Star Wars actor John Boyega pulls ahead among BAFTA Rising Star contenders.

Baftas 2016 buzz

Ahead of the annual EE British Academy Film Awards on Sunday (Feb 14), analysis firm Way To Blue has crunched the numbers to see which films, directors, and actors are causing the biggest online buzz.

Eddie Redmayne, star of The Danish Girl, has secured almost double the number of mentions in the Best Actor cateogry across Twitter, news, forums and blogs compared to his nearest rival, Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant.

The buzz for Best Actress is a lot closer, with Maggie Smith securing 604 mentions for her starring role in The Lady In The Van - just edging Cate Blanchett, star of period drama Carol.

For BAFTA Rising star, the only award voted for by the public, Way To Blue used its methodology to see where users are discussing casting their votes. John Boyega, star of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is leading the pack in terms of volume of buzz for BAFTA Rising Star, racking up 708 mentions, with 264 of those saying he should win the award or users saying they will be voting for him.

For Best Film, Steven Spielberg’s Cold War thriller Bridge of Spies leads with 1,192 BAFTA Best Film related mentions.

The Redmayne effect seems to be in evidence with The Danish Girl securing more than double the volume of mentions compared to its nearest rival Brooklyn.

Rounding out the awards is Best Director, with The Revenant’s Alejandro G. Inarritu just ahead of Spielberg.