Every week from now until the critics groups start giving out their prizes for the best of the year, I’m going to be spotlighting the big Oscar players and their chances at Oscar glory this year.

Not even legends Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese or Clint Eastwood can hit a home run out of the park each time at bat, but one director has not only managed that feat, his statistics may well be improved with his entry into the Oscar race this year.

Stephen Daldry began his love of the theater at the young age of 14 and became a chairman of the Sheffield University Theater Company while in college. Through the 1980’s and 1990’s, Daldry was active in the London theater scene acting as artistic director for a number of prominent theaters, including Metro Theatre Company, Gate Theatre and The Royal Court Theater.

It wasn’t until 2000 that Daldry made the leap to the big screen directing the successful drama Billy Elliot about an 11-year-old boy who has a passion for ballet in spite of his father’s intense dislike of anything that might label his boy effeminate. The drama was a surprise hit in the U.S. earning $21.9 million at the box office, a strong finish for an independent feature. It’s biggest success would come at that year’s Academy Awards where Daldry, Supporting Actress Julie Walters and screenwriter Lee Hall all picked up Oscar nominations. The film did not win any Oscars, but it was later successfully translated into a stage musical where it won numerous awards including 10 of the fifteen Tony Awards for which it was nominated including Best Musical, all under Daldry’s direction.

Two years later, lightning struck twice for Daldry as he translated his ensemble drama The Hours, about various lives threaded around Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway, including Woolf herself, into numerous Academy Awards nominations (9 to be exact) and the an Oscar for Nicole Kidman, her first. The film outperformed his prior feature at the box office with a solid $41.7 million. His second Oscar nomination in so many films was a rather notable achievement, but one which no one thought could be repeated when his third film The Reader opened in 2008.

An adaptation of the a German novel by Bernhard Schlink, The Reader explores the relationship between a mysterious older woman and an adolescent male. Critical reception was largely mixed and the film wasn’t performing well with prognosticators prior to the Academy Awards nominations. Some felt other than a nomination for Winslet in support, the film would otherwise be ignored by the Academy, especially not director Daldry. But as the awards season rolled on and it was clear the behind-the-scenes machinations were pushing the film towards a few rather surprising nominations, the morning of the announcements brought the film five nominations with one major shock among them. Winslet, who was thought to be a shoo-in for a nomination for her performance in Revolutionary Road while getting a supporting nomination for The Reader got only one nomination and it was for The Reader in lead. It was Daldry’s third nomination. Winslet would go on to win and, much like Kidman did for The Hours six years prior, would represent the film’s only Oscar win.

At three-for-three, it’s hard to argue with Daldry’s appeal to Academy voters, which make any film he directs a possible multiple Oscar nominee. To date, his three films have earned at least one acting nomination, a directing nomination and a screenwriting nomination. His last two have been Best Picture nominees. Will Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close have the same chances? Don’t look to critics or precursors to help you make that bet.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

What launched The Reader into contention better than any kind of actual word of mouth was the behind-the-scenes prodding of Oscar salesman Harvey Weinstein. With any other studio, the mixed reaction from critics would have led to a muted campaign and kept Winslet in the race for both Lead and Supporting Actress. Weinstein, however, sees any emotionally-charged production as an opportunity to work his considerable skills with Academy voters. Even though his production companies have gone from producing quality independent entertainment to whoring itself for Oscars, there’s no denying Weinstein’s ability to wring blood from a stone. Critics, however, will be far more important to the success of this film. The film belongs to Warner Bros., thereby eliminating Weinstein from the equation. At least with The Hours and Billy Elliot most critics were lined up behind them.

But there are a couple of other factors that might be of note when deciding if Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close will be in the race. Weinste’s chief rival, Scott Rudin, has had his fair share of success with Oscar voters and as producer, there’s no doubt he’ll mine the emotional subject matter for all its worth. Add in Daldry’s history along with Oscar mainstays Eric Roth (screenwriter), actor Tom Hanks, cinematographer Chris Menges and editor Claire Simpson along with Oscar nominees and winners Sandra Bullock, Viola Davis and composer Alexandre Desplat and there’s no doubt the film will earn a nod somewhere, if not in multiple places.

Forecast Categories (where the film is most likely to compete): Picture, Actor (Thomas Horn), Supporting Actor (Max von Sydow, Tom Hanks), Supporting Actress (Sandra Bullock, Viola Davis), Director, Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, Editing, Cinematography, Sound Mixing, Sound Editing

Stephen Daldry’s Oscar History

• Billy Elliot (2000) 3 / 0 [Director (Daldry), Supporting Actress (Julie Walters), Original Screenplay]
• The Hours (2002) 9 / 1 [Picture, Director (Daldry), Actress (Nicole Kidman), Supporting Actor (Ed Harris), Supporting Actress (Julianne Moore), Adapted Screenplay, Original Score, Editing, Costume Design]
• The Reader (2008) 5 / 1 [Picture, Director (Daldry), Actress (Kate Winslet), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography]
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close (2011)