10 Upcoming Movies That Are Already Getting Oscar Buzz

Because Hollywood publicists can't stop won't stop.

Dunkirk movie
Warner Bros.

Yes, the Academy Awards have only just been and gone, but the Hollywood buzz machine stops for no man. Indeed, this year's winners have barely had time to find an appropriately humble location to display their Oscar and sign on to their first post-award box office disaster before Hollywood has already lost interest and gone off in search of their next big star.

February 2018 may feel like ages away to an entertainment industry neophyte, but producers and publicists have already put wheels in motion to promote upcoming films, some six months or more away from release, as much-lauded Best Picture contenders.

Of course, there's always the possibility of wild cards or an unexpected wrench in the works. After all, it was only this time last year when Hollywood was telling anyone who would listen that Birth of a Nation was a lock for a Best Picture nomination, before rape charges against its director/star scuppered any chances of its success?

Regardless, there are several films that are being promoted as potential Oscar winners and, barring any unforeseen circumstances, they likely will be. But who knows? Everyone always talks about the Academy being predictable, but then look what happened with the Best Picture award this year.

Maybe more surprises await the Gold Derby crew...

10. The Glass Castle

Dunkirk movie
Lionsgate

So far, Brie Larson and Emma Stone have both seemed to avoid the post-Oscar curse of immediately signing on to bad films, with Stone's leading role in Battle of the Sexes and Larson's appearance in this adaptation of the best-selling memoir of the same name.

The Glass Castle is a coming-of-age story, told from the perspective of Jeannette Wells, the second eldest daughter of a wildly eccentric, hopelessly poverty-ridden family of nomads.

People tend to like these kinds of stories about unconventional families overcoming adversity, because there's something intrinsically relatable to their exploits.

But what probably pushes this movie over the top in terms of audience interest is the strong cast that they've assembled. You've got Naomi Watts, a tremendously solid and dependable actress, and Woody Harrelson, himself experiencing something of a career renaissance over the past five years or so, as Jeannette's parents.

And fans of New Girl will be happy to see Max Greenfield co-star as Jeannette's love interest, making a more focused attempt to break into Oscar-worthy territory.

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Audrey Fox is an ex-film student, which means that she prefers to spend her days in the dark, watching movies and pondering the director's use of diegetic sound. She currently works as an entertainment writer, joyfully rambling about all things film and television related. Add her on Twitter at @audonamission and check out her film blog at 1001moviesandbeyond.com.