The 87th Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on Feb. 22 at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. For the first time ever, "How I Met Your Mother" star Neil Patrick Harris will be hosting the ceremony. 

The nominees for this year's awards will be announced on Jan. 15 at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, California. The ceremony will be opened by none other than Cheryl Boone Isaacs, who is the president of the Academy, followed by director J. J. Abrams, who is currently spearheading the project "Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens," followed by Alfonso Cuarón, and actor Chris Pine.  The final phase of voting will begin on Feb. 6 and will end on Feb. 17. 

As for who has the best chance of winning the prestigious Academy Awards, it has been speculated that the films "Boyhood," "Birdman," and "The Imitation Game" have the highest chance of receiving the Best Picture Award because all three pictures have received the Best Picture nominations from PGA, BAFTAs, Golden Globes and the Critics Choice. Furthermore, all of the three films received SAG nominations for the Best Cast. "12 Years a Slave" was the film that won the 86th Academy Award for Best Picture last year, and it looks like one of the three is being slated to follow suit. In addition, "Selma," "Gone Girl," "Foxcatcher," "Nightcrawler," and "American Sniper" will also be attempting to snare the Best Picture Award as each one received the Best Picture nominations from either the PGA, Globes or the Critics Choice. 

Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar," which was able to garner over US$1 billion at the box office, is being pinpointed by critics as the movie with the best possible chance of winning the award for Best Visual Effects.