Leonardo DiCaprio in 'The Revenant': An Oscar contender?
'The Revenant' is being directed by Alejandro G. I帽谩rritu, whose movie 'Birdman' won last year's Best Picture Oscar. The film stars DiCaprio as a fur trapper who must survive in the wilderness in winter.
'The Revenant' stars Leonardo DiCaprio.
20th Century Fox/YouTube
Actor Leonardo DiCaprio is starring in the new film from director Alejandro G. I帽谩rritu, whose 2014 film 鈥淏irdman鈥� was the most recent to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.
The movie in which DiCaprio is starring, titled 鈥淭he Revenant,鈥� centers on a fur trapper named Hugh Glass who is attacked by a bear and must try to survive in the cold wilderness. The film is based on the real story of Glass鈥檚 struggles.聽
I帽谩rritu won an Oscar for Best Picture as one of the producers on 鈥淏irdman鈥� and also won the Best Director Oscar. I帽谩rritu is also the director of such films as the 2010 movie 鈥淏iutiful,鈥� 2006鈥檚 鈥淏abel,鈥� and 2003鈥檚 鈥�21 Grams.鈥澛�
DiCaprio himself is no stranger to the Academy Awards, having been nominated four times for his acting in such movies as 鈥淭he Aviator,鈥� 鈥淏lood Diamond,鈥� and 鈥淭he Wolf of Wall Street.鈥�
The film 鈥淭he Revenant鈥� is scheduled to be released this December, prime time for a possible awards season contender 鈥� its pedigree is certainly evident with the director of last year鈥檚 Best Picture having taken the helm and frequent nominee DiCaprio starring in the film.
However, Hollywood鈥檚 movie calendar has morphed over the last several years: while the two big seasons were, and still are, the summer movie season and the time in November and December when many hopeful Oscar contenders are released, more movies are defying this traditional logic. Before the franchise moved to an annual November release date, the first 鈥淗unger Games鈥� film came out in March, a traditionally quiet month that鈥檚 a far cry from the June or December release date one might expect from a hopeful blockbuster based off of a smash-hit young adult novel.聽
In addition, a movie that will most likely be one of 2016鈥檚 biggest blockbusters, 鈥淏atman v Superman,鈥� isn鈥檛 coming out during the summer movie season 鈥� it鈥檚 being released in March as well. And last year, 鈥淭he Maze Runner,鈥� a film based off a bestselling young adult book series, came out in September and managed to do well enough at the box office to spawn at least one sequel. Those behind 鈥淢aze鈥� are sticking with their September slot for the new movie, with 鈥淢aze Runner: The Scorch Trials鈥� scheduled to be released on Sept. 18.
Could this more flexible movie calendar eventually mean the Oscar movie season could expand beyond the end of the year as well? Currently December can become the scene of a movie release date pileup, as with last year when awards season hopefuls 鈥淯nbroken,鈥� 鈥淏ig Eyes,鈥� 鈥淎merican Sniper,鈥� 鈥淚nto the Woods,鈥� and 鈥淪elma鈥� were all released on Dec. 25. But I帽谩rritu鈥檚 own 鈥淏irdman,鈥� which took the Best Picture prize, was released all the way back in October, and so was the 2013 Best Picture winner, 鈥�12 Years a Slave,鈥� and 2012鈥檚 winner 鈥淎rgo.鈥� Putting out an awards season hopeful in the fall rather than the winter is a small change, but perhaps the release date of contenders could become even more flexible in years to come.聽