Cate Blanchett plays New York socialite
Jasmine in the film Blue Jasmine. Source:
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Cate Blanchett has established an early lead in this year's Oscar race for best actress.
Industry commentators have been tipping Nicole Kidman's Grace Kelly and Naomi Watt's Princess Di as the sort of glamorous transformations that are likely to attract the attention of Academy voters.
But Blanchett's chances got a shot of adrenalin over the weekend with the record-breaking limited US debut of Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine.
"No one has started 2013 Oscar talk quite like Cate Blanchett's unanimously acclaimed performance in Blue Jasmine,'' said respected industry website Deadline Hollywood.
The film had the best US per screen average of the year ($US100,000), eclipsing Allen's Oscar juggernaut of two years ago, Midnight In Paris.
"Oscar voters also got to see the film this weekend and turned out in droves to the Academy in Beverly Hills on Saturday afternoon with a near-capacity crowd that, according to my spies, gave the film a strong reception,'' wrote awards commentator Pete Hammond.
And packed special screening for the Screen Actors Guild Nominating Committee gave Blanchett and co-stars Andrew Dice Clay and Peter Sarsgaard a standing ovation.
The film is boasting a 85 per cent fresh rating on the critics' site Rotten Tomatoes.
"It's probably always risky to make a bold prediction about anything Oscar-related in the middle of summer'', wrote Hammond.
"But Blanchett seems a cinch for a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her role as a New York socialite in the midst of an emotional free fall after losing everything in a Madoff-like financial scandal perpetrated by her husband.
"It's the kind of complex stuff awards are made of."
Hammond is also tipping Allen and Blanchett's co-stars Sally Hawkins and Bobby Cannavale as possible Oscar contenders.
Blue Jasmine opens in Australia on September 5.
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