
By the time the curtain goes up at the opening ceremony of this year’s Venice Film Festival, distributors and awards strategists will have just about picked their jaws off the floor after the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled what must rank as one of its most radical rule changes in recent memory. The announcement in early August that the 91st Oscars telecast on February 24, 2019 will include an award for outstanding achievement in popular film came as a bolt out of the blue, taking even seasoned campaigners and studio executives by surprise.
Ostensibly a move by the Academy to make the ailing Oscars telecast seem more relevant to younger viewers, observers say the new category could damage the show’s reputation for championing smaller, independent films (which is not always the case — studio films get recognition too). Of greater concern is the possibility that whenever a studio tentpole transcends its genre roots and appears worthy of a shot at the senior Oscar categories, it will be exiled to a populist ghetto.
Eligibility requirements and further details on who will vote for the new Academy Award were not forthcoming at time of writing, but clearly Black Panther is the film that looks likely to be most affected. Marvel Studios/Disney executives are proud of their $1.3bn global smash, and it is understood they have been planning an awards push that encompasses not just crafts and major categories, but best picture and director for Ryan Coogler.
The industry consensus so far is that the Academy is being fuzzy-headed in its good intentions. It took notice when the #Oscarsowhite furore blew up a couple of years ago, and in the past 18 months has made overtures to the world outside, inviting a new intake of younger, more diverse, international entertainment professionals that would account for roughly one-fifth of global membership.


















