Last week, we introduced our new feature: the Contenders series. As promised, this week, we’re going to offer up an initial slate of forty films, five from stage 1, five from stage 2, two from stage 3, five from stage 4, and the rest from stage 5. These run the gamut from box office hits to critical darlings. Not all of them will be major Oscar contenders, but we hope this series will help us better quantify what makes a successful contender.

CLICK HERE for more details about the Contenders series.

Starting tomorrow, we will post the first eight of these forty and continue posting eight per day through Sunday. Then, starting on Monday, we’ll post two new contenders a day until we’re caught up. For this initial batch, a new contender will post every hour from 11am (Central) through 6pm (Central). Each day, there will be one Stage 1, one Stage 2, one Stage 4, and the rest either Stage 3 or Stage 5. Since there are only two Stage 3 entries in this batch, they’ll post Wednesday and Thursday. Below is a list of the initial films without links. Tune in each day this week to see the actual contender.

— Stage 1 —
The Color Purple
Dune: Part Two
The Holdovers
Napoleon
Wonka

— Stage 2 —
Golda
Killers of the Flower Moon
May December
Next Goal Wins
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem

— Stage 3 —
Barbie
Oppenheimer

— Stage 4 —
Asteroid City
L’Immensitá
The Little Mermaid
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
The Super Mario Bros. Movie

— Stage 5 —
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Beau Is Afraid
BlackBerry
Chevalier
Cocaine Bear
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
The Eight Mountains
Emily
Fast X
A Good Person
Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant
John Wick: Chapter 4
The Lost King
M3GAN
The Night of the 12th
Nimona
Past Lives
Rye Lane
Scream VI
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
The Starling Girl
A Thousand and One

CLICK HERE to see a list of all the films in the 2023 Contenders series.