This weekend a number of Oscar contenders will open and hope for big box offices in order to continue the buzz.

Weekend Highlights

"Black Mass" - Johnny Depp returns to the big screen in his most acclaimed film in years. Directed by Scott Cooper, the new film tells the story of Whitey Bulger, the brother of a state senator, who became an FBI informant in order to take down the mafia. The movie premiered at the Venice, Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals where it gained Oscar traction for Depp's performance. It also got terrific reviews and his costars Joel Edgerton, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dakota Johnson and Peter Sarsgaard also got good word. Warner Bros. is releasing the movie in 3,050 theaters and hopes to be a big box office hit.

"Sicario" - Opening in limited release Lionsgate's latest film by Denis Villeneuve stars Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin and Benicio del Toro. The film, which premiered at Cannes and later went to Toronto, tells the story an idealistic FBI agent who is enlisted by an elected government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs. The movie has been getting Oscar buzz for a number of months, especially for Blunt, who most believe will get a Best Actress nominee. Lionsgate plans on releasing the movie first in New York and Los Angeles and later nationwide in October, the most which has seen most Best Picture winners come out. However, word-of-mouth will be the main factor in how the film performs overall.

Other releases

Fox will continue its franchise series with "Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials." The first film, which was released last year, did great at the box office and as a result, the company hopes that the second film will continue the success. First reviews are good and promising for a young adult film franchise.

Meanwhile, Paramount will release "Captive," a movie starring Kate Mara and David Oyelowo. Marketing has been sparse and it is unlikely the movie take off.

Universal will also release "Everest," which stars Jason Clarke, Jake Gyllenhaal, Keira Knightley, Emily Watson, John Hawkes and Josh Brolin. The movie opened the Venice Film Festival and score surprisingly positive notices.

Bleecker Street will release Tobey Maguire's chess drama "Pawn Sacrifice." The movie has great reviews and looks to be a serious Oscar contender. However, it will be interesting to see if the movie takes off, given the lackluster marketing and the fact that it premiered last year at Toronto.

Cinema Libre has "Olvidados" while Gravitas Ventures will take out "Peace Officer."

Other releases include Showtime's "Prophet's Prey," Cinedigm's "War Pigs" starring Mickey Rourke and UTV Communication's "Katti Batti."

In addition, The Vladar Company will take out "Jeremy Scott: The People's Designer."

For those expecting to see the Weinstein Company's "About Ray," the distributor decided to delay the movie after the lukewarm reception at Toronto. The movie is rumored to have an Oscar qualifying release but the company has yet to confirm any such plans. The company programmed the film as a huge Oscar contender but lost a lot of steam after its initial premiere at the Festival.

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