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6/17/2011

Internal Competition - Acting Categories by Studios


SONY not only has a lot of viable contenders in every acting category, they also face internal competitions in several cases. If they downgraded a few co-leads (one of the Carnage-couples, Knightley and Fassbender), suddenly they would have a much better case...it would only cost their integrity...but hey, if that's what needs to be done in order to secure nods for all these amazing actors, then who am I to judge ?

PARAMOUNT is looking good, they have exactly one strong contender in each acting category and thanks to the lack of internal competition (within the studio), all four could make it. Hopefully Charlize Theron will shine in Young Adult, and the children of Hugo Cabret will deliver, as well. I know Ben Kingsley will.

WARNER BROS has a few very solid contenders on paper (DiCaprio, Watts, Dench, Hanks, Bullock, Fiennes), the mystery is whether the Academy will embrace ANYONE from Contagion or not. The film features one of the most impressive casts of 2011...but then again, Inception had an equally great ensemble and the Academy still ignored the actors...so sci-fi-s and acting categories probably don't mix that well.

FOX could have a very succesful year, at the moment they have two – on paper – strong contenders in each acting category thanks to the directors behind them, who are very succesful when it comes to pulling brilliant performances out of their actors. For now, I consider Brad Pitt the frontrunner in the supporting actor category...

BUENA VISTA has The Help, the film that'll feature probably several outstanding female performances and War Horse, that might be considered more of a spectacular family film than an acting showcase. On paper the three ladies from The Help are co-leads, but in reality I'm fairly certain only one of them will be campaigned lead (Emma Stone or Viola Davis), all the others (including Octavia Spencer, Cicely Tyson and Bryce Dallas Howard) will end up in the supporting category. Meanwhile it looks like War Horse's best shot at an acting nomination is two-time nominee Emily Watson, who has the grateful role of „the worrying mother”, although the stunning ensemble could easily hide other standouts AND the unknown lead could surprise, as well.

THE WEINSTEIN COMPANY might not have a lot of contenders, but the ones they DO have, are remarkably strong at the moment, so the brothers have a good shot at getting several of their contenders in all 4 categories.

FOCUS FEATURES is a big question mark at the moment when it comes to the acting categories, because they have several critically acclaimed performances (Wasikowska, Fassbender, Ronan, Blanchett, Plummer) that could easily get in, but the early release dates hurt them considerably, meanwhile we still don't have any early word on the contenders who are in films with MUCH more Academy-friendly release dates (One Day, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy).

SUMMIT's problem that they have 3 films with potential acting contenders and the first might be too early (A Better Life has a June release date), the second might be too light (a comedy about cancer ?) and the third – the one that COULD be a strong player (The Impossible) – doesn't even have a release date yet...or a trailer...or even a promotional still.

UNIVERSAL has a shot at getting rave reviews for Jim Sheridan's Dream House, and especially its performances (Craig, Weisz, Watts), the problem is the genre might not be the Academy's cup of tea, and ALL three actors have other potential Awards-campaigns this year. Although there is a slight chance, the summer comedies (Larry Crowne, Crazy Stupid Love) will break out in a big way, acting nominations would be still highly unlikely.

FILMDISTRICT has the privilege to be able to focus all their energy on ONE acting contender, and that's Johnny Depp. That is definitely a good start considering other studios will not only have several actors' campaigns on their hands, but in a lot of cases, they'll have contenders competing against each other.


BEST ACTRESSBEST ACTOR
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
SONY
JODIE FOSTERDANIEL CRAIGMARION COTILLARDCHRISTOPHER PLUMMER

KATE WINSLETCHRISTOPH WALTZKATHY BATESSTELLAN SKARSGAARD

KEIRA KNIGHTLEYJOHN C. REILLYMARISA TOMEIVINCENT CASSEL

ROONEY MARAVIGGO MORTENSENEVAN RACHEL WOODPAUL GIAMATTI

ELENA ANAYAMICHAEL FASSBENDER

GEORGE CLOONEY

MIA WASIKOWSKARYAN GOSLING

PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN



BRAD PITT

PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN



SEAN PENN

JONAH HILL



ANTONIO BANDERAS

JAN CORNET
PARAMOUNT
CHARLIZE THERONASA BUTTERFIELDCHLOE MORETZBEN KINGSLEY

FELICITY JONESANTON YELCHIN



WARNER BROS
MARION COTILLARDLEONARDO DICAPRIOSANDRA BULLOCKTOM HANKS



THOMAS HORNNAOMI WATTSARMIE HAMMER



MATT DAMON
JUDI DENCHRALPH FIENNES





KATE WINSLETJUDE LAW





GWYNETH PALTROWBRYAN CRANSTON







LAURENCE FISHBURNE







JOHN HAWKES
FOX
SCARLETT JOHANSSONMATT DAMONELLE FANNINGBRAD PITT

ELIZABETH OLSENGEORGE CLOONEYJESSICA CHASTAINSEAN PENN

MAGGIE SMITH

SHAILENE WOODLEYBILL NIGHY





AMANDA SEYFRIEDDEV PATEL





JUDI DENCHTOM WILKINSON
BUENA VISTA
EMMA STONE
JEREMY IRWINE
EMILY WATSONDAVID THEWLIS

VIOLA DAVIS


CICELY TYSON


OCTAVIA SPENCER


BRYCE D. HOWARD

THE WEINSTEIN CO.
MERYL STREEPJEAN DUJARDINVANESSA REDGRAVEJIM BROADBENT

MICHELLE WILLIAMSRALPH FIENNESJULIA ORMONDKENNETH BRANAGH

ANDREA RISEBOROUGHEDDIE REDMAYNEJESSICA CHASTAINGERARD BUTLER

ABBIE CORNISH





FOCUS FEATURES
MIA WASIKOWKSAMICHAEL FASSBENDERCATE BLANCHETTCHRISTOPHER PLUMMER

ANNE HATHAWAYGARY OLDMANMELANIE LAURENTCOLIN FIRTH

SAOIRSE RONANJIM STURGESS

TOM HARDY

HELEN MIRRENEWAN MCGREGOR



SUMMIT
NAOMI WATTSEWAN MCGREGORANNA KENDRICK




DEMIAN BICHIR






JOSEPH GORDON LEWITT



UNIVERSAL
RACHEL WEISZDANIEL CRAIGNAOMI WATTS


JULIA ROBERTSSTEVE CARRELLJULIANNE MOORERYAN GOSLING



TOM HANKSEMMA STONE

FILMDISTRICT


JOHNNY DEPPAMBER HEARDGIOVANNI RIBISI



RYAN GOSLINGCAREY MULLIGAN

1 comment:

  1. I really want to see Streep and Williams get nominated next year, but looking at both are from Weinstein, I sense something dangerous.

    Last year they had Firth and Gosling but they only succeed in getting Firth in.

    ReplyDelete