5. Nicole Kidman - Grace of Monaco
From one princess to another (and this time a movie star to boot), Grace of Monaco is a biopic on the life of Grace Kelly, the Philadelphia-born actress and frequent Hitchcock muse (on such films as Rear Window, Dial M for Murder, and To Catch a Thief) who became royalty of the small nation-state of Monaco when she married its king, Prince Rainer III. The film will reportedly center on her life in the early 1960's when both her marriage and her country were facing rocky times, the latter caused by an impending invasion by French President Charles De Gualle. Tim Roth will play her husband, Prince Rainer III, while other actors are set to mimic such famous icons as the aforementioned Charles De Gualle and Alfred Hitchcock, as well as Jackie Kennedy's second husband, Aristotle Onasis. The director of this veritable who's who is Frenchman Oliver Dahan, whose previously best known work was another female-driven biopic, La Vie En Rose (the film that made Marion Cotillard a star, as well as an Oscar winner). The most impressive name Ms. Kidman has at her back though is Harvey Weinstein. The Weinstein company is distributing the movie in the United States which means if it gets any awards traction, you better believe there will be an awards campaign to accompany the film. My gut tells me though that the film itself will not garner enough acclaim to justify a full-blown Best Picture blitz, which could actually work in Ms. Kidman's favor. With a campaign predominantly focused on her performance, those less enthusiastic of the film itself may be able to compartmentalize the performance on its own, something the Weinstein's have done successfully in the past (just ask Michelle Williams). Nicole Kidman has seen some success with the Academy in the past, winning an Oscar for her portrayal of Virginia Woolfe inn 2002's The Hours as well as receiving two additional nominations. She probably very nearly missed out on a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination last year for her wonderfully garish performance in the extremely divisive film, The Paperboy (I wonder if the whole "peeing on Zac Efron" thing hadn't blown up if she would have made the cut), so any voters feeling guilty over that omission may be badgered into a shame vote. Plus, just to remind readers again, she is playing Grace Kelly, so there's always that.