Oscars
BOMBSHELL: Oscars Best Picture Race Expands to 10 Nominees
Perhaps realizing it’s going to take a lot more than Hugh Jackman musical numbers and Swarovski curtains to get people tuning into the Oscars again, Academy Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis has made the earth-shattering announcement just moments ago that the 2010 Best Picture race will double in size to include 10 — that’s TEN — nominees. From the press release:
“After more than six decades, the Academy is returning to some of its earlier roots, when a wider field competed for the top award of the year,’ said Ganis. ‘The final outcome, of course, will be the same - one Best Picture winner - but the race to the finish line will feature 10, not just five, great movies from 2009.’”
The implications are immense. More Movieline analysis to follow. Meanwhile, the full press release is after the jump.
82nd Academy Awards® to Feature 10 Best Picture Nominees
Beverly Hills, CA (June 24, 2009) — The 82nd Academy Awards, which will be presented on March 7, 2010, will have 10 feature films vying in the Best Picture category, Academy Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Ganis announced today (June 24) at a press conference in Beverly Hills.
“After more than six decades, the Academy is returning to some of its earlier roots, when a wider field competed for the top award of the year,” said Ganis. “The final outcome, of course, will be the same - one Best Picture winner - but the race to the finish line will feature 10, not just five, great movies from 2009.”
For more than a decade during the Academy’s earlier years, the Best Picture category welcomed more than five films; for nine years there were 10 nominees. The 16th Academy Awards (1943) was the last year to include a field of that size; “Casablanca” was named Best Picture. (In 1931/32, there were eight nominees and in 1934 and 1935 there were 12 nominees.)
Currently, the Academy is presenting a bicoastal screening series showcasing the 10 Best Picture nominees of 1939, arguably one of Hollywood’s greatest film years. Best Picture nominees of that year include such diverse classics as “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” “Stagecoach,” “The Wizard of Oz” and Best Picture winner “Gone with the Wind.”
“Having 10 Best Picture nominees is going allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories, but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize,” commented Ganis. “I can’t wait to see what that list of ten looks like when the nominees are announced in February.”
The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2. The Oscar® ceremony honoring films for 2009 will again take place at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center® in Hollywood, and will be televised live by the ABC Television Network.
· 82nd Academy Awards® to Feature 10 Best Picture Nominees [oscars.org]
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Posted 24 Jun 2009, 10:43 AM
Same Mendes just crapped his pants.
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 10:53 AM
Great. Now it's even harder to win my Oscar pool every year. Assholes.
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 10:56 AM
Great. Now it's even harder to win my Oscar pool every year. Assholes.
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 11:00 AM
Just eight more!
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 11:12 AM
as if the show wasn't long enough. they're going to have start reading the list around thanksgiving. i just hope they let debbie allen do a tap dance number from Antichrist.
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 11:34 AM
Who are they kidding? Usually two of the five shouldn't even be nominated, where are they going to scrape up an additional five?
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 11:42 AM
That's why I'm surprised by this. Maybe Star Trek will get nominated (not that it's the greatest movie, but maybe this is the kind of thing they're trying to do).
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 11:35 AM
This is just like the 1930's. I'm expecting "The Barrets of Wimpole Street" to get a nod this year.
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 11:55 AM
Well, Tyler Perry will close out 2009 with 2 major releases to his name.
Madea Goes to the Kodak Theatre?
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 12:01 PM
I'm surprised the Golden Globes didn't do this a month earlier, to much smaller fanfare.
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 12:07 PM
Actually, the only thing that needed to be expanded was the acting categories, that way the academy can go back and nominate Paul Giamatti for Sideways.
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 12:10 PM
So on February 2, Punxsutawney Phil will awake to not just 6 more weeks of winter, but 5 more crappy movies to sit through. He is a world renowned completest after all.
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 1:13 PM
GOODY! That means LAND OF THE LOST has a shot!
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 1:14 PM
GOODY! That means LAND OF THE LOST has a shot!
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 1:36 PM
Chinese Internet pirates would like to thank Sid Ganis: Twice as many screeners to rip-off!
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 1:40 PM
Oscar season is now 'Torrent season'.
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 2:52 PM
So the other categories remain only five nominations?? That’s gonna make it pretty obvious which of the ten fake Best Picture nominations are the legit five.
Example>>
LAND OF THE LOST nominated for Best Picture; goes on to receive NO OTHER nominations.
Pity the schmuck who bets on LAND OF THE LOST for the win.
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 2:53 PM
So the other categories remain only five nominations?? That’s gonna make it pretty obvious which of the ten fake Best Picture nominations are the legit five.
Example>>
LAND OF THE LOST nominated for Best Picture; goes on to receive NO OTHER nominations.
Pity the schmuck who bets on LAND OF THE LOST for the win.
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 3:09 PM
I DID NOT double post! WTF??!!
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 3:56 PM
Sorry for the tech mishaps guys. I'll get the tech team on it just as soon as they finish installing the 20-foot, blinking neon TOLDJA! sign above HQ.
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 4:40 PM
haven't you already spent the GNP of a small country this week?
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 5:46 PM
Is it just me or does this sound like the Weinsteins have blackmailed Sid Ganis into this for the purposes of film promotion????
If they hold Inglorious Basterds until Nov-Dec, you know its true.
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 8:18 PM
Sweet, now every movie Pixar ever releases will get receive a Best Picture nomination. Not that they don't deserve that, I just wasn't crazy about Up, and Cars 2 looms in our future.
Posted 24 Jun 2009, 8:51 PM
I'm okay with more, but why the arbitrary number? Why five? Why ten? Why not simply... these (whatever #) films were far and away the best of the past year. Like they do with Heisman Trophy finalists.
Posted 25 Jun 2009, 10:09 AM
is it just Best Picture to get 10 nominees or do the other categories also get 10 each, i.e. a doubling up of everything?