Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences adds a new “popular film” category
In the Oscars ‘ ongoing effort to remain relevant in an increasingly competitive entertainment environment, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is calling in some reinforcements for its next telecast. Namely: “Black Panther.” And “The Fast and the Furious.” And “Transformers” and “Jurassic World” and all the other blockbuster franchises that are so popular with moviegoers but which tend to receive precious little love from Hollywood’s most prestigious award show.
Five months after the lowest-rated Oscars telecast on record, the Academy’s Board of Governors voted Tuesday night (Aug. 8) to add a new category — “outstanding achievement in popular film” — to its existing list of 24 annual awards, newly re-elected Academy President John Bailey revealed Wednesday in a memo to the group’s membership.
It’s the first new Oscar category since the addition of the best animated feature category in 2001.
Eligibility requirements and other key details about the new popular film category — which The Hollywood Reporter had already dubbed “the Popcorn Oscar” by Wednesday morning — will be revealed later. The intent, though, is evident: to boost the show’s sagging TV audience by making room on the red carpet for stars and movies that already have a rabid, built-in fanbase.
Two others major changes were also revealed in Bailey’s memo, which was also signed by Academy CEO Dawn Hudson.
First, in an apparent effort to combat the telecast’s image of being too long and boring, the Academy will hand out select technical awards during commercial breaks and then air “the winning moments” — presumably cut down dramatically — later in the show. It has yet to be revealed which categories will get the hook, but it’s clear that the move is part of the board’s expressed commitment to keep the telecast to a three-hour runtime, as well as to avoid spending air time on categories that few outside of Hollywood really care about.
In addition, starting in 2020, the Oscars ceremony will air earlier in the year, on Feb. 9 instead of the previously announced Feb. 23. (The 2019 Oscars will stick to its previously announced airdate of Feb. 23.) That move is presumably to jump ahead of other major award shows, another effort to preserve the show’s sense of relevance — but it’s not at all unlikely that other shows will simply follow suit, rescheduling their award shows to come before the Oscars.
The moves come after a multi-year initiative on the part of the Academy to invite a more diverse group of members to join the body.
Will it all work? That remains to be seen, but at least it will lend an air of suspense to this year’s award season.
