Murtada here. Now that the Oscars are behind us (and our coverage concluded) our eyes turn to the future. Josh told you about new projects for four winners. But what of the "Best" losers? Let's start with the magnificent Carol ladies and move on to other actresses to see where they're headed next.
10+ future prospects after the jump...
Cate Blanchett: To get it out of the way first; it's all but confirmed she'll be in Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok. More interestingly she might play Lucille Ball in an upcoming biopic written by Aaron Sorkin; and star in Richard Linklater’s adaptation of the bestseller Where’d You Go, Bernadette. The latter is the most intriguing to us, as the book is a funny and quirky story. Wouldn’t it be fun to see Cate play in that register? And finally will make her Broadway debut late this year in Chekov's The Present.
Oscar Chances: She won for playing Katharine Hepburn so a nomination at least feels guaranteed for Lucille Ball. Especially with a great director. May we suggest Steven Soderbergh? He did so well with the Liberace story. The Good German reunion we didn’t know we needed.
Rooney Mara: Two movies with Gareth Davis (Top of the Lake); Lion with Nicole Kidman and Dev Patel, and a Mary Magdalene biopic. Lion just got The Weinstein Company's prime Thanksgiving release date where they previously launched multiple Oscar nominees The King's Speech, Philomena and Carol. But first is Una with Ben Mendelsohn, based on the play Blackbird which is currently playing on Broadway with Michelle Williams and Jeff Daniels. Also in the can is Jim Sheridan’s The Secret Scripture in which Mara shares the role of a mental patient in early 20th century Ireland with Vanessa Redgrave. And in the next few weeks she starts working on her real life beau Charlie McDowell’s The Discovery with Nicholas Hoult.
Oscar Chances : Una might become her Room as the story, of a woman who confronts the older man with whom she had an affair years ago while still a minor, should be as visceral and hard to ignore.
Phyllis & Sandy, the other MVPs of Carol
Phyllis Nagy, Screenwriter: She's adapting The Trap a crime thriller about a famous and reclusive writer who lures the man she believes killed her sister to her house in an attempt to get his confession. And she’s also writing a biopic of actress Rachel Roberts with Rachel Weisz attached. Roberts' life - married and divorced from Rex Harrison, she tried for years to win him back and finally took her own life - is compelling material. If you've read Mark Harris' "Pictures at a Revolution" you got a peak of that tumultuous Roberts/Harrison drama. Nagy called the project "another parable of what happens to women with real talent, but some real problems".
Oscar Chances: Will Nagy become a perennial? Forecast looks good since, in addition to Carol, her previous effort Mrs Harris was nominated for many Emmys.
Sandy Powell, Costume Designer: John Cameron Mitchell’s How to Talk to Girls at Parties is already finished and she just announced that she’ll be working on Todd Haynes’ next Wonderstruck and that part of the movie will be in a black and white; a new challenge for her.
Oscar Chances: Always.
Will the Other Actress Nominees Be Back Soon?
Jennifer Lawrence: Lawrence is very busy. Already finished are X-Men: Apocalypse and space romance Passengers with Chris Pratt. She’s also writing a movie with Amy Schumer, possibly playing Fidel Castro’s lover in Marita, and starring in Darren Aronofsky’s still untitled upcoming movie.
Oscar Chances: a biopic; and Aronofsky plus continous Academy adoration = very likely.
Charlotte Rampling: She is in Guy Maddin’s next film Seances, and alongside Jim Broadbent and Michelle Dockery in the indie The Sense of an Ending. Both look like supporting parts.
Oscar Chances: None of her upcoming movies seem like Oscar material but then 45 Years wasn't either. However she needs to refrain from giving any interviews if she’d like to be invited back.
Saoirse Ronan: Started previews the day after the Oscars on Broadway in a revival of Arthur Miller's The Crucible with Ben Whishaw. As for movies, there is an upcoming adaptation of Chekhov’s The Seagull with Annette Bening, Elisabeth Moss, and Corey Stoll. In addition, Ronan is attached to star in another adaptation from Atonement novelist Ian McEwan, titled On Chesil Beach.
Oscar Chances: She might become the new Oscar perennial. The story and the part she’s earmarked for in On Chesil Beach are devastating and I could see her easily win if it’s done right. However it’s a question mark because it's a first time feature director, Dominic Cooke, who's only worked in theatre and TV so far. Though he follows in the British theater tradition of Sam Mendes and Stephen Daldry. Those two have won Oscars for their actors.
Rachel McAdams: Doctor Strange. That’s it, really? Probably we will hear soon of her post nomination project. Although she disappeared for years last time she had a major career breakthrough with the double punch of Mean Girls and The Notebook.
Oscar Chances: Nope.
Jennifer Jason Leigh: She will be Lady Bird Johnson opposite Woody Harrelson’s LBJ, directed by Rob Reiner. And her post nomination plum project is the sci-fi movie Annihilation alongside Natalie Portman, Gina Rodriguez and Tessa Thompson and directed by Alex Garland (Ex Machina).
Oscar Chances: Hmmm. Garland broke through with Ex Machina but still sci-fi so... (their least favorite genre for actors). Biopics though are always on their radar but Reiner's movies haven't been embraced in years.
Kate Winslet: The Dressmaker still hasn’t made it to the US. She’s starring with a murderous row of other Oscar nominees including Will Smith, Helen Mirren, Keira Knightley and Edward Norton in Collateral Beauty, directed by David Frankel (The Devil wears Prada).
Oscar Chances: Despite the primo December release date we think the Golden Globes are Beauty’s best chance.
Which upcoming films have your attention?