From ‘Nope’ to ‘The Fabelmans,’ Oscar Season Soon Takes Off With Dozens of Potential Contenders

variety.com:

Tim Gray Senior Vice PresidentAs of June 30, we’re at the halfway point for 2022 — and for the Oscar eligibility year. There are dozens of possibilities coming up and many familiar elements — plenty of biopics, a reliance on fall film festivals, a heavy dose of streamers — but this could be an unusual year.In the first six months of the year, A24’s “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and Paramount’s “Top Gun: Maverick” seem likely.

They would have been Oscar longshots a decade ago (too daring and a summer sequel, respectively), but both should do well since voters’ tastes are changing.Also notable this year: The roster of directors is far more inclusive, in terms of gender and race, than in the past.

While the upcoming crop includes past winners like James Cameron, Damien Chazelle, Alejandro Inarritu, Sam Mendes and Steven Spielberg, there are new hopefuls, including Chinonye Chukwu, Andrew Dominik, Sebastian Lelio, Sarah Polley and Gina Prince-Bythewood, to name a few.At the March 27 Oscars, The Slap stole all the attention, so many overlooked the fact that the best picture winner was radical: “CODA” is about a deaf family, by a woman writer-director, from Apple TV+, a streaming service.