This may be the biggest year for the Academy Awards, as some major Hollywood players are going up against some fresh newcomers. Eyeballs everywhere will be glued to ABC on Sunday, February 27th at 8PM E/5PM P when the awards show goes live. But before that, we decided to do some picking of our own with the staff’s predictions for each award.

For a full list of the nominees, check out our previous article on the subject. Now, on to the predictions.

Best Picture

Shannon Hood-The Social Network. It had early and consistent momentum all year, and the Academy appears to be trying to shake up their stodgy image. This would be the perfect film to put their money where their mouth is.

Matt Raub – True Grit. Not only are the Coens a regular in the “I Have an Oscar” club, but this testament to classic western films is definitely one for record books, between its all-star cast and gritty (no pun intended) visual style, this one definitely deserves the golden statue.

Chris Ullrich – True Grit. Even though this was a pretty great year for movies and there are many excellent choices in this category, True Grit stands on its own as my pick. As an example of pure movie storytelling, this Coen Brothers masterpiece excels on every level and delivers a pure entertainment experience you will want to revisit many more times in the future.

Cortney Zamm – The Social Network. There’s a lot of great films in this category, some of them from my favorite directors and starring my favorite people. But the one that combined all of the essential elements of filmmaking into a truly gorgeous, compelling, and memorable film was The Social Network.

There have been some pretty big hits in the box office this year, and some expected whales, but overall this has been a great year for the worldwide box office, and here’s the proof you need. From THR.

10. Clash of the Titans, $493.2 million worldwide
9. How to Train Your Dragon, $494.9 worldwide
8. Despicable Me, $539.9 million
7. Iron Man 2, $582.2 million
6. Twilight Saga: Eclipse, $693.5 million
5. Shrek Forever After: $739.8 million
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1. $824.1
3. Inception, $825.4
2. Alice in Wonderland, $1 billion
1. Toy Story 3, $1.1 billion

There are a few genuine good films on the list, like Iron Man 2 and Inception. Some big surprises, considering how bad the reviews were for films like Shrek Forever After, Clash of the Titans, and Alice in Wonderland. And even a few expectations like Twilight, Harry Potter, and How to Train Your Dragon.

Some might say that this summer’s biggest and best animated film was Toy Story 3, but I beg to differ. Dreamwork’s How To Train Your Dragon brought so much to the table and surprised me in so many ways.

It pulled at my heartstrings, made me smile so wide it almost hurt, and just left me satisfied. Plus, it’s about dragons. Dragons are awesome.

While Pixar reigns supreme with their countless Oscars and widespread critical acclaim, I really feel that Dreamworks, with films released this summer like How to Train Your Dragon and Despicable Me, are slowly sneaking up on them. Which is why I was very excited to hear that How To Train Your Dragon will be soaring from the big screen to your television.

According to Ain’t It Cool News, Cartoon Network has decided to turn How to Train Your Dragon into a television show. No word yet on whether or not any of the cast members of the film, which include Jay Baruschel, Gerard Butler, and Jonah Hill, will reprise their roles for the television show, or when the show will even be released.

This is certainly exciting news that the universe of How To Train Your Dragon will continue on, both on television and in a film sequel slated for 2013.

Everyone knew that Iron Man 2 would handily win the box office this weekend, but estimates for the final take were all over the place.  Now the dust is settling, and Iron Man 2 looks to have made around $133 Million, which places it as the fifth best opening ever. Brisk early ticket sales were causing some to predict that Iron Man 2 might challenge the all time record for an opening held by The Dark Knight ($158 Million), but it fell quite a bit short of that.

According to Entertainment Weekly,  Iron Man 2 received an “A” Cinemascore from exiting audience members, and that will translate into great word of mouth and box office stamina.   The film didn’t face any competition from new releases, save for some smaller indie releases.  Iron Man 2 is also a bona fide international success, after two weeks in release, its international box office haul is around $194 Million.

Nightmare on Elm Street fell with a resounding thud, losing 72% of its opening weekend numbers.  Seems everyone who intended to see it saw it the first week, which is fairly typical of horror movies.  Nightmare made about $9 Million and has made $48 Million in its first two weeks.  How to Train Your Dragon was in the number three spot, and just slid past $200 Million in total ticket sales in its seventh week in release.

Well, it didn’t make a killing, per se, but the Nightmare on Elm Street remake took in a healthy $32 Million over the weekend to win the box office. The film only cost about $35 Million, so it will easily make back its budget. Entertainment Weekly is reporting that there was a drop in box office from Friday to Saturday, which is never a good indicator of box office stamina.

That other 80’s horror franchise, Friday the 13th, opened to about $40 Million in February of 2009. It also had a drop off from Friday to Saturday, and  went on to gross about $65 Million domestically during its run. Looks like Nightmare will follow a similar trajectory.

How to Train Your Dragon took the number two spot, after occupying the top spot last week.  It only dropped 29%, and it has been out for six weeks now. HTTYD made $10.8 Million over the weekend. Date Night continues to enjoy brisk business after one month in release. The film only dropped 27%, and earned an additional $7.6 Million, and was followed very closely by The Back Up Plan with $7.2 Million.

Limping across the fifth place finishing line was the Brendan Fraser film Furry Vengeance.  It had a reported budget of around $35 Million, and has an embarrassing Tomatometer reading of 2% on Rotten Tomatoes.  I think that is lowest I have ever seen. Ouch.

The real money making went on overseas. It’s rather unusual to see a big tent-pole movie released overseas before it is released in the States, but Iron Man 2 opened up to over $100 Million.  According to the Los Angeles Times, the film is trying to open ahead of the World Cup in June, and the opening is 26% greater than the foreign opening of Iron Man.

It’s pretty much a given that Iron Man 2 will win the box office next weekend, but the question is, how much money will it rake in? If you’ve got an answer, let us know in the comments.