Next month’s Oscars will embody a brand new “fan favorite” prize for the yr’s hottest movie as voted for by Twitter customers, organisers mentioned Monday in search of to lure viewers again to a ceremony that has seen audiences plummet.
The announcement – which will likely be made throughout the 94th Academy Awards telecast on March 27 – comes after a number of crowd-pleasing blockbusters together with Spider-Man: No Way Home and No Time To Die didn’t earn Oscar nominations in main classes, together with finest image.
Their omission raised fears that many film followers will skip the present. But any movie launched in 2021 will be voted for within the new class utilizing the Twitter hashtag #OscarsFanFavorite or through the Academy’s web site, elevating the probabilities of a blockbuster being honoured on the evening.
Television scores for the Oscars have dramatically declined in recent times. Last yr’s version, which honoured primarily smaller, arthouse films corresponding to finest image winner Nomadland, was watched by simply over 10 million viewers – a 56% decline from 2020, which was already a file low.
As Oscars voters have more and more drifted away from extra mainstream fare, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has toyed with numerous reforms to spice up the ceremony’s recognition.
In 2018, organisers proposed a “standard movie” Oscar to honour blockbuster films corresponding to Star War movies or Marvel superhero movies that rake in thousands and thousands on the field workplace.
But it swiftly shelved these plans after critics ridiculed the transfer, and the brand new “fan favorite” award won’t be a proper Oscar class.
Meryl Johnson, the Academy’s vice chairman of digital advertising and marketing, mentioned the transfer would “assist construct an engaged and excited digital viewers main as much as this yr’s ceremony” and permit followers to “interact with the present in real-time, discover a group and be part of the expertise in methods they’ve by no means been capable of earlier than”.
Twitter’s Sarah Rosen mentioned the collaboration was “an thrilling option to additional interact film followers and have fun their love and keenness for the movies launched this yr.”
Movie followers can vote as much as 20 instances per day till March 3, and three randomly chosen winners will likely be invited to current an Oscar at subsequent yr’s ceremony.
A separate ballot will ask voters to selected their favorite “film cheer second”. The 5 hottest selections – billed as scenes the place “audiences could not assist however erupt into cheers in theatres” – will likely be proven throughout the Oscars.
Next month’s Oscars will return to the ceremony’s conventional Dolby Theatre venue in Hollywood, after the pandemic-affected 2021 Academy Awards had been held at a Los Angeles prepare station.
They are being held later than typical, reportedly to keep away from clashing with February’s Winter Olympics and Sunday’s Super Bowl in Los Angeles. – AFP
