An Oscar for Heath Ledger?

Thanks to The Dark Knight, you might actually care about the Oscars next year. Though summer blockbusters don't usually show up in the big races at the Academy Awards, the film's glowing reviews make it a possible contender in the Best Picture, Director, and Screenplay categories, and it will surely be considered a front-runner for technical prizes. But its greatest Oscar hope has to be Heath Ledger, who'll likely become the seventh-ever posthumous acting nominee for his mesmerizing performance as the Joker. And it's safe to say that several million Dark Knight fans would tune in to the telecast to see if he can become the second such winner (after Network's Peter Finch in 1977).

The Academy Awards could use the boost. For the last several years, the gala has been filled with lesser-known nominees and seen its ratings plummet. This past ceremony, all four acting winners were foreigners, only one major-category victor (Juno) grossed more than $75 million'and the show attracted an all-time-low audience of 32 million.

Next year's telecast could end up being quite the A-list affair. Possible contenders include Brad Pitt, who ages in reverse for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button; Angelina Jolie, playing the mother of a missing child in Clint Eastwood's Changeling; Will Smith, reteaming with Pursuit of Happyness director Gabriele Muccino, in the character study Seven Pounds; Nicole Kidman, once more under the tutelage of Moulin Rouge maestro Baz Luhrmann in the epic Australia; and the Titanic duo of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, who'll reunite for the first time in the suburban drama Revolutionary Road.

Of course, not all of next year's nomination slots will be filled by blockbusters. But the presence of hits like The Dark Knight could go a long way ...

Read the full post at Entertainment Weekly POPWATCH

• Kanye West premieres raw new album with naked listening party Oct 15
• Send us your pop culture Halloween costumes! Oct 15
• Box Office Challenge: A world of 'Payne'? Oct 15
• Recall the Gold: The 2003 Best Actor Oscar race Oct 14

• POPSUGAR Link Time!!! Oct 15
• Defamer A Marble Tribute To Angelina Jolie's Duo-Nursing Capabilities [Angelina Jolie] Oct 15
• Splash News When Celebrities Transform For Movies Oct 15
• Entertainment Weekly POPWATCH Box Office Challenge: A world of 'Payne'? Oct 15
• Defamer 'Angelina With Hamburger,' And Other Brad Pitt Photographic Masterpieces [Family Portraits] Oct 14
• A Socialites Life Nibbly Things: Hugh and Robert Show Their Support Oct 14
• X17 Online Eva Is Alluring! Oct 14
• A Socialites Life Madonna's Footwear Aims To Kill Oct 14