The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences won’t introduce a controversial “Best Popular Film” at the 2019 Oscar awards ceremony. The award was criticized as an attempt to disrupt the “Best Picture” chances of “Black Panther.”
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday announced that it would not introduce a controversial “Best Popular Film” category at the 2019 awards ceremony.
The proposed category, announced in August, was never officially defined, but was speculated to be intended to apply to commercially successful movies, such as films from the Marvel Cinematic Universe franchise, and came as the movie “Black Panther” is believed to be waging a campaign for a Best Picture nomination, according to The Hollywood Reporter .
Chadwick Boseman, who played the title role, told The Hollywood Reporter that the “Black Panther” film had to create several aspects of the Wakanda setting and culture.
“So, as far as that’s concerned, I dare any movie to try to compare to the [level of] difficulty of this one. And the fact that so many people liked it — if you just say it’s [merely] popular, that’s elitist,” Boseman said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
In prepared remarks released Thursday, Academy CEO Dawn Hudson said “there has been a wide range of reactions to the introduction of a new award, and we recognize the need for further discussion with our members.”
“We have made changes to the Oscars over the years — including this year — and we will continue to evolve while also respecting the incredible legacy of the last 90 years,” Hudson added.
One change that is staying is the Oscars’ new three-hour run-time. Between six and eight categories will be presented during commercial breaks, with the edited winning moments aired later.
“Selected categories will be rotated each year. The Academy will collaborate with the show producer(s) to select these categories,” according to the statement.
The 91st Oscars ceremony is set to air on ABC on Feb. 24,2019.
