We had one film release this past weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations.

Detroit

Before The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow was barely known as a filmmaker. She was, at the time, little more than James Cameron’s ex-wife. Now, she’s a bona fide Hollywood legend having become the first woman to ever win an Oscar for Best Director. However underwhelming her film was and undeserving her victory, the glass ceiling that broke at that moment was something to be celebrated. She followed that film up with Zero Dark Thirty, another Best Picture Oscar nominee starring Jessica Chastain. She did not, despite plenty of speculation, manage a second Oscar nomination for Best Director.

To date, no woman has secured two nods from the directors branch, but Detroit hopes to buck that trend. With a solid 85% Fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes (8/10 average rating), it would seem to be a strong critical success. The film, which centers around an incident at the Algiers Motel in 1967 during the 12th Street Riot, has all the makings of a Best Picture contender. The subject matter is highly charged and well-timed to correlate with myriad modern events. Further, it could be the first film to benefit from the diversification of the Academy’s membership.

The problem here is that the film is opening in the shadow of blockbuster Dunkirk, which is certain to bring Christopher Nolan his long-awaited first Best Director nomination and possibly even the Oscar. That’s a mighty big shadow and although the film is attempting a platform release, the release is positioning it into the August doldrums, a box office period where hit are few and failure means the film is forgotten. Even Oscar contenders have trouble making much impact with an August release. Likely, the producers are hoping to take advantage of the dearth of major box office contenders in August to give it a stronger shot at making a tidy buck. It’s certainly possible and with plenty of critical support, it could definitely still be a player, but a lot depends on the box office and what else comes down the pike that tickles the same fancies as this film would.