Oscars 2013: Our Very, Very Early Predictions for Next Year's Contenders

More

Now that one season of speculation is over, let's start another.

early oscar contenders 615 fallon.jpg

Various

Predicting the Oscars is a tricky endeavor. At this point last year, The Artist was on nobody's radar. Then, out of the blue black-and-white, the charming little silent film brought the Cannes audience to its feet and steamrolled its way to Best Picture, roaring past big Hollywood contenders like Tree of Life, Moneyball, and Ides of March—which we had pegged, one year out, as the early 2012 Oscar favorites.

Of course, further highlighting the perils of peering into the crystal ball too soon, we had also flagged the Lincoln assassination drama The Conspirator and the Tom Hanks-Julia Roberts midlife-crisis-as-romcom Larry Crowne as likely nominees. The former came and went quietly, while Hanks felt so sheepish about the latter that he reportedly refunded a couple at a gas station the price of their tickets as an apology for its quality.

Nonetheless, predicting is fun. And our batch from last year did include a good number of the eventual nominees. So with caveats voiced, here are the 16 forthcoming films that, at this juncture, look to be the best bets for major category nominations in 2013. From Gatsby in 3D to Sandra Bullock in space to Hugh Jackman singing, here's a look at the likely contenders:

Jump to comments
Presented by

Kevin Fallon is a reporter for the Daily Beast. He's a former entertainment editor at TheWeek.com and former writer and producer for The Atlantic's entertainment channel.

Get Today's Top Stories in Your Inbox (preview)


Elsewhere on the web

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register. blog comments powered by Disqus

Video

Miami: The Next Big Start-Up City?

How the city became a center for innovation

Video

Video

A Brief History of Romantic Comedies

From The Atlantic's Chris Orr

Video

Life in 'the New Arctic'

A moving portrait of a fading landscape

Video

Video

The Rise of New York City

A fascinating look at Manhattan in the 1940s

Video

What Is Methane Hydrate?

"Flaming ice" is a vast natural energy source

Video

NASA's Time-Lapse of the Sun

Now with epic dubstep music

Video

Shaken Not Tuned: Cocktail Experiments

Can a tuning fork improve a cocktail?

Video

Video

Is He Cheating? A 1950s Guide

'That little blonde secretary from the office?’

Video

New Yorkers: Vintage Vacuum-Tube Amps

Risking electric shock to restore old amplifiers

Video

The DIY Piano-Bicycle

Everybody needs a hobby

Video

What Does It Take to Make Real Craft Gin?

Tour the Green Hat Gin distillery

Video

Letter From the Editor

The June 2013 issue

Video

What Straights Can Learn From Same-Sex Couples

New insight from decades of research

Video

The End of the Mall Rat

A tribute to that pillar of teen culture

Writers

Up
Down

More in Entertainment

In Focus

Finland in World War II

Just In