What Comes Next?

The post-Oscar nomination effort can in many ways seem even more taxing than the one that got you to the Dolby Theater in the first place.  Which begs the question, of which of the twenty acting nominees, who appears ripe to come back the soonest?  Of this years slate, only Jessica Chastain returned as a nominee from 2011.  Which actor may be back next year?

Serena with Bradley Cooper.

BEST ACTOR
Bradley Cooper earned first first Oscar nomination for career-elevating work in Silver Linings Playbook, and has a lot coming out soon.  First, he'll show up in this springs The Place Beyond the Pines with Ryan Gosling, then he's re-teaming with his Playbook co-star Jennifer Lawrence in the Depression-era drama Serena, directed by Suzanne Bier (In a Better World) as well as in the Untitled David O. Russell/Abscam film, returning the to the Wolfpack in the third iteration of The Hangover, and is committed to Cameron Crowe's latest- an Untitled work co-starring Emma Stone.   Hugh Jackman is following up his first Oscar nomination with an art film called The Wolverine, as well as co-starring with Jake Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis in the crime thriller Prisoners.  He will follow that with a cameo in X-Men: Days of Future Past, and might, just might, have a baity role if his P.T. Barnum biopic ever sees the light of day in The Greatest Showman on Earth.   Joaquin Phoenix will follow-up The Master by reuniting with his Two Lovers director James Gray in Lowlife, co-starring Marion Cotillard and Jeremy Renner.  He will follow that with the enticing sounding Spike Jonze film Her, co-starring Rooney Mara, Amy Adams and Samantha Morton, and is attached to Paul Thomas Anderson's latest Inherent Vice due in 2014.   Denzel Washington will next be seen in the crime thriller 2 Guns opposite Mark Wahlberg.   Meanwhile, Oscar winner Daniel Day-Lewis hasn't attached himself to anything just as yet, and don't be surprised if the notoriously picky actor takes his time-- he only made one film in between his last Oscar victory (2007's There Will Be Blood) and Lincoln, and that was the misfire musical Nine (2009); that being said, is there much doubt that Day-Lewis may be able to catch up to Katherine Hepburn's record 4 competitive Leading Actor trophies....

Naomi Watts as Diana.

BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain, whose appeared in nearly fifty thousand movies in the past few years will have a healthy, if somewhat muted 2013 showing if only by her standards.  She already follow-up her work in Zero Dark Thirty with the box office hit Mama, and will next appear in the two-part drama The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby, which deconstructs a relationship from both his and her perspective-- James McAvoy co-stars; she's all attached to Liv Ullmann's remake of Miss Julie, due in 2014.    The oldest Leading Actress nominee of all time, Emmanuelle Riva will next be seen in A Greek Type of Problem, while the youngest, Quzenzhane Wallis will try and prove she's no one trick pony with Twelve Years a Slave, Steve McQueen's latest with Michael Fassbender, Brad Pitt and Benedict Cumberbatch and recently became attached to play that title role in the Will Smith-produced remake of Annie, begging the question...can you sing?   Naomi Watts has a healthy 2013 slate, including the Sundance hit Two Mothers, the drama Sunlight, Jr., as well as the potentially very baity Diana, where the actress will play late Princess of Wales.  She's also attached to the Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde and Werner Herzog's Queen of the Desert, but neither have confirmed start dates as you now.   Winner Jennifer Lawrence continues her prodigious young career while anchoring two huge franchises: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire will come out this November; while X-Men: Days of Future Past will open summer of 2014.  In the midst of movie star roles, she will continue ground genre work with smaller scaled drama like Serena, co-starring Bradley Cooper, as well as re-teaming with Silver Linings director David O. Russell in his latest, untitled/Abscam film and another film written by Argo scribe Chris Terrio.

A Most Wanted Man with Philip Seymour Hoffman.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Argo nominee and all around curmudgeon Alan Arkin can be seen now in Stand Up Guys opposite Al Pacino and Christopher Walken, co-stars in the action comedy In Security as well as this springs magician comedy The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, he's also currently filming Grudge Match alongside co-nominee Robert De Niro, who himself has a long list of films coming our way, including the delayed comedy The Big Wedding, the thriller Killing Season opposite John Travolta, the crime thriller Motel, the Luc Besson-helmed thriller Malavita opposite Michelle Pfieffer and co-nominee Tommy Lee Jones, as well as the Bucket List-sounding comedy Last Vegas.   Philip Seymour Hoffman will join the cast of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opposite Jennifer Lawrence as well as headlining Anton Corbijn's A Most Wanted Man alongside Robin Wright and Rachel MacAdams.   Lincoln nominee Tommy Lee Jones will co-star in the aforementioned Malavita as well as starring and directing the drama The Homesman with Meryl Streep.  Surprise winner Christoph Waltz will star in Terry Gilliam's next headtrip, The Zero Theorem along with Matt Damon, Ben Whishaw and Tilda Swinton, as well as provide his vocals for the animated feature Epic.

Amy Adams in Man of Steel

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Nominee Amy Adams has tons of stuff coming our way.  She'll next be seen in Man of Steel, the Zack Synder reboot of the Superman saga as Lois Lane, the drama Lullaby with Garrett Hedlund, a supporting role in Spike Jonze's Her opposite her Master co-star Joaquin Phoenix, as well as reuniting with her Fighter director David O. Russell in his Untitled Abscam feature.    Sally Field will reprise her role as Aunt May in the next Spider-man film, but has nothing slated for 2013 as of yet, while Helen Hunt will be a part of the ensemble cast of Decoding Annie Parker, as well as co-starring in Relative Insanity.    Surprise nominee Jacki Weaver will co-star in Stoker with Nicole Kidman, which opens in limited release this week and currently filming Parkland opposite Zac Efron.   Les Miserables winner Anne Hathaway appears to be taking a break post Oscar-win with only a cameo in Joseph Gordon Levitt's directorial debut, Don Juan's Addiction and the sequel the 2011 animated film Rio slated as of now, of course that long gestating Judy Garland biopic, if it every actually gets made, could very well Oscar number two.

BEST DIRECTOR
Just as hard for actors to follow up Oscar-nominated work, the case can be made that directors have even more difficult decision to be made, and nominees Michael Haneke, Benh Zeitlin, as well as champion Ang Lee haven't committed to anything as of yet.  David O. Russell isn't waiting as his Abscam project starring Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Amy Adams and Louis C.K. is due later this year, about a 1970s FBI sting operation.    And Steven Spielberg will follow the Oscar success of Lincoln with what's sure to be bonafide AMPAS catnip with Robopocalypse.