Michelle Williams is gunning for Best Lead Actress for The Fabelmans at next year's Oscars

Today, in blatant, possibly premature Oscars speculation news: Variety reports that Michelle Williams is apparently going to be campaigning to compete in the Best Lead Actress category at the Academy Awards next year for her performance in Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, rather than Best Supporting Actress, as many had suspected she might.

Williams stars in Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical film as Mitzi Fabelman, mother and muse to Gabriel LaBelle’s young movie maker Sammy. It’s a big, eye-catching performance in a film that already felt like precision-machined Oscar bait, combining as it does Spielberg, the allure of a self-reflective dip into the past, and, of course, the irresistible stink of a movie that’s all about the magic of… the movies.

From a strategic point of view, meanwhile, Williams ducking out of Best Supporting opens up that particular pack, with no clear or immediate frontrunner from 2022's crop of films so far. (Somewhere Claire Foy, late of Sarah Polley’s Women Talking, is presumably feeling a rush of renewed hopes.)

Although she’s been nominated four times—most recently for 2017's Manchester By The Sea—Williams has never won the big statue herself. This year’s competition will see her going up against some heavy hitters, including Michelle Yeoh, who’s expected to campaign for Everything Everywhere All At Once, and Cate Blanchett, whose starring role in Tár is already drawing rave reviews after its debut at Venice earlier this year.

Not that The Fabelmans is lagging in that regard; after debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival two weeks ago, Spielberg’s film has pulled almost universal acclaim—including for Williams, who’s being held up as one of the best parts of the movie.

The Fabelmans is set to hit theaters in a limited run on November 11, before opening up on November 23. The next Oscars ceremony is scheduled for March 2023.