Cannes Film Festival may be the unofficial beginning of the Oscars 2024 season and the festival lineup this year looks to contain some promising titles. However, CinemaCon is a time when studios bring their biggest and brightest for what’s to come this year.
Judging by CinemaCon last year, it showcased four of the 10 latest Best Picture nominees including Elvis, Top Gun: Maverick, Avatar: The Way of Water and Tar. Another nominee, Triangle of Sadness, went on to debut at Cannes and pick up the Palme d’Or with Top Gun: Maverick and Elvis also debuting at the prestigious festival. The point is, that these two significant events can end up having a lot of impact heading towards the Oscars and it is worth paying attention to.
It all begins with CinemaCon and as the Las Vegas event just wrapped up, it is an appropriate time to dive into some Best Picture heavyweights for the Oscars 2024, that were on display at CinemaCon.
Oppenheimer
If there was doubt about the potential for Christopher Nolan’s next film for its upcoming Oscar run then its presentation from the Universal panel at CinemaCon should clear that up. In fact, Oppenheimer could pull away as an early favourite if early reactions are to be believed alongside the cast and crew raving about the film. You know Nolan will be crafting this film for the big screen and the film genre based in historical roots – two things the Academy will appreciate.
Barbie
In terms of Best Picture contention, this film may be the most divisive of them all. However, I believe in Barbie! By saying that, I mean, I believe in Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, Margot Robbie, and Alexander Desplat. The creatives behind the film have a crazy amount of talent and experience to bring to the film – I trust this will translate to Oscar success, in a similar fashion to Gerwig and Baumbach’s other films. Robbie and Gosling showed in style to showcase Barbie at CinemaCon.
Dune: Part Two
Coming quickly after the highly acclaimed 2021 film, Dune – won a mighty 6 Oscars from 10 nominations including Best Picture. The big question is, can Dune: Part Two replicate the success, especially with a more crowded slate? With Denis Villeneuve at the helm alongside an A-List cast, you can not rule it out from major Oscar contention. It’s the conclusion to the set-up of the first film and if reactions to the first footage are to be believed, we could be in for something special.
Napoleon
It’s tough to bet against Ridley Scott but if we are to go by recent history, this film can land in any direction. The Apple Original Films’ production showed extended footage to its attendees and the filmmaking craft was on display with a major battle sequence with hundreds of extras was shown. The story of Napoleon strikes as Oscar-friendly and with Apple/Sony committing to a strong theatrical release model, it may be home-run that Scott needs to pick up his first Directing nomination.
Asteroid City
Not too much from the Focus Features panel at CinemaCon for Asteroid City – I presume that Focus is putting all its eggs in one basket for its debut at the Cannes Film Festival in May. Wes Anderson struck gold with The Grand Budapest Hotel with 4 Oscar wins and 9 total nominations, including Best Picture. If sources are to be believed, Asteroid City is meant to be one of Anderson’s best pieces of work and perhaps the best he has done. We’ll find out soon!
Killers of the Flower Moon
A Martin Scorsese western featuring Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro is essentially a recipe for an automatic Best Picture nomination. Scorsese has promised this is a big-screen movie that is made on an epic scale which Apple Original Films will likely honour with a solid theatrical release. The footage shown at CinemaCon was met with very high praise and we’ll get our first reviews following its Cannes debut.
The Color Purple
Steven Spielberg co-produces the Alice Walker novel after his film version debuted in 1985 and picked up 11 Oscar nominations including Best Picture. Producer, Oprah, presented the first look for the film during the Warner Bros panel and has been described to offer plenty of sass, singing, and beautiful costumes. The Color Purple is a musical reimaging that is based on the 2005 Broadway musical which is based on the classic novel by Alice Walker.
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