
Bethlehem (Yuval Adler, Ali Wakad) NEW
Mud (Jeff Nichols)
The Place Beyond the Pines (Derek Cianfrance, Bob Coccio, Darius Marder)
Out of the Furnace (Scott Cooper, Brad Inglesby)
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (David Lowery)
The Bling Ring (Sofia Coppola)
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Frontrunners
Frozen (Disney, 11/27, TBA, TBA)
The Wind Rises (Studio Ghibili, TBA, TBA, trailer)
Monsters University (Disney-Pixar, 6/21, G, trailer)
The Croods (DreamWorks Animation, 3/22, PG, trailer)
Ernest & Celestine (GKIDS, TBA, TBA, trailer)
Major Threats
Despicable Me 2 (Universal, 7/3, PG, trailer)
Turbo (DreamWorks, 7/19, PG, trailer)
Epic (20th Century Fox, 5/24, PG, trailer)
Planes (Disney, 8/9, PG, trailer)
Walking with Dinosaurs 3D (20th Century Fox, 12/20, TBA, trailer)
Khumba (Millennium Entertainment, TBA, TBA, trailer)
Possibilities
Escape from Planet Earth (The Weinstein Co., 2/15, PG, trailer)
Free Birds (Relativity Media, 11/1, TBA, trailer)
The Congress (Drafthouse Films, TBA, TBA, trailer)
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2 (Sony, 9/27, TBA, trailer)
A Letter to Momo (GKIDS, TBA, TBA, trailer)
Long Shots
The Smurfs 2 (Sony, 7/31, PG, trailer)
The Legend of Sarila (Phase 4 Films, TBA, TBA, trailer)
The Snow Queen (Vertical Entertainment, 1/3, NR, trailer)
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Frontrunners
Tim’s Vermeer (Sony Pictures Classics, TBA, TBA, TBA)
20 Feet from Stardom (RADiUS, 6/14, PG-13, trailer)
Stories We Tell (Roadside Attractions, 5/10, PG-13, trailer)
Blackfish (Magnolia, 7/19, PG-13, trailer)
The Act of Killing (Drafthouse Films, 7/19, NR, trailer)
Major Threats
Dirty Wars (IFC Films, 6/7, NR, trailer)
Jodorowsky’s Dune (Sony Pictures Classics, TBA, TBA, trailer))
The Unknown Known (RADiUS, TBA, TBA, TBA)
Cutie and the Boxer (RADiUS, 8/16, R, trailer)
Call Me Kuchu (Cinedigm, 6/14, NR, trailer)
We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks (Focus World, 5/24, R, trailer)
After Tiller (Oscilloscope, 9/20, TBA, trailer)
Free Angela and All Political Prisoners (Lionsgate, 4/5, NR, trailer)
Salinger (The Weinstein Co., 9/6, TBA, trailer)
Possibilities
Blood Brother (Tugg, TBA, TBA, trailer)
Leviathan (Cinema Guild, 3/1, NR, trailer)
Rising from Ashes (First Run Features, 8/2, NR, trailer)
56 Up (First Run Features, 1/4, NR, trailer)
Salma (Women Make Movies, 1/?, TBA, trailer)
For No Good Reason (Sony Pictures Classics, TBA, TBA, trailer)
God Loves Uganda (Variance Films, 10/11, TBA, trailer)
Terms and Conditions May Apply (Variance Films, 7/12, TBA, trailer)
Long Shots
The Armstrong Lie (Sony Pictures Classics, TBA, TBA, TBA)
Muscle Shoals (Magnolia, 9/27, TBA, trailer)
Fire in the Blood (International Film Circuit, 9/6, NR, trailer)
Inequality for All (RADiUS, 9/27, PG, trailer)
Narco Cultura (Cinedigm, TBA, TBA, trailer)
Sound City (Roswell Films/Variance Films, 2/1, NR, trailer)
Informant (Music Box Films, 9/13, TBA, trailer)
99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film (Participant Media, TBA, TBA, trailer)
Still Seeking U.S. Distribution
The Expedition to the End of the World (trailer)
Running from Crazy (trailer)
Valentine Road
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM (*submission not yet confirmed)
Frontrunners
Iran (The Past)*
Chile (Gloria)
Israel (Bethlehem) NEW
Italy (The Great Beauty)
Denmark (The Hunt)*
Others, listed alphabetically
Argentina (Wakolda) NEW
Australia (The Rocket)
Austria (The Wall)
Belgium (The Broken Circle Breakdown) NEW
Bosnia & Herzegovina (An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker)
Bulgaria (The Color of Chameleon)
Cambodia (The Missing Picture)
Croatia (Halima’s Path) NEW
Czech Republic (Burning Bush) NEW
Finland (The Disciple)
France (Renoir)
Georgia (In Bloom)
Germany (Two Lives)
Greece (Boy Eating the Bird’s Food)
Hong Kong (The Grandmaster) NEW
Hungary (The Notebook)
India (The Good Road) NEW
Japan (The Great Passage)
Latvia (Mother I Love You)
Lithuania (Conversations on Serious Topics) NEW
Mexico (Heli)
Montenegro (Bad Destiny)
Nepal (Soongava: Dance of the Orchids)
Netherlands (Borgman)
New Zealand (White Lies)
Palestine (Omar)*
Philippines (Transit)
Poland (Walesa)
Romania (Child’s Pose)
Russia (Stalingrad) NEW
Saudi Arabia (Wadjda)
Serbia (Circles)
Singapore (Ilo Ilo)
Slovakia (My Dog Killer) NEW
Sweden (Eat Sleep Die)
Taiwan (Soul)
Turkey (The Butterfly’s Dream)
Ukraine (Parajanov)
United Kingdom (Metro Manila)
About the Feinberg Forecast
Scott has been forecasting the Oscars since 2001 and has one of the strongest track records at doing so. His best showings came in 2006 and 2013, when he correctly called 21 out of 24 winners. He was the only pundit to project best picture nominations for The Reader (2008), The Blind Side (2009) and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011), among other long-shots.
He factors into his projections personal impressions (based on advance screenings), publicly-available information (release dates, genres, talent rosters and teasers/trailers often offer valuable clues), historical considerations (comparing and contrasting how other films with similar pedigrees have resonated), precursor awards (some awards groups have historically correlated with the Academy more than others), and conversations with industry insiders (including fellow members of the press, awards strategists, filmmakers and awards voters).
Follow Scott on Twitter @ScottFeinberg for additional news and analysis.
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