by Nathaniel R
Elle Fanning and Michelle Pfeiffer in the forthcoming series MARGOT'S GOT MONEY TROUBLE
Let's gently segueway now to a new year in film. When Cláudio reminded us that Timothée Chalamet has high profile projects coming up in the wake of two consecutive years of 'close-but-no-cigar' Best Actor runs, it got me to thinking about what's next for each of this year's nominees. We're skipping anything we already covered in the first 2026 previews we did (Dune Part Three, Digger, The Odyssey, The Weight, etc) So herewith 20 enticing projects from film, tv, and stage featuring one or more of the players who were just up for Oscar gold. Will they return to the Oscar stage and, if so, how soon? The projects are listed in rough ascending order of current interest though that could obviously change once we see stills, trailers, or hear more buzz...
20 NEAR FUTURE PROJECTS FROM THE MOST RECENT OSCAR NOMINEES
THE PLOUGHMEN
Nominee involved: Amy Madigan (Supporting Actress, Weapons)
Madigan often works with her longtime husband Ed Harris. They're doing just that again for this western mystery that Harris is directing (though he's not co-starring). Harris has only directed two previous features, the biopic Pollock (2000) which won Marcia Gay Harden her Oscar in Madigan's category and the western Appaloosa (2008). The Ploughmen will star Nick Nolte, Bill Murray, and Owen Teague.
THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR
Nominees involved: Ruth E. Carter (Costume Designer, Sinners), Michael B Jordan (Actor, Sinners)
The two-time Oscar winner is once again dressing the just-crowned Michael B Jordan. This time for the star's rethink of the classic classy romantic thriller. Even more exciting than watching Carter due her incredible thing again might be the return of the great cinematographer Bradford Young (of Arrival and fame) who has been gone for an explicably long time.
X-FILES REBOOT
Nominees involved: Ryan Coogler (Director/Writer/Producer, Sinners), Autumn Arkapaw (Cinematographer, Sinners), Francine Maisler (Casting Director, Sinners), Michael Ralla (Visual Effects, Sinners)
Unfortunately Coogler's next project is not an original like Sinners, but a reboot of the much beloved 1990s genre series. The very talented Danielle Deadwyler stars though thankfully it's not a full remake so she's not playing Sculler but a new character.
THE BOY IN THE IRON BOX
nominees involved; Mike Hill & Cliona Furey (Makeup, Frankenstein),
This is a supernatural horror film based on a serialized novel by Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan. The cast includes Rupert Friend and former child star Jaeden Martell (It) who is now 23. Is he playing younger and the titular character?
OCTOBER
Nominee involved: Michael Fontaine (Makeup, Sinners)
Fontaine, who worked on two of the Best Picture nominees last year (he also did the prosthetics for Timothée Chalamet in Marty Supreme) is next doing makeup duties for a horror thriller from Jeremy Saulnier (Green Room, Blue Ruin, Rebel Ridge) set on Halloween night. While the synopsis sounds generic the team assembled is promising. The ensemble cast is especially exciting: Sophie Wilde, Young Mazino, Cory Michael Smith, Imogen Poots, and James Badge Dale.
THE OUTSIDE
Nominee involved: Amanda Villavieja (Sound, Sirāt)
Villavieja follows up her well deserved Oscar nomination with sound duties on another Spanish language film set in the desert. The Outside is a sci-fi effort about a man and a woman whose space shuttle crashes on earth. To survive they. follow a strange shepherd woman into the barren landscape. It's also a narrative feature debut for the acclaimed documentarian Victor Moreno.
THE LOVED ONE
Nominee involved: Yasmina Peredas (Sound, Sirāt)
Peredas, who did incredible work on Sirāt, is wrapping sound duties on a Spanish drama starring Oscar winner Javier Bardem and directed by Oscar nominee Rodrigo Soroyen (of Madre and The Beasts fame). The film has a plot that sounds (at least in vague synopsis) exactly like Sentimental Value in that it's about a director and his actress daughter who have an estranged tense relationship and decide to make a film together. Bardem's co-stars include fellow Almodóvar alums like Raúl Arévalo (I'm So Excited) and Melina Matthews (The Room Next Door) as well as French actress Marina Foǐs.
M Night Shyamalan on the set of "REMAIN"
REMAIN
Nominee involved: Adolphe Velonso (Cinematographer, Train Dreams)
Normally we wouldn't be too excited about a new M Night Shyamalan movie but who knows? This thriller is due in early 2027 and stars Jake Gyllenhaal as an architect who has recently left a psychiatric facility. The most exciting thing about it sight unseen is imagining what else Velonso can do since he absolutely earned that Train Dreams Oscar nomination.
BAD BRIDGET
Nominee involved: Kate Hawley (Costume Designer)
Rich Peppiatt, the man behind the raucous Oscar nominated Irish music pic Kneecap (2024) is doing a 19th century drama about troubled women. We hope it's as irreverent with as much energy as his breakout. Two great young actresses Daisy Edgar Jones and Emilia Jones (no relation) star. Famine-stricken Ireland doesn't scream COSTUME DESIGN the way Frankenstein did but you never know.
THE NIGHTINGALE
Nominee involved: Dakota Fanning (Supporting Actress, Sentimental Value)
Yes, it's true Elle is STILL planning to co-star with her real life sister Dakota Fanning in this WW II picture about sibling nurses in Germany-occupied France. It's been in development since 2019 and we thought it was going the way of Flora Plum... (IYKYK) but apparently it will start filming soon.
THE SEAL WOMAN
Nominees involved: Olivier Bugge Countté, Editor Sentimental Value)
This Danish drama is about a grieving man and a myth involving the dead becoming seals once a year.
From the stage production of "The Collaboration". © Marc Brenner
THE COLLABORATION
Nominee involved: Hannah Beachler (Production Designer, Sinners)
Currently in post-production this play adaptation focuses on a partnership between Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat with Paul Bettany and Tony nominee Jeremy Pope reprising their stage roles. Daniel Brühl leads the supporting cast as the art collector who paired them. The director is Kwame Kwei-Armah
CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE
Nominees involved: Hannah Beachler (Production Design, Sinners)
Beachler is also designing the Gina Prince Bythewood adaptation of this fantasy novel by Tomi Adeyemi. It's got an all star cast (Cynthia Erivo, Lashana Lynch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Idris Elba, Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu... etcetera) and it could legitimately be amazing. But that January 2027 release date does not bode well for the studio's faith in it... unless of course this release date is misleading and they're planning to open in limited release in late 2026 with awards in mind.
ON EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS
Nominee involved: Jennifer Venditti (Casting, Marty Supreme)
Venditti is presumably still casting this since it hasn't gone in front of cameras yet. It's the next feature film for the exciting Georgian/Swedish director Levan Akin (And Then We Danced, Crossing) and it's about a Vietnamese-American teenager who travels back to Vietnam which changes his life.
THREE INCESTUOUS SISTERS
Nominee involved: Jessie Buckley (Actress, Hamnet)
Will that provocative title, based on a illustrated book of the same name, be a great film? It'll certainly be starry. Buckley co-stars opposite Saoirse Ronan (still waiting on her Oscar), and Dakota Johnson as the titular characters who have been holed up together in seclusion for years. In comes ubiquitous pheromone trailing Josh O'Connor and their lives explode. Italian actress/director Alba Rohrwacher is behind the camera. We're probably looking at late 2027 for this release since it starts filming this year.
MARGOTS GOT MONEY TROUBLE
Nominee involved: Elle Fanning (Supporting Actress, Sentimental Value)
Obviously I'm excited for this not for the titular Fanning but for her co-star Michelle Pfeiffer who is playing her mother I believe? After decades of film stardom the goddess herself appears to be pivoting to television with two new series this year. One just premiered (The Madison) and Margot is later in the year. This is La Pfeiffer's third project with Elle Fanning after the latter's cameo in I Am Sam (2001) and their large supporting roles in Maleficent: Mistress of Evil (2019)
UNTITLED MIKE LEIGH PROJECT
Nominees involved; Nina Gold (Casting Director)
We know nothing about this project yet but it's Mike Leigh so we don't need to. We're happy to discover it as it evolves, much like the actors therein. Leigh is now 83 years old and we don't understand what the Academy's wait is on an Honorary Oscar. Leigh is a cinematic giant who has been nominated 7 times and already should have already won. Explain yourself, Academy!
FALLEN ANGELS
Nominee involved: Rose Byrne (Actress, If I Had Legs I'd Kick You)
Next up for Byrne is the Noel Coward comedy Fallen Angels on Broadway with Tony winner Kelli O'Hara. This is Byrne's second time on the Broadway stage. She was good in the revival of the comedy You Can't Take It With You a dozen years ago even if the right performer was singled out for Tony glory (Annaleigh Ashford) at the time. Previews began TODAY so perhaps this shouldn't be listed in "future" projects.
NO REST FOR THE WICKED
Nominee involved: (Makeup, Thomas Foldberg)
The makeup man from The Ugly Stepsister follows up that provocation with another one: the new film is a 19th century gay Danish romantic horror picture (!!!). It's about a fisherman (model turned actor Jegor Venned) who falls for a rugged whaler (Pilou Asbaek of A War, Hijacking, and Game of Thrones fame). Their forbidden romance triggers something horrible. The film was shot in the Faroe Islands so we hope it's visually stunning at the very least.
GOLD MOUNTAIN
Nominees involved: Jack Fisk and Adam Willis (Production Design, Marty Supreme)
The last we heard about this project was last summer but it's supposed to start filming soon. It's an adaptation of a novel called "How Much Of These Hills Is Gold" by C Pam Zhang. The reason we're excited is that it comes from two time Best Director winner Ang Lee. The story involves orphaned Chinese immigrant siblings attempting to escape their mining town and give their father a proper burial. While it's been 14 years since Ang Lee made a well received picture (Life of Pi) hope springs eternal given how many stunning films he made in the first half of his career.
WILD THINGS
nominee involved: Glen P Griffin (Makeup, Smashing Machine)
We're praying this limited series is sensational because the subject matter begs for it to be epic! It's a series about Las Vegas mainstays Seigfried & Roy with Oscar & Emmy nominees Jude Law and Andrew Garfield as those infamous tiger-trainers.
Which of these projects sound more exciting to you?