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

Chappie

With poor reviews from critics, Neill Blomkamp’s third film looks to be out of the major races, much like his prior effort Elysium was. However, will that mean the entire end of its Oscar chances? Not necessarily.

Blomkamp started out with a bang. His feature debut, District 9, scored a rare Best Picture nomination for a science fiction film. It was also nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay, Film Editing and Visual Effects. It went home empty-handed, but such a strong debut, especially for a genre film, made it seem like Blomkamp might be a big player in future Oscar games.

Unfortunately, Elysium finished with soft numbers and the critics weren’t as impressed. The film went home without a single nomination. With that case applied and a similar fate befalling Chappie, which is also suffering even more mightily at the box office, don’t count on it to get a nomination, but it might be a stealth contender for Best Visual Effects if nothing else.