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I know, I know—this most recent Oscar season just ended. But before Oscar Beat goes into a semi-hibernation mode, I wanted to take a quick preview of the next awards season with some way-too-early predictions on which films might become the next Spotlight or The Revenant on the Oscar campaign trail. Now keep in mind that release dates shift, so some of these films could be pushed out of the 2016 season entirely, and some movies that are currently in production may make a surprise entry into the race a la The Big Short last year. To that end, this is not a comprehensive overview. But this preview piece is something of a tradition here at Oscar Beat (I went 3 for 8 in terms of Best Picture nominees with last year’s too-early predictions), so without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the films we could be talking about quite extensively this fall.

Free State of Jones

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Image via STX Entertainment

Release Date: June 24th

Director/Writer: Gary Ross

Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mahershala Ali, Keri Russell, and Brendan Gleeson

Before Birth of a Nation broke out at Sundance, The Hunger Games and Pleasantville filmmaker Gary RossFree State of Jones was the “slavery drama” to watch out for in 2016. Unlike Nation, the film follows a white man embroiled in the issues of the time, in this case a poor farmer who led a group of local slaves in an armed rebellion against the Confederacy. Matthew McConaughey is now an Oscar winner and the cast has prestige in spades, but the spring release date means it might be overshadowed or forgotten later in the year. Still, it’s definitely one to keep an eye on, especially in the wake of Birth of a Nation.

The BFG

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Image via Disney

Release Date: July 1st

Director: Steven Spielberg

Writer: Melissa Mathison

Cast: Ruby Barnhill, Mark Rylance, Penelope Wilton, Rebecca Hall, Bill Hader, and Jemaine Clement

The last time Steven Spielberg teamed up with screenwriter Melissa Mathison—who passed away last year—the result was E.T., so their adaptation of the beloved Roald Dahl fantasy novel The BFG is in this conversation from the get-go. Not to mention the fact that Spielberg’s last three films each earned Best Picture nominations and he’s reteaming here with Bridge of Spies star and Oscar winner Mark Rylance. So while this is definitely a family film and more in the vein of something commercial for the filmmaker, it'd be unwise to rule it out as a potential awards contender as well.

Jason Bourne

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Image via Universal Pictures

Release Date: July 29th

Director: Paul Greengrass

Writers: Paul Greengrass, Christopher Rouse, and Matt Damon

Cast: Matt Damon, Alicia Vikander, Julia Stiles, Tommy Lee Jones, Riz Ahmed, and Vincent Cassel

This is an action-thriller and a sequel, sure, but so was Mad Max: Fury Road and that earned a Best Picture nomination. Moreover, regardless of genre, Jason Bourne marks the next film from Captain Philips and United 93 director Paul Greengrass. These films are great, and with the expanded Best Picture field, it’s not out of the realm of possibility to foresee Jason Bourne landing in the awards conversation if the film turns out to be good. And with the movie tackling topics like Edward Snowden and the NSA, Greengrass and Matt Damon aren’t exactly shying away from thematic relevance.

The Founder

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Image via Open Road

Release Date: August 5th

Director: John Lee Hancock

Writer: Robert D. Siegel

Cast: Michael Keaton, Linda Cardellini, Patrick Wilson, Laura Dern, Nick Offerman, John Carroll Lynch and B.J. Novak

Even if The Founder turns out to simply be a performance showcase for Michael Keaton, it’s still a potential awards contender. The true story behind the McDonald’s empire has a dark history, and Saving Mr. Banks and The Blind Side filmmaker John Lee Hancock aims to tell it with one of our greatest living actors filling the lead role of Ray Croc, a businessman who partnered up with the founder of McDonald’s and subsequently turned it into the mega-franchise it is today—against the founder’s wishes. Friendship, intrigue, and hamburgers.

Southside with You

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Image via Sundance

Release Date: August 19th

Director/Writer: Richard Tanne

Cast: Tika Sumpter and Parker Sawyers

The romantic drama/comedy Southside with You premiered at Sundance this year with plenty of buzz for its subject matter—the first date of President Barak Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama—and it’s actually quite good. The Before Sunrise-esque storytelling device results in minor bouts of monotony (read my full review here), but the film should garner plenty of attention for its terrific performances by Tika Sumpter and Parker Sawyers.

The Light Between Oceans

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Image via Disney

Release Date: September 2nd

Director/Writer: Derek Cianfrance

Cast: Alicia Vikander, Michael Fassbender, and Rachel Weisz

The bestseller adaptation The Light Between Oceans has been in the can for a while now, but The Place Beyond the Pines and Blue Valentine filmmaker Derek Cianfrance’s next film is finally getting released this September. While the release date is a bit of an odd fit—it falls in an in-between range that likely means it’s skipping the major film festivals—the pedigree of its cast and filmmaker make it a must-see regardless. The period drama revolves around a couple who come across a young baby and raise it as their own, only to eventually discover the child’s mother. Vikander is coming off an Oscar win of her own and Fassbender is one of our best actors, so interest in this one will be strong.

Sully

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Image via Warner Bros.

Release Date: September 9th

Director: Clint Eastwood

Writer: Todd Komarnicki

Cast: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart, Anna Gunn, and Laura Linney

How does one turn the saga of pilot hero Chelsey “Sully” Sullenberger into a compelling dramatic feature film? That’s the question at the center of Clint Eastwood’s next movie, Sully, but with Tom Hanks in the starring role and Academy favorite Eastwood in the director’s chair, you can bet this one will be on every voting member’s “to-do” list come this fall. If the movie’s any good, expect to see Eastwood and/or Hanks in the race once again.

The Birth of a Nation

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Image via Fox Searchlight

Release Date: October 7th

Director/Writer: Nate Parker

Cast: Nate Parker, Armie Hammer, Aja Naomi King, Colman Domingo, Mark Boone Junior, Jackie Earle Haley, and Penelope Ann Miller

From the moment writer/producer/director/star Nate Parker’s slave rebellion drama The Birth of a Nation burst onto the scene at Sundance this past January, folks were already pegging this as a major contender in the upcoming Oscar race. And they’re probably not wrong. After #OscarsSoWhite, it’ll be interesting to see how Academy voters respond to films starring people of color later this year, and while Birth of a Nation is a bit messy in places, it struck a nerve at Sundance and is undoubtedly going to be one to watch out for later this year.

The Girl on the Train

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Image via Universal Pictures

Release Date: October 7th

Director: Tate Taylor

Writer: Erin Cressida Wilson

Cast: Emily Blunt, Rebecca Ferguson, Haley Bennett, Justin Theroux, Luke Evans, Edgar Ramirez, Allison Janney, and Lisa Kudrow

While The Help director Tate Taylor’s follow-up film Get on Up failed to gain much traction, his adaptation of the bestselling thriller novel The Girl on the Train has been one of the most talked-about productions of the past few months. With a stellar ensemble, Hitchcockian-plot, and buzzworthy source material, this has the makings of a bona fide box office smash and critical success. If Taylor can deliver the goods, Girl on the Train could be one of the more high-profile Oscar films of the year.

A Monster Calls

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Image via Focus Features

Release Date: October 14th

Director: J.A. Bayona

Writer: Patrick Ness

Cast: Felicity Jones, Liam Neeson, Sigourney Weaver, and Toby Kebbell

The Impossible filmmaker J.A. Bayona aims to take on the fantasy genre and a tearjerker in one fell swoop with A Monster Calls, which tells the story of a young boy who copes with his mother’s terminal cancer diagnosis by being repeatedly visited by a monster in the middle of the night. The source material is highly emotional, and Bayona is a visually ambitious director who could have a serious awards contender on his hands if A Monster Calls hits the right notes.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

Release Date: November 11th

Director: Ang Lee

Writers: Simon Beaufoy and Jean-Christophe Castelli

Cast: Joe Alwyn, Garrett Hedlund, Kristen Stewart, Vin Diesel, Steve Martin, and Chris Tucker

It’ll have been nearly four years since the release of Ang Lee’s Best Director-winning Life of Pi by the time his follow-up, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, comes out, but the film aims to be worth the wait. An Iraq War satire that follows a squad of soldiers during a halftime show at a Dallas Cowboys football game, the film was shot in an unprecedented 120 frames-per-second with 3D cameras, as Lee aims to fully immerse viewers into the world of his next film. Will it be Oscar-worthy? Who knows, but we can bet it’ll be unlike anything we’ve seen before.

Untitled Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard Romantic Thriller

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Image via Sony Pictures

Release Date: November 23rd

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Writer: Steven Knight

Cast: Brad Pitt, Marion Cotillard, Lizzy Caplan, and Jared Harris

While Forrest Gump filmmaker Robert Zemeckis’ return to live-action has yet to yield many Oscar-friendly results, his next feature could do the trick. The untitled romantic thriller takes place in World War II and involves espionage, and with Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard in the starring roles he’s certainly got serious starpower, plus a script by Eastern Promises and Locke scribe Steven Knight. Is this a return to form for Zemeckis or another experiment like The Walk? We’ll find out in short order.

La La Land

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Image via Lionsgate

Release Date: December 16th

Director/Writer: Damien Chazelle

Cast: Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, J.K. Simmons, Finn Wittrock, and Rosemarie DeWitt

Young filmmaker Damien Chazelle burst onto the scene with a dark, terrifying horror-drama about an ambitious jazz drummer called Whiplash, so for his follow-up, he decided to do something entirely different: a colorful musical set in Los Angeles. The fact that this is Chazelle’s next movie makes it interesting, the release date makes it more interesting, and the prospect of Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling starring in said musical makes it a must-see. It’s been a long while since a musical made a serious run at the Oscars, but La La Land could bring the genre back in a big way.

Collateral Beauty

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Image via Warner Bros.

Release Date: December 16th

Director: David Frankel

Writer: Allan Loeb

Cast: Will Smith, Kate Winslet, Keira Knightley, Helen Mirren, Edward Norton, Naomie Harris, and Michael Peña

Admittedly Collateral Beauty was more interesting when Me and Earl and the Dying Girl director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon was at the helm, but that stacked cast remains a big draw with The Devil Wears Prada filmmaker David Frankel now directing. Will Smith plays a New York ad man trying to overcome a tragedy, so the premise has the potential to be either something tremendously emotional or cloyingly maudlin. Either way, this prime mid-December release date puts it in the heart of awards season.

Passengers

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Release Date: December 21st

Director: Morten Tyldum

Writer: Jon Spaihts

Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen, and Laurence Fishburne

The Imitation Game helmer and Best Director nominee Morten Tyldum goes sci-fi for his follow-up feature Passengers, a romantic drama set within the confines of a spacecraft destined for a distant colony planet. When two passengers are awakened 60 years too early, sparks fly. Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt bring the A-list draw here, but in addition to being insanely popular this duo is also insanely talented. Throw in the intriguing premise and the long-in-development script that’s been drawing raves for years, and this has the makings of a curious entry in the awards race.

Silence

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Image via Paramount

Release Date: TBA

Director: Martin Scorsese

Writer: Jay Cocks

Cast: Andrew Garfield, Adam Driver, Liam Neeson, and Ken Watanabe

Martin Scorsese has been trying to make an adaptation of Shusaku Endo’s novel Silence for over two decades now, and the passion project has finally comes to fruition. It sees Scorsese returning to familiar territory—religion—as the story follows two Jesuit priests in 17th century Japan as they search for their mentor and propagate Christianity. Throw in Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver—two of the most interesting actors working today—in the starring roles, and you’ve got one hell of a project. This is the most anticipated film of the upcoming awards season.

Manchester by the Sea

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Image via Amazon Prime

Release Date: TBA

Director/Writer: Kenneth Lonergan

Cast: Casey Affleck, Lucas Hedges, Michelle Williams, Kyle Chandler, Gretchen Mol, Tate Donovan, and Kara Hayward

I’ve already seen Manchester by the Sea at Sundance, so I can confirm that it is without doubt one of the best films of the year already. You Can Count on Me filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan has created a masterful portrait of grief that is wholly humanistic and honest in its approach to drama. It is a tremendously moving film with phenomenal performances by Casey Affleck and Michelle Williams, and by all means should be a major contender in the coming awards race. The big question mark here is its distributor, Amazon Studios, which is making its first big Oscar play after acquiring the film at Sundance. They promise a monumental awards push, so it’ll be interesting to see how the industry reacts to this new player in the game.

The Zookeeper's Wife

Release Date: TBA

Director: Niki Caro

Writer: Angela Workman

Cast: Jessica Chastain, Johan Heldenbergh, and Daniel Bruhl

This adaptation of the bestselling novel The Zookeeper’s Wife has the hallmarks of an Oscar favorite: World War II setting, awards friendly cast, Nazis, etc. But it also sounds pretty terrific. Jessica Chastain leads the true story of a woman who, with her husband, kept the Warsaw Zoo in the late 1930s and saved the lives of Jews by hiding them in animal cages. Focus Features hasn’t set a release date yet, but expect it to land an awards-friendly berth soon.