Julia Roberts ‘Laying the Groundwork’ for an ‘Extremely Aggressive’ ‘After the Hunt’ Oscar Campaign

Julia Roberts is convinced her upcoming movie with Ayo Edebiri and Andrew Garfield is going to be a huge hit. A source exclusively tells Closer that the just-wrapped thriller, After The Hunt, which is set to release in October, has the actress so confident she’s already thinking about a 2026 Oscar. 

“Julia is high on After The Hunt and is laying the groundwork for a massive awards campaign for the film,” the insider explains. 

“It wasn’t just a great experience making the movie, it’s what she sees in the finished film and she hasn’t felt this good about one of her movies since Erin Brockovich twenty-five years ago. But unlike that project, After The Hunt has a costar in Andrew Garfield, who has every inch the awards chances of Julia herself, and after a hot streak, their director Luca Guadagnino is also overdue for recognition.” 

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Julia, 57, already has an impressive Oscar pedigree from her multi-decades long career in Hollywood. She has been nominated three times as an actress: for Steel Magnolias in 1989, then Pretty Woman the following year in 1990 and August: Osage County in 2013. She also nabbed a win for Erin Brockovich in 2000. 

The celebrated star’s upcoming film, After the Hunt, will follow her college professor character with a “secret past” as she deals with the fallout when one of her students, played by Ayo Edebiri, levels an accusation at Julia’s colleague, portrayed by Andrew Garfield. It’s set for a limited release on October 10, with a wider release the following week, on October 17, and has people already buzzing about its award-season hopes.

“Julia is being extremely aggressive about this movie and its chances, and in the past, Julia’s own worst enemy in these situations is usually her own ego,” the insider adds. “She gave a brilliant, Oscar-nominated performance in August: Osage County a few years ago, but the reason she didn’t convert that performance into a bunch of wins is that Julia just didn’t do the grunt work you have to do these days to win an Oscar.” 

Pumping up chances for an Academy Award has become somewhat of a science of late, with insiders even spilling the reason Angelina Jolie was snubbed this year was because she also refused to put in the work, which consists mostly of tons of press and film festivals, in order to promote specifically for the critic and Academy audience. 

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In fact, ten years ago when Julia was hoping for another win for August: Osage County, the source adds, “She wanted the performance to speak for itself,” which didn’t work out too well. 

“I don’t see her making the same mistake this time around, especially because she also feels responsible for Andrew and Luca’s involvement in the project,” the source explains. “Julia definitely wants another Oscar, and she gave this movie her all, but she really understands that it has to be a team effort this time and if she goes it alone, she’s not going to get anywhere.”