Oscars 2014 Early Predictions: Which Are The Top Contenders For Next Year?

Now that the Academy Awards have been handed out, pundits have already started speculating about next year's Oscars.

Harvey Weinstein has already lined up a plethora of high end films that look to be awards worthy. His first film "August: Osage County," starring Meryl Streep and produced by George Clooney and Grant Helsov, has pundits claiming that Streep may get her 18^th nomination.

Weinstein recently picked up the Sundance winner "Fruitvale" and he will try to reclaim the same glory "Beasts of the Southern Wild" garnered this year. He also picked up the Nicole Kidman film "Grace of Monaco," which already has buzz surrounding her turn as Grace Kelly.

Weinstein also has "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" starring Idris Elba. The Awards mogul is known for his heavy campaigning and this year he dominated the nominations with 17. He also dominated the acting categories with 8 out 20 nominations and scored two Best Picture nominations.

The four time Academy Award winners Joel and Ethan Coen look to be back in the race with their new film "Inside Llewyn Davis" starring Carey Mulligan, Oscar Isaac and Justin Timberlake. The film will most likely open at the Cannes Film Festival and will be distributed by CBS films.

Columbia Pictures will also have a solid lineup with George Clooney's new film "The Monuments Men" starring Daniel Craig, John Goodman, Matt Damon, Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin and Clooney himself. Bennett Miller, director of "Moneyball," will team up with Megan Ellison (Zero Dark Thirty & The Master) for "FoxCatcher."

Columbia will also distribute Paul Greengrass' new film starring Tom Hanks. The film will be produced by "The Social Network's" Scott Rudin.

Academy Award winner Martin Scorsese will reteam with Leonardo Dicaprio for "Wolf of Wall Street" and Alexander Payne will direct "Nebraska."

Also in the mix will be Danny Boyle's film "Trance," Derek Cianfrance's "The Place Beyond the Pines, and Ron Howard's "Rush." Susanne Bier's "Serena" and Steven Soderbergh's "Side Effects" will also vie for Oscar glory.