The unofficial Oscars 2016 season is underway, and two blockbuster movies are said to an be early favorite for the Best Picture awar - "Mad Max: Fury Road" and "Inside Out," Rotten Tomatoes reported.

Matthew Jacobs of Huffington picked "Mad Max: Fury Road" to be a sure fire candidate for the 88th Academy Awards. "But when it comes to 2016's shortlist, we may be facing a drought akin to the one seen in "Mad Max: Fury Road," easily the year's likeliest Oscar candidate," he remarked.

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The post-apocalyptic themed movie is a remake of Mel Gibson's original in the 90's, while "Inside Out" is fresh from its box office success, thanks to Disney Pixar's magic touch and impeccable storytelling. This animated film featured the voice of Amy Poehler as the lead character, Joy.

Some critics also mentioned "Carol," "Son of Saul" and "The Danish Girl" to be strong contender.

For the Best Actress category, Charlize Theron ("Mad Max: Fury Road") and Elisabeth Moss ("Queen of Earth") are reported to be in the running, while the Best Actor choices include familiar names in Jake Gyllenhaal ("Southpaw") and Ian McKellen ("Mr. Holmes").

With fans and film critics now creating their shortlist, another puzzling question still remains as the hunt for Oscars' producer/s is still on - what will be 2016 Oscar Awards theme?

This is very critical for Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the body that governs the annual Academy Awards, since audience shares have significantly dropped this year, according to New York Times. 

There were also many surprises in this year's line-up of Oscar Winners including Eddie Redmayne bagging the Best Actor prestige. The young British thespian who played Stephen Hawking ("Theory of Everything") bested Hollywood heavyweights including Bradley Cooper ("American Sniper"), Steve Carrell ("Foxcatcher"), Michael Keaton ("Birdman") and early favorite Benedict Cumberbatch ("The Imitation Game").

Neil Patrick Harris hosted the 2015 Oscar Awards and Julianne Moore won 2015 Academy Best Actress Award, while "Birdman" was hailed as the Best Picture.

TagsOscars 2016, Oscars 2015, Inside out, Max Max, Oscars 2016 predictions, Oscars 2016 early favorites, eddie redmayne, Charlize Theron, Benedict Cumberbatch