With the Academy Awards done and dusted, it’s time to look for the future. Which movies will triumph next year? And which actors will stand out from the rest? We take a look at the films set to make big waves at the Oscars in 2019.
Boy Erased
This coming-of-age drama is based on Garrard Conley’s memoir, Boy Erased: A Memoir. Emerging star Lucas Hedges plays the son of a Baptist pastor, who is pressured into going to gay conversion therapy or else be shunned by family and friends. Hedges has already turned heads this year, having been nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Manchester by the Sea, as well as playing parts in Oscar nominated films Lady Bird and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
The film is being directed by Joel Edgerton, who also wrote the screenplay, and whose last film The Gift in 2015 was a surprise commercial and critical hit. This, as well as the fact that the film stars Oscar-winners Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman, suggests the film could bag a few gongs at next year’s awards.
Isle of Dogs
Wes Anderson’s latest film Isle of Dogs – about a group of dogs quarantined on an island in a dystopian future Japan – is set to get a few Oscar nominations, particularly in the Best Animated Feature category. Anderson is a regular on the Oscars scene – with films like The Grand Budapest Hotel bagging several awards – and the movie also features a star-studded voice cast, including Greta Gerwig, Bryan Cranston, and Jeff Goldblum.
Beautiful Boy
This father-son film depicts the recovery of a meth addict through the eyes of his father. Directed by Felix Van Groeningen, it stars Timothée Chalamet – who was nominated this year for an Oscar for Best Actor for his role in Call Me By Your Name, and was highly praised for his part in the Oscar-nominated Lady Bird – and another well-known Oscar nominee, Steve Carell. The movie is also produced by Brad Pitt’s company, Plan B Entertainment.
Black Panther
With Black Panther smashing records at the box office – the movie grossed $404 million worldwide in its first weekend alone, making it the highest opening February film of all time – it’s likely that this film will be nominated for a number of awards. And, although superhero films are often sidelined at the Academy Awards (Wonder Woman didn’t get a single nomination at this year’s ceremony), this ground-breaking movie should at least get some nominations in the technical categories. The film, directed by Ryan Coogler, who has indicated there could be a sequel, also stars Lupita Nyong’o, who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role in 12 Years a Slave in 2014.
If Beale Street Could Talk
Based on James Baldwin’s novel of the same name, If Beale Street Could Talk is about a pregnant woman attempting to prove her fiancé is not guilty of committing a crime. Written and directed by Barry Jenkins, who directed and co-wrote Oscar-winning Moonlight, this film has all the ingredients of an Oscar-winning production. It has a cast filled with big names like Regina King, Diego Luna, Dave Franco, as well as newcomer Kiki Layne, who is playing the main role.
The Wife
The Wife premiered at the Toronto film festival last year, without a distributor, and was picked up by Sony Pictures Classics, which decided to hold off the mainstream release until 2018. Directed by Björn Runge (Daybreak), the movie is about a woman questioning her life, who visits Stockholm with her husband, a man in contention for the Nobel Prize for Literature. The film stars six-time Oscar nominee Glenn Close, with many praising her role in The Wife as the best performance of her career.
Mary Queen of Scots
This historical drama, directed by Josie Rourke and written by House of Cards‘ Beau Willimon, is based on John Guy’s biography My Heart Is My Own: The Life of Mary Queen of Scots. With the movie starring Oscar nominees Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie alongside David Tennant, it’s set to make a big impact at next year’s awards.
Solo: A Star Wars Story
This Han Solo spin-off will be released this year, directed by Ron Howard starring Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, Emilia Clarke as Qi’Ra and Woody Harrelson as Tobias Beckett. And, while the Oscars has a chequered history with the Star Wars franchise – the first ever film won six awards, but none of the rest have come close to that number – it could still rack up a few nominations in the technical categories.