List of 58 Actresses With Possibly Leading Roles This Year

key:
Actress Film
Oscar history of actress
Directed by Who (Oscar nominated performances they've directed?)
Description
Release Month If Announced: ALWAYS SUBJECT TO CHANGE
Status of Film from IMDB as of 03/08/08 (obviously "completed"and "post production" have the best chance of actually arriving this year. But some filmmakers are fast and some "announced" could even arrive by Christmas, if the planets align for the filmmakers)

Please keep in mind: Many of the roles mentioned could also go supporting. The lines are ever blurred these days and you never know how adaptations or editing choices will size a role. Also any film could be delayed or scrapped or anything. It's one giant gamble.

 

How To Enter / How It Works

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A-M / M-Z

 

AMY ADAMS Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day OR Sunshine Cleaning
1 nomination
MPLFAD: Directed by Bharat Nalluri (none)
SC: Directed by Christine Jeffs (none)
Both look like co-lead roles and both are comedies which means either or both could be "supporting" if there is any eventual buzz. But they're comedies so...
Release: March and tba
completed

ELIZABETH BANKS Zach and Miri Make a Porno
never nominated
Directed by Kevin Smith (none)
She and Seth Rogen are lifelong friends with money problems. Hence the title. Comedies aren't really awards bait but you never know. One remembers that Chasing Amy, for example, did win accolades and some respect.
release: tba
filming

KATE BECKINSALE Nothing But the Truth
never nominated
Directed by Rod Lurie (nominees: Joan Allen and Jeff Bridges in The Contender)
Beckinsale is a reporter facing jail time for not revealing a source in the outing of a CIA Agent
release: September
post-production

MARIA BELLO Downloading Nancy
never nominated
Directed by johan renck (debut feature... he used to be in music videos)
Didn't get good response at Sundance but it's a meaty role for Bello. She plays an unhappy woman who hires a man over the internet to kill her. Co-starring Jason Patric and Rufus Sewell.
release: tba
complete

HALLE BERRY Tulia
1 nom / 1 win
Directed by John Singleton (none)
She's an attorney defending a group of black men who've been wrongly accused of drug trafficking
release: TBA
pre-production

DREW BARRYMORE Grey Gardens
never nominated
Directed by Michael Sucsy (debut, none)
She plays Little Edie in the feature adaptation of the beloved documentary about Jackie O's eccentric cousins which has also been adapted into a Broadway musical. Though that is not this. Co-starring JESSICA LANGE as Big Edie. One of them will be demoted to supporting surely though both are probably leads. In past incarnations Little Edie has gotten the most attention.
Release: tba
post-production

MISCHA BARTON Closing the Ring
never nominated
Directed by Richard Attenborough (nominees: Debra Winger, Shadowlands, Robert Downey Jr, Chaplin, Denzel Washington, Cry Freedom, winner: Ben Kingsley, Gandhi)
This is one of those senior framed young historical love stories. Mischa is the young version of Shirley Maclaine in a story about a solider searching for the owner of a ring.
Release: tba
completed

JULIETTE BINOCHE Désengagement OR The Voyage of the Red Balloon
2 nominations / 1 win
D: Directed by Amos Gitai (none)
D: Hsaio-Hsien Hou (non)
In Désengagement she plays a French woman of Israeli Origin who returns to the West Bank during Israel's pullout from the Gaza strip. One reader on IMDB calls her acting "over the top". Hmmmm, if that's true that doesn't bode poorly for her chances ;) In the Voyage of the Red Balloon she's an overworked mother who hires a babysitter for her children and the babysitter helps her recalibrate her life.
release: tba (both)
completed (both)

CATE BLANCHETT The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
5 nominations / 1 win
Directed by David Fincher (none)
The story of a man who ages backward. Blanchett is his girl. Could be a large supporting role or a co-lead.
Release: December
post-production

EMILY BLUNT Sunshine Cleaning OR The Young Victoria
never nominated
SC: Directed by Christine Jeffs who guided Gwyneth Paltrow through Sylvia (none)
TYV: Directed by Jean Marc Vallée of C*R*A*Z*Y fame (none)
The first is a dark comedy in which she co-stars with Amy Adams. They run a crime scene cleaning service. The second is a biopic of Queen Victoria's younger years.
Releases: TBA
SC: completed
TYV: post- production

SANDRA BULLOCK All About Steve
never nominated
Directed by Phil Trail (none)
She's an eccentric woman convinced that a CNN Cameraman (Bradley Cooper) is her soulmate in this comedy
release: tba
post- production

ELLEN BURSTYN Lovely Still
6 noms / 1 win
Directed by Nicholas Fackler (debut, none)
This is a "holiday fable" about an elderly man falling in love. The man is Martin Landau, and we assume the woman is Burstyn.
release: tba
post- production -though IMDB indicates it's aiming for 2009

PENELOPE CRUZ Elegy
1 nomination / 0 wins
Directed by Isabel Coixet (none)
from the director of My Life Without Me (which was a showcase for Sarah Polley's acting a few years back) she's the object of Ben Kingsley's sexual obsession
release: June
completed

JULIE DELPY The Countess
never nominated (in this category)
Directed by Julie Delpy (none)
This multi-hyphenate French star directs herself in this English language period drama about the legendary Hungarian countess who was said to have bathed in the blood of virgins.
release: tba
filming but it's currently planning on a 2009 release

KAT DENNINGS Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist
never nominated
Directed by Peter Sollett of Raising Victor Vargas fame (none)
In this romantic comedy two teenagers (the other is Michael Cera) fall for each other at a concert. I really loved Victor Vargas so I'm hoping Sollette has another gently heart tugging and character specific sweet film in him. We'll see.
release: October
post- production

DAKOTA FANNING The Secret Life of Bees OR Hounddog
never nominated
TSLoB: Directed by Gina Prince-Blythewood (Love & Basketball) (none)
HD: Directed by Deborah Kampmeier (none)
In Bees.... A young girl escapes her family and their peach farm for an eccentric journey with her nanny into the world of three beekeeping sisters
In Hounddog she's a little girl obsessed with Elvis who is raped. It's that controversial entry from Sundance over a year ago. Looks like it's finally been reedited and will be released after all.
release: tba
SLoB: post-production but currently it's planning on a 2009 release
HD: completed

ANNE HATHAWAY Dancing With Shiva OR Passengers
never nominated
DWS: Directed by Jonathan Demme (a few nominees and 4 winners: Mary Steenburgen, Melvin and Howard, Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster, Silence of the Lambs and Tom Hanks, Philadelphia)
P: Directed by Rodrigo Garcia of Nine Live, In Treatment fame --he does mostly performance driven work (none)
In Shiva, Hathaway plays a recovering addict and ex-model who returns home to her estranged family for her sister's wedding in this dramedy. Debra Winger has a supporting role.
In Passengers she is a therapist group counselling plane crash survivors but the film apparently has thriller elements too.
release: (shiva) tba (passengers) sept
post-production

SALLY HAWKINS Happy-Go-Lucky
never nominated
Directed by Mike Leigh (nominees from Secrets & Lies and Vera Drake)
This 31 year-old already won accolades for what is said to be an accessible Leigh film. The Academy likes this director but sometimes they ignore obvious choices even when they like the film --i.e. Jim Broadbent missing the actor lineup despite biopic magnificence in Topsy Turvy
release: tba
completed

HELEN HUNT Then She Found Me
1 nomination / 1 win
Directed by Helen Hunt (none)
As Good As It Gets (ahem)'s Oscar winner wrote, directed, and starred [Barbra Streisand is seething!] in this indie which THINKFILM (who managed a nomination for Ryan Gosling this past Oscar season) will be releasing. It's about a schoolteacher suffering through one personal crisis after another while starting a new relationship. When it rains it pours...
release: May
completed -delayed from 2007

SCARLETT JOHANSSON Mary Queen of Scots OR Vicky Christina Barcelona
never nominated
MQoS: Directed by Philip Noyce (one nominee: Michael Caine, The Quiet American)
VCB: Directed by Woody Allen (numerous nominees and winners)
on Mary From the IMDB "A chronicle of the life and reign of Mary I of Scotland (Johansson), with a concentration on her strained personal and political relationship with her father's cousin, Queen Elizabeth I of England".
The Barcelona picture is about two women who while travelling became romantically entanglement with a painter (Javier Bardem) and his ex-wife (Penelope Cruz)
release: tba (both)
MQoS: pre-production --will probably end up in 2009
VCB: post-production --IMDB lists it as a December release...but the new rumor is July.


ANGELINA JOLIE The Changeling
1 nomination/ 1 win
Directed by Clint Eastwood (several nominees and winners)
A mother is reunited with her kidnapped child in this period drama/mystery. But she soon starts to suspect the child is not actually hers. Uh-oh...
release: November
post-production

NORAH JONES My Blueberry Nights
never nominated
Directed by Wong Kar Wai (none)
One of the world's most adored filmmakers made his first english language effort and he cast this singer in the lead role even though she's not an actress. That's pretty gutsy but he usually knows what he's doing. Early word is... mixed.
release: April
completed -delayed from 2007

CATHERINE KEENER Untitled Nicole Holofcener Film
2 nominations / 0 wins
Directed by Nicole Holofcener (none)
This film, which is about the residents of a NY apartment building will be the fourth collaboration between the director and her main muse. They previously worked wonders together in Walking & Talking, Lovely & Amazing, and Friends With Money
release tba
pre-production

NICOLE KIDMAN Australia
2 nominations / 1 win
Directed by Baz Luhrmann (1 nominee: Nicole Kidman, Moulin Rouge!)
An Englishwoman inherits a cattle ranch in Australia in this romantic drama set during the 40s. Hugh Jackman is her co-star.
release: November
post-production

KEIRA KNIGHTLEY The Duchess OR The Edge of Love
1 nomination
D: Directed by Saul Dibb (none)
EoL: Directed by John Maybury of Love is the Devil fame (none)
From the IMDB re: The Countess: "A chronicle of the life of 18th century aristocrat Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire, who reviled for her extravagant political and personal lives."
In Edge she's one of two spirited women in love with a poet (the other is Sienna Miller both could be supporting, who knows)
release: D: September EoL: tba
post-production

DIANE LANE Nights in Rodanthe
1 nomination
Directed by George C Wolfe (feature debut,he's most prominent as a stage director and has made some television movies including the Emmy winning Lackawanna Blues)
Diane Lane reteams with Richard Gere, her co-star in Unfaithful (for which she was nominated). This time she's an unhappily married woman and he's a doctor.
release: October
completed

MELISSA LEO Lullaby OR Frozen River
never nominated
These were write in votes. Frozen River directed by Courtney Hunt concerns single struggling moms who take up smuggling. Lullaby, directed by Darrell Roodt is about a mother whose son has been kidnapped by a drug dealer in South Africa.
release: TBA (both)
completed (both)

LAURA LINNEY The Other Man
3 nominations / 0 wins
Directed by Richard Eyre (5 acting nominations from Iris & Notes on a Scandal)
She plays a woman whose husband (Liam Neeson, also her husband on stage in The Crucible and on film in Kinsey) is convinced she's having an affair. It sounds like the husbands story but you never know...
release: tba
filming

RACHEL MCADAMS The Time Traveller's Wife OR The Lucky Ones
never nominated
TTW: Directed by Robert Schwentke (Flightplan, none)
TLO: Directed by Neil Burger (The Illusionist, none)
In Wife, A librarian (Eric Bana) unpredictably time travels which leads to greatcomplications in his romantic life. McAdams is the title character, "Claire Ashbire" who is a sculptor and has to cope with her husband's strange absences.
In The Lucky Ones, three soldiers (including McAdams) home from Iraq go on a road trip together. Her co-stars are Tim Robbins and Michael Pena
release: November and TBA
TTW: post-production
TLO: completed

FRANCES MCDORMAND Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day
4 noms / 1 win
Directed by Bharat Nalluri (none)
She's the "social secretary" who fixes a would be stars life in this period comedy.
release: march
now playing

SIENNA MILLER The Edge of Love
never nominated
Directed byJohn Maybury (none)
She's the wife of a poet in this biopic.
release: tba (both)
EoL: post-production

 

M-Z
Helen Mirren through Renée Zellweger