5. John Wells - August: Osage County
If you are scratching your head and saying, "Who in the Sam Hill is John Wells?" (because I assume the majority of my readers talk like Yosemite Sam), don't fret, Mr. Wells is easily the most low profile name to make it on this list. John Wells up to this point in his career has worked mostly in television, as a writer and producer on a myriad of different shows. His one foray into the feature film business came in 2010 with The Company Men, an economic recession drama starring Ben Affleck that received a middling response from critics and audiences alike. This may all change though this fall, because Wells is directing August: Osage County, an adaptation of a very successful Tracy Letts play that is likely to be a player in this Oscar season. The play, which focuses on a bitter family reunion in Oklahoma when the family learns of their sardonic matriarch's diagnosis of cancer, was wildly popular among theatre awards bodies, so there is reason to suspect it can pull off the same trick with cinematic awards bodies as well. Particularly given the fact that the film has a staggering cast that includes the venerable Meryl Streep as it star, Julia Roberts as it co-star, and supporting players such as Juliette Lewis, Ewan McGregor, Sam Shepard, Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Cooper, and Abigail Breslin, its hard to imagine it won't be seeing some awards attention. In fact, the biggest question mark for the film is Mr. Wells himself. Hardly a proven director, it's somewhat surprising to see a movie with this prestigious a cast to be handed over to a relative newbie. In all honesty though, and this is meant as no disrespect to Mr. Wells who may be a fine director, the film doesn't really need that great a director to be successful. Plays such as this are usually fairly well mapped out by the screenwriter and the director can often times act mostly as a facilitator for the actors to work through (like a head coach in the NBA), and although this hasn't been so much the case recently, the Academy has often rewarded films based on plays helmed by inessential directors. We do know that, with George Clooney and Grant Heslov producing, as well as Harvey Weinstein (whose 2013 awards lineup looks a little subpar this year), the film will be aggressively campaigned for during the Oscar season. Even if the film is incredibly successful with the Academy though, the question remains whether or not the Directors branch will view the film more as a triumph of writing and acting than directing? Of course, we will not know the answer to this question until the film is released, but I have the sneaking suspicion that this narrative may begin to develop as the season plays itself out, possibly leaving Mr. Wells out in the cold while better known directors take his place in the Best Director lineup.