Which films were considered the 2015 Oscar frontrunners a year ago?
Mere days after watching Lupita Nyong'o walk home with an Oscar and 12 Years a Slave take best picture, film enthusiasts were already predicting who would dominate next year's awards conversation. We round up some 2015 Oscar predictions written last March and see who was most spot-on with their picks:
The Hollywood Reporter
Posted March 2, 2014, by Matthew Belloni and Gregg Kilday
- Big Eyes
- Inherent Vice
- Into the Woods
- The Imitation Game
- Get On Up
- Gone Girl
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Unbroken
Number of best picture nominees: 2
Number of overall nominees: 6
Indiewire's The Playlist
Posted March 5, 2014, by Oliver Lyttelton
- A Most Violent Year
- Foxcatcher
- The Imitation Game
- Inherent Vice
- Interstellar
- Gone Girl
- The Search
- Trash
- Unbroken
- Wild
And his "five that could surprise?"
- Beasts of No Nation
- Big Eyes
- Birdman
- Get on Up
- Suite Française
Number of best picture nominees: 2
Number of overall nominees: 8
The Atlantic
Posted March 6, 2014, by Kevin Fallon
- Big Eyes
- Boyhood
- Foxcatcher
- Gone Girl
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- The Imitation Game
- Inherent Vice
- Interstellar
- Into the Woods
- Jersey Boys
- Knight of Cups
- Unbroken
Number of best picture nominees: 3
Number of overall nominees: 9
While a number of these films fell out of the race because of poor reviews (Jersey Boys, Unbroken) and squashed expectations (Big Eyes, Interstellar), a handful of them never even got released. We give you a status update on those five titles:
Knight of Cups
Starring Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett and Natalie Portman, Terrence Malick's Hollywood-set drama premiered at the Berlin Film Festival this month to mixed reviews. It's due in theaters this December.
Trash
Described as the "Brazilian Slumdog Millionaire," the latest film from director Stephen Daldry (The Reader, Billy Elliott) has played internationally, although a U.S. release hasn't been set. It stars Rooney Mara and Martin Sheen.
The Search
This war drama from Oscar winner Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) debuted at Cannes last year, and since played the Palm Springs festival stateside in January. It features Artist breakout Bérénice Bejo and Annette Bening, and no U.S. release has been announced.
Beasts of No Nation
Starring Idris Elba, this film adaptation of Uzodinma Iweala’s 2005 novel follows a West African boy recruited by guerrilla fighters in the midst of civil war. It is expected for release by Focus Features sometime this year.
Suite Française
Michelle Williams, Kristin Scott Thomas and Margot Robbie (The Wolf of Wall Street) lead this World War II drama, out in the U.K. next month. A stateside release hasn't been announced.