“Dune,” “Nightmare Alley,” and a new Paul Thomas Anderson film are already high on Oscar pundits’ lists.
Films eligible for Oscars 2022
Focus/Neon/Warner Bros./Netflix/MGM
Before anyone takes issue with looking ahead to the 2022 Oscars one month after “Nomadland” won Best Picture at the 2021 Oscars, just remember the Academy has set a new date of March 27, 2022 for the 94th Academy Awards. That’s right, the next Oscars ceremony is 10 months away and considering it’s almost June, it’s definitely not too early to begin looking ahead at the awards season to come (the season will have a soft launch when the Cannes lineup is announced June 3).
One thing we know for sure about the 2022 Oscars is that the Academy is expanding the Best Picture category to a finite group of 10 nominees. Films will also have to meet new inclusivity standards in order to be eligible for the Academy’s top prize. For the 2021 Oscars, the Academy decided to allow films that debuted on streaming and PVOD platforms to be Oscars-eligible so long as they had originally planned for a theatrical release. The streaming rule will remain intact for the 2022 Oscars (which is good new for Pixar movie “Luca,” which Disney already moved to streaming only).
The following list of films is an early look at 30 titles to know as the new Oscar season begins. The majority of films at this stage of the season were selected based on the awards pedigree of cast and crew and the past habits of Oscar voters. For this reason, it’s a bit too early to add films that don’t exactly scream Oscars on paper, such as Leos Carax’s “Annette” and Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta.” These films and more will be added to the list as they premiere and buzz grows. Films listed that premiere to a lack of Oscar buzz will be taken off.
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