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Interesting Facts About The Oscars

Are the Academy Considering Reverting Back to the 5 Best Picture Nominee Format?

JamesArthurArmstrong JamesArthurArmstrong How many nominees for Best Picture has been a topic of debate for a number of years, and it's now becoming another talking point once again.

It was back in 2009 that the Academy opened up the pool to 10 nominees for the best picture of the year Oscar, then slightly tweaking the rule to a minimum of five nominees to a maximum of 10 in 2011, and seeing how that format worked over a six-year experiment. According to the Hollywood Reporter, a "significant faction" of the 6,000 Academy members are lobbying for a return to the old 5 nominee format signaling that the 6 year experiment may have failed.

The original plan outlined that increasing the number of possible Best Picture nominees would increase box office numbers, leading to more talk amongst movie fans on what they believe to be their favourite movie, and increase the chances of popular, mainstream movies in gaining nominations. In reality, this hasn't been the case. Interest has waned with television figures this year seeing a 15% decrease, box office numbers haven't increased, and popular movies hardly get a look in come Oscar night. And, by popular we mean blockbuster movies. Instead, art-house movies and indie movies have been given more attention. In the three years of this six year experiment, the Academy have never filled the ten allotted spots since the 2011 rule change, with the previous three years only filling 9 slots.

Birdman Wins Best Picture
Birdman Wins Best Picture

So will this proposed rule change make a difference? The short answer to that question is possibly. It will make for a more competitive Best Picture race, and will stop the Academy from rewarding mediocracy, but the industry would argue that getting Oscar nominated helps them do business. In other words, it's easier to sell their movie if it's Oscar nominated — even if it doesn't win anything.

Nothing has been decided yet, and the same format from this year is still in place. But, expect talks between Academy members to take place in the near future regarding this matter. Ultimately, what this story leans towards is the fact that the Academy need to move into the modern world. They need to be more diverse, more young, less male and less systematic in their process of rewarding the best of cinema. It boils down to being that simple.

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JamesArthurArmstrong JamesArthurArmstrong

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