Sci-Fi Fans Think An Underrated 2007 Movie Might Have Predicted This Decade's Oscar Winners

Danny Boyle's 2007 sci-fi film "Sunshine" is a film coated in despair, set in the year 2057, after scientists have discovered that the sun may be dying. Eight astronauts have been selected to fly a high-tech spacecraft, the Icarus II, within a dangerously close distance to the sun, and fire a powerful bomb into it, causing a grand explosion and, it is hoped, restarting its constantly burning solar fires. And what happened to the Icarus I? It seems it's still stranded out by Mercury, having never completed its own mission years before. 

Of course, an ethical dilemma arises. When the crew of the Icarus II learns that there may still be survivors on board the Icarus I, do they change course and rescue them, or stay pointed at the sun, aiming to complete their mission? The latter, after all, might save the planet Earth. There's an additional problem: the crew has become contemplative. Either solar radiation is messing with their brains, forcing them to become weirdly philosophical, or their nearness to a force as ineffably powerful as the sun's has forced them into an existential crisis. The captain of the Icarus I, it seems, was infected by a similar introspection, and sabotaged his mission, feeling it was interfering with God. 

"Sunshine" boasts a murderer's row of notable stars, including Cillian Murphy, Michelle Yeoh, Benedict Wong, Rose Byrne, Chris Evans, Cliff Curtis, Mark Strong, and Hiroyuki Sanada. Indeed, at least two of those actors have gone on to win acting awards at the Oscars, leading some fans to posit an amusing theory. On Twitter/X, a user called Reel and Roll posited that, because Yeoh and Murphy have Oscars (for "Everything Everywhere All At Once" and "Oppenheimer" respectively) then the rest of the cast will win Oscars in due course.

Of course, it's just a coincidence that Cillian Murphy and Michelle Yeoh happened to appear together in "Sunshine," and then both go on to win Best Actor and Best Actress Oscars. But the theory is tantalizing, as Rose Byrne is also in "Sunshine," and she is getting some awards buzz for her performance in Mary Brontstein's 2025 drama "If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You." In that film, Byrne plays a therapist whose life it stretched to the almost-breaking point by a long series of personal dramas (including an unsupportive husband, a daughter with an eating disorder, and an unruly client). Also, Benedict Wong is in "Sunshine," and he gave a rather good performance in Zach Cregger's 2025 horror film "Weapons," playing a gentle school principal who comes under the spell of an evil witch. 

Both Byrne and Wong are excellent actors in general, so the thought of either of them eventually winning an Oscar, even soon, is not out of the realm of possibility. 

Cliff Curtis is also an excellent actor, and he does have a notable 2025 credit; he will be reprising the role of Tonowari in James Cameron's "Avatar: Fire and Ash." While the acting in the "Avatar" movies is rarely recognized by the Academy, both of the films to date have been nominated for Best Picture and won Best Visual Effects. They have also made billions of dollars. So even if Curtis doesn't get an Oscar nod for playing Tonowari, he will still be associated with another mega-hit and Oscar darling. And that's not nothing. He's a great actor, anyway, and is only in his mid-50s, so Curtis will presumably have plenty of opportunities to win an Oscar someday. 

Chris Evans is also in "Sunshine," and he has continuously improved as a performer over the course of his career. He's earned a great deal of money and fame playing Captain America in multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe, but has attempted to diversify his performances ever since. In 2025, he played a lascivious, oversexed cult leader in Ethan Cohen's "Honey, Don't!," and a soulful, lovelorn ex-boyfriend in the romantic drama "The Materialists." Neither of these films has any Oscar buzz, but Evans is proving more and more what he's willing to do for his craft. It seems that Evans just needs a few notable roles to prove that to the public. Sadly, his next movie is yet another flick in the MCU. 

Hiroyuki Sanada is more likely to see an Oscar first, as he has already won many acting awards, while also appearing in giant Hollywood blockbusters. After "Sunshine," Sanada appeared in films like "The Wolverine" and "Minions." He was in "John Wick: Chapter 4," and played Scorpion in the two "Mortal Kombat" features. His career in his native Japan is extensive and filled with accolades. In North America, he's received a Golden Globe and two Emmys for his work on "Shogun." He's an Oscar hopeful just waiting to happen. 

Mark Strong is a capable actor who has had the bad luck of starring in some legit Hollywood stinkers (like "Green Lantern," the "Kingsman" movies, and "The Brothers Grimsby"). He has, however, always turned out amazing work, and has won numerous theater awards for productions of "Oedipus," "Twelfth Night," and other classics. It's not out of the realm that he would also be nominated. 

So if "Sunshine" predicted anything, it's two down, six to go.