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

Harriet

Of the historical figures active during the Civil War, Harriet Tubman has gotten the least amount of attention on the big screen. Kasi Lemmons’ Harriet intended to rectify that situation.

The first sign of trouble was the opinions of critics out of the Toronto International Film Festival. While the film has been described as unexceptional barring the tremendous performance of Cynthia Erivo, it stumbled into the cineplex wounded. The film has climbed to a 72% Fresh rating from Rotten Tomatoes, which is respectable and the film brought in $12 million in its opening weekend, which is excellent for a film for its style. The A+ CinemaScore might bolster the film’s chances for a long, profitable life at the box office.

With all of that in mind, the film seems to be running distant to a lot of contenders, but Erivo remains in the conversation. While the Best Picture and Best Directing races are likely out of reach, Best Actress is a strong possibility as are Production Design and Costume Design categories.

Terminator: Dark Fate

One wouldn’t think by the positive reviews Terminator: Dark Fate received, the film would have been a bigger hit. At 70% at Rotten Tomatoes, most say it’s a solid return to what made the franchise so great in the days of The Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day.

Yet, audiences didn’t seem to have much interest in the film giving the film a mediocre $29 million opening. While the film could surprise in the coming weeks and hold on for a bigger tally, the B+ CinemaScore isn’t a positive sign for a huge uptick.

Like its predecessors, the film is filled with tons of sound and visual effects, which gives it a solid chance of being in the competition for the two sound awards and Best Visual Effects at the Oscars this year. The box office failure is important because it signals a lack of broad interest and VFX designers might not see enough new here to give it much attention. While the film isn’t likely to win, a nomination or two are still possible.

The Irishman

Martin Scorsese’s new film, his first in three years, entered extremely limited release this weekend ahead of its Netflix debut on the day before Thanksgiving. Netflix doesn’t tend to report numbers, so we’ll never know just how popular its weekend release was, but there’s already frustration being voiced in Hollywood that it’s so difficult to see.

That might not make much of a difference. The Irishman is currently sitting at an extremely high 97% Fresh rating with Rotten Tomatoes. That’s backed up by a stellar 95 rating at MetaCritic. These factors prove that the film will be a major player with critics groups at the end of the year and that means Oscar voters are likely to turn out in droves as well.

The film is in a strong position to pull out double-digit nominations and a Best Picture victory hinges solely on the number of anti-Netflix votes out there and if they can coalesce around one specific competitor. That said, Scorsese is sure to win his second Best Directing Oscar and both Robert De Niro and Al Pacino could pick up additional Oscars as well, De Niro’s third and Pacino’s second.