We had two films release this past weekend with the potential for Oscar nominations.

Ben-Hur

In 1959, William Wyler created for the world, an undeniable classic. The film has earned a level of familiarity that it’s always interesting when people haven’t heard of it.

Based on a novel by Lew Wallace, Ben-Hur has been adapted to the screen twice before, the first time as a silent film that ended up a box office success. The play did as well, but the second filmic adaptation was unparalleled in its support. In 1959, it made $74 million at the box office. If that were adjusted to today’s numbers, it would have made over $848 million, which puts it at #14 on the all-time top grossing films adjusted for inflation. Only two films in the last 30 years have managed to top it: Titanic and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

So, going into the new adaptation by Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter director Timur Bekmambetov, the studio was hoping to ignite the same kind of passion the original did, and perhaps claim some Oscars. As a frame of reference, the 1959 version scored 12 Oscar nominations and won 11 of them, then a solo record for most honored film in history, a feat twice tied since by Titanic and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (the only film to do so while winning every award for which it was nominated). Those are some big shoes to fill.

The box office has been not only disappointing, but downright disastrous. That sullies the film’s reputation enough (that and the critical drubbing it’s received) that it will now be restricted to the craft categories and there, its only real shots are Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Visual Effects. With the hefty competition this year and no one really wanting to recognize this stinker, the best it can hope is not to get nominated for too many Razzie Awards, a strong possibility at this juncture.

Kubo and the Two Strings

On the other end of the potential Oscar competition, we have a film that could very well play spoiler in this year’s Best Animated Feature race: Kubo and the Two Strings.

Since Laika’s inception and their first stop-motion feature Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride in 2005, they’ve made only five films, Kubo being the latest. That’s not a big slate, but considering how long it takes to make a single frame of a stop-motion film, that’s impressive. While Corpse Bride was released by Warner Bros., all the rest of their films have been distributed by Focus Features.

Yet, no matter the distributor, Laika has an impressive track record of nominations for Best Animated Feature. Corpse Bride in 2005, Coraline in 2009, ParaNorman in 2012, and The Boxtrolls in 2014. That latter is the crucial key to their track record. The film had weaker reviews than the prior two efforts, which many thought might doom it with the Academy. It didn’t. To date, Laika has a 100% success ratio of Oscar nominations. This year, I have little doubt that it will go 5-for-5. What might be different this time around is a win.

So far, the film has two films to compete against at the Oscars. Disney’s Zootopia and Pixar’s Finding Dory. We still have a couple yet to release, but of those only Sing seems like a real competitor for the win. It will be a tough race, but if enough voters see Kubo and the Two Strings, the pure artistic wizardry combined with the emotional investment with the audience could propel it to a Best Animated Feature win. Finding Dory and Zootopia may split the Disney/Pixar vote, but I suspect Zootopia might still be tough to beat, especially with its anti-racism themes.