Ralph Fiennes in "The Grand Pudapest Hotel" (prettypetitesthings/tumblr).

With the end of the Academy Awards 2014, it's never too early to speculate what might be nominated in next year's Academy Award best picture category.

Here are some films that are highly anticipated in the coming year that may be the "12 Years A Slave" of 2015. 

"The Grand Budapest Hotel," Directed by Wes Anderson

"The Grand Budapest Hotel" is a British-German comedy-drama. It follows the story of legendary concierge M. Gustave H. at the famous European hotel in between wars and how he proves his innocence with the help of a trusted friend after being framed for murder. The film received favorable reviews, especially with its aesthetically captivating visuals. Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom" was nominated for an Academy Award and his animated feature "Fantastic Mr. Fox" won an Oscar in 2009. The film also features Ralph Fiennes, Edward Norton and Jude Law. If the Academy still remembers the film by the end of the year, it might stand a chance.

"Gone Girl," Directed by David Fincher 

"Gone Girl" is a mystery-thriller film based on the novel of the same name by Gillian Flynn. The novel was #1 on the New York Times Hardcover Fiction Bestseller list for eight weeks and was praised by numerous critics. The story follows a seemingly perfect married couple, Nick and Amy, but the facade cracks with the disappearance of Amy on their wedding anniversary. Nick becomes the head suspect of the disappearance but investigations go deeper than just a missing woman. Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike will star as the married couple while Neil Patrick Harris and Tyler Perry will also be in the cast. With the director of "The Social Network" and "Fight Club," and a New York Times bestseller novel, this equation can't go wrong. 

Benedict Cumberbatch in "The Imitation Game" (The Weinstein Company).

Benedict Cumberbatch! That's all I have to say. Well, actually, it's more than that. "The Imitation Game" has a script that topped the Black List for best unproduced Hollywood scripts of 201. On top of that, it broke records for the price it paid for the rights to the script ($7 million!). Benedict Cumberbatch has been inching closer and closer to the Academy Award with this year's participation in Best Picture. The role of Alan Turing, the famous cryptographer in WWII that cracked the Nazi's Enigma Code, may be just what he needs to snatch the Oscar next year.

"Into The Woods," Directed by Rob Marshall

A Tony-winning musical directed by "Chicago"'s director, starring Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp and Chris Pine, I can't think of a more victorious combination than that. The musical follows a crossover story of characters from fairytales who are interfered with by a witch. These characters include those from "Cinderella," "Rapunzel," "Little Red Riding Hood" and more. Not to mention, the film will be released at the end of the year on Christmas Day 2014, so it will be fresh in judges' minds.

"Interstellar," Directed by Christopher Nolan

Having directed epic films such as "The Dark Knight" trilogy and "Inception," Christopher Nolan is known to have a unique film vision and is no doubt a master in visual storytelling of conceptual narrations.  His last film, "Inception," was nominated for eight Academy Awards and won four of them. "Interstellar" is based on a script written by his brother Jonathan Nolan about space travelers that travel through a wormhole. The film stars Oscar winners Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway. Perhaps it will be the next "Inception" with a mind-blowing story to tell. 

Reach Staff Reporter Michelle Man here.