Oscar Outlook 2012: Hope Springs

David Frankel brainchildren were TV series Doctor Doctor and Grapevine from the early 90's.  His first feature-length was Miami Rhapsody, a comedic talkie hat-tip to Woody Allen pushing Sara Jessica Parker in her first adult lead role front and center.  Working with Parker on her iconic Sex and the City, among other television projects, he waited over a decade to return to the cinema with Meryl Streep as his crown jewel in The Devil Wears Prada.  He helmed one of her many Oscar nominations and went on to adapt bestseller Marley & Me with Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston.  It made good money, but Frankel's recent The Big Year was a big disappointment.  Will Hope Springs redeem him?

Television producer/writer Vanessa Taylor (Everwood) wrote the original script about a couple (Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones) who reevaluate their marriage after three decades with a counselor played by Steve Carell.  Mike Nichols, who has collaborated with Streep several times, backed out of the project after James Gandolfini and Philip Seymour Hoffman dropped out.  Jeff Bridges was also originally attached to star with Streep.  The supporting cast includes Jean Smart, so you know I'm PRAYING there is plenty of screen-time between her and Streep.

Frankel brought in his editor Steven Weisberg from Rhapsody and production designer Stuart Wurtzel  (Oscar nominated for Hannah and her Sisters) from Marley & Me.  Art Director Patricia Woodbridge has spent her time working partly on Jennifer Aniston and Will Smith films.  Set Decorator George DeTitta Jr. has been nominated twice in the 1980's for Ragtime and Radio Days.  Cinematographer Florian Ballhaus got his start in German TV movies before making the transition to Hollywood where he has worked closely with Frankel.  Composer Theodore Shapiro has also worked with Frankel before.  And, of course, recent Oscar winner J. Roy Helland will head Streep's makeup team.

The movie filmed most of 2011 in Connecticut on a $30M budget.   Mandate pictures produced and Columbia Pictures will release Springs in the U.S. this Summer on the 10th of August.  It's Complicated managed to do some more than brisk business three years ago and with the combination of Streep and Carell, Springs may manage to drum up some respectable numbers, especially around the time of the year The Help debuted in 2011.  $50 - $70M strikes me a credible range.  I don't predict any Oscar nominations, especially considering its biggest ticket item Meryl Streep, who has just won her third statue.  Perhaps there might be one, two or even three Golden Globe nods in the Comedy category, but that's about all I can predict at the most at this point.  Streep will be a major player again in 2013 with August: Osage County.

[Picture via Awards Daily]

Also on the Radar:

Anna Karenina     Beasts of the Southern Wild     The Dark Knight Rises     Dark Shadows     Great Expectations     The Great Gatsby     Hope Springs     The Hunger Games     Hyde Park on the Hudson     Lawless     Lola Versus     Lovelace     Low Life     Prometheus     Ruby Sparks     Smashed     The Surrogate     Won't Back Down 


The Avengers     The Amazing Spider-Man     Men in Black III