Leonardo DiCaprio finally has his Oscar — 22 years after receiving his first nomination for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape — but the day after the 88th Academy Awards Hollywood's already wondering what will the Best Actor will do next. It's a valid question for his fans, to which there are so many that after DiCaprio won his Oscar he beat the Twitter record for the most-tweeted minute of any Oscars. But also because many don't want to see him get taken down by the "Oscar curse," which is the belief that after you win an Oscar your bright future seems to go dark.
Think Halle Berry after she won and made Catwoman, which was a major bomb that resulted in her winning a Razzie, the opposite of an Oscar. Or, Cuba Gooding, Jr., who after his win appeared in box office poison like Boat Trip, Snow Dogs and Daddy Day Camp, which earned $13 million domestically and a 1% on Rotten Tomatoes. It seemed Jerry was no longer showing him the money.
Of course, there's no real proof that there is any sort of curse related to an Oscar win. In 2015, Fortune even found that Oscar-winning actors and actresses can often see a salary bump of up to 20 percent their original asking price. While others have seen Oscar wins and nominations lead to even more wins and nominations. Kate Winslet and Meryl Streep are winners who haven't had any trouble finding roles. So, it is unlikely that DiCaprio will just fade away after this nomination, which mean the real question may be, can he repeat?
And we're not just talking about DiCaprio here, we want to see if any of last night's winners will be hearing their name again in 2017. That's why we're taking a closer look at the winners IMDb pages to see what clues we can find about their very near future with Oscar.
1. Leonardo DiCaprio
After being nominated for Best Actor two years in a row, we may have to wait a year before we see DiCaprio's name on the Oscar ballot. And seriously, for a guy as busy as DiCaprio, he deserves a bit of a break and a moment to just enjoy his little gold statue. But, that doesn't mean DiCaprio's going to star in some Adam Sandler movie next. No, his next film is tentatively slated to be 2017's The Devil In The White City, which is based on the 2003 true-crime novel of the same name by Erik Larson that looks at the real life serial killer Dr. H.H. Holmes in 1893 Chicago.
Chances Of An Oscar Repeat? The combination of DiCaprio playing a real life murderer, Scorsese directing and a book that many have wanted to see become a movie finally getting the big screen treatment likely means we'll hear some early Oscar buzz for the film and DiCaprio, who, let's be honest, gets Oscar buzz for nearly everything he's in anyway. But, with or without Leo, this already sounds like something the Academy would have a hard time ignoring. DiCaprio is just the cherry on top.
2. Brie Larson
Some may still think Larson came out of nowhere to win Best Actress in Room, but the young actress has been busy curating a rather short, but very respectable resume filled with restrained and subtle performances (See Short Term 12) that showed how talented she was. After Oscar, she's definitely not slowing down. Already, she has four movies on the schedule including her biggest role yet in 2017's King Kong original film, Kong: Skull Island, which has her teaming up with Tom Hiddleston and Samuel L. Jackson. Later this year though, she'll appear in the Bollywood musical Basmati Blues, which has her playing a scientist who created genetically modified rice and now has to go to India to sell it to rural farmers. She'll also appear in the 2016 crime film, Free Fire, which looks at rival gangs in 1978 Boston trying to survive.
Chances Of An Oscar Repeat? Basmati Blues, which was filmed a few years ago, seems like a hard sell for Oscar. Specifically because it's a musical comedy, which is not the usual Academy fare. Though, there have been unlikely films that have snuck into the race. This includes Slumdog Millionaire, which for some may have seemed out of the Academy's realm, but left with the Best Picture statue in 2009. Larson playing a scientist also makes for a strong female role, one the Academy may want to highlight. Free Fire is being dubbed a classy shoot-em up film, but if it turns out to be more Gangster Squad than Gangs of New York, it's going to get overlooked also. If neither of these register on Oscar's radar though, there's still hope in the film Larson just signed on to recently, The Glass Castle. The 2005 memoir of Jeanette Walls, who Larson will play after Jennifer Lawrence dropped out, looks at Walls' poverty-stricken upbringing by dysfunctional parents. Yeah, if this film, which has Larson re-teaming with her Short Term 12 director Destin Cretton, is done right, it definitely sounds like it could be her next Oscar-worthy role.
3. Alicia Vikander
Vikander had a big year, starring in The Danish Girl and Ex-Machina, which both showed this Swedish girl's got range. It seems that her 2016 will be equally as busy with three movies already in the can. She's co-starring opposite Matt Damon in the latest Bourne movie, Jason Bourne. She's the young married muse of a painter played by Christoph Waltz in the period drama Tulip Fever. And she's starring opposite her real life boyfriend Michael Fassbender in the drama The Light Between Two Oceans, where they raise a baby that they rescue from a drifting rowboat.
Chances Of An Oscar Repeat? So far, she seems the most likely to earn a nomination two years in a row and the likeliest of repeating her most recent win. Even more interesting, her 2016 roles may lead us to wonder the some thing we wondered about her 2015 roles: Could she possibly earn multiple nominations in the same year? With her recent Best Supporting Actress win and her co-star being two-time Oscar winner Waltz, Tulip Fever will definitely get some attention for its cast. But, more likely, we'll be hearing her name (and her multiple Oscar nominated co-star's) mentioned in early award show buzz for The Light Between Two Oceans, which from the looks of the trailer is beautiful and sad. Something the Academy can truly sink their teeth into.
4. Mark Rylance
Rylance was the biggest surprise of the night. The win that may have messed up your chances of winning your Oscar pool. It was assumed that Sylvester Stallone's performance in Creed would be too much for the Academy not to honor. But, they didn't and Rylance is now the quiet and gracious winner of a Best Supporting Actor statue. Seriously, that speech was less about him and more about everyone else: Steven Spielberg, Tom Hanks and his fellow nominees. Interesting, since many like Al Pacino and Sean Penn have called him the "best actor of his generation." Rylance is already slated for one movie next year, The BFG, also directed by Spielberg, in which he plays, who else, the BFG.
Chances Of An Oscar Repeat? It's unlikely we'll see him earn his second nomination next year being that actors doing motion capture and voiceover workd don't get any love at the Oscars. But, 2018, you may have a better chance of seeing him on the red carpet again with the Christopher Nolan film Dunkirk, which comes out in the summer (not a great time for Oscar nominees) but is about the French evacuation at the beginning of World War II. Hard not to think about all the Saving Private Ryan comparisons this film may get, which could fare well for its Oscar chances.
5. Alejandro G. Inarritu
It seems that the first director to win two Best Director prizes in a row since Joseph L. Mankiewicz did it in 1949 and 1950 is taking a well-deserved break. Nothing seems to immediately be on his docket, but again, after The Revenant, which many involved described as a "living hell," he may need a real vacation.
Chances Of An Oscar Repeat? It won't be next year, but there's a still a lot of time for him to win another Oscar. The record right now is four wins held by John Ford, so he's got something to shoot for.
6. Tom McCarthy
Spotlight director Tom McCarthy won his first Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, only later to see his film win the biggest prize of the night Best Picture. McCarthy, who is also an actor who appeared on The Wire and most recently in Pixels, seems to be keeping his schedule open for the time being.
Chances Of An Oscar Repeat? McCarthy may not be a familiar name, but the actor/writer/director has been racking up well-received credits on smaller movies like The Station Agent and The Visitor (Sure, he also wrote Adam Sandler's The Cobbler, but we'll skip that for now) so it's likely we could see his name on the ballot again in the future — just not as soon as 2017.
7. Pete Docter
The Inside Out writer and director used his win for Best Animated Feature to not only surprise his kids (They're getting a dog!), but to inspire those younger artists who feel sad or angry or frustrated to keep working. That's exactly what Docter is going to do this year; he's already working hard on Pixar's Toy Story 4, slated for 2018.
Chances Of An Oscar Repeat? Being that this is already his second win (he also won for Up in 2010) and he works for Pixar, we suggest you start placing your bets on him to win the next time around. Also expect him to deliver another speech that will make you experience all the feels. We're talking Bing Bong levels here.
8. Adam McKay
Yes, the guy who directed Anchorman and Anchorman 2 is now an Oscar winner. McKay took home the prize for Best Adapted Screenplay and even took on "weirdo billionaires" in his speech, which, like his movie The Big Short, makes it clear you can be as mad as hell and not have to take it anymore. His next film will likely not be as angry though. He's one of the screenwriters of the Ant-Man sequel, Ant-Man And The Wasp, hitting theaters in 2018.
Chances Of An Oscar Repeat? Most people didn't expect him to win one Oscar, so at this point, let's just leave it at anything else could happen from now on. But the Ant-Man sequel probably won't be the project that lands him another date with Oscar.
9. Mark Ruffalo
Sure, Mark Ruffalo didn't technically win, but he was in a winning film and he has been nominated for Best Supporting Actor the last two years. So basically, he's quickly becoming our new Leonardo DiCaprio. The actor who is so good, you just know he is bound to win an Oscar some day. But, that some day, may not be in 2017, since his upcoming movies include Now You See Me 2 and a rumored part as The Hulk in Thor: Ragnarok. Neither of which will likely get any real love from the Academy.
Chances Of An Oscar Repeat? It's unlikely he'll be at the Oscars with any of his own films, but again, he'll be back. No doubt about it.
10. Rachel McAdams
This was McAdams' first nomination in a film that ended up winning Best Picture. A film in which she was the only female lead. People have been raving about McAdams' performances for years, so perhaps this will jumpstart the Oscar nominations for the actress. But in 2016, she's rumored to be in Sherlock Holmes 3 and is in Marvel's Doctor Strange, opposite Benedict Cumberbatch, not exactly Oscar bait.
Chances Of An Oscar Repeat? Doctor Strange is a comic book movie, but it is one with a lot of buzz. While it's unlikely it will earn any acting nominations, the leads are past Oscar nominees and it's coming out in November, not too far from Oscar voting time. Meaning it will be fresh on people's minds if it is as good as everyone hopes. Could this be a surprise repeat nom for McAdams? We'll wait and see about that one.
11. Michael Keaton
Keaton doesn't have a statue all his own, but he was in two Best Picture winners two years in a row (Birdman and now Spotlight), so it would be interesting to see if he could pull out a third win in 2017. Later this year, Keaton's set to play Ray Kroc in The Founder, which is the story of the founder of McDonald's.
Chances Of An Oscar Repeat? Is there anything more American than a Big Mac? For better or worse, probably not, which means this movie may become an Oscar contender and Keaton may get another nomination. And, let's just dare to say, a win for playing a real life person who so many people don't know anything about. Especially since many were puling for a Keaton upset at the 2015 Oscars. We can only hope if he was to win, his response would be as good as his one above for Spotlight's win.
Sure, we know it's way too early to be thinking about next year's Oscars, we barely had a chance to catch our breath from this year's awards show. But they do say the awards season seems to start earlier and earlier every year, so maybe this is you just getting a super early jump on things. No procrastinating here, that's for sure.
Image: Giphy (7)
