Los Angeles: Academy Awards might be returning to its old ways sometime later this year. With the 87th annual awards show taking place last month, the Best Picture nominees saw a list of eight prestigious films nominated for Hollywood’s biggest honour.
Now it appears that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is seriously considering returning to the minimal five nominee option.
The Oscars announced back in 2009 that the five nominee lineup for Best Picture would be extended to a possible 10 motion pictures after the exclusion of Christopher Nolan’s 2008 film The Dark Knight stirred controversy among fans and Academy members alike.
Since the decision to move to 10 nominees, the Academy has changed the rules to fit anywhere between five to 10 nominees as not to make the category seem less prestigious.
The current rules allow a maximum of 10 nominations but the potential shift, which is being pushed by a fraction of the Academy, would be a radical shift for the organisation, said the Hollywood Reporter quoting a high-level source.
It would be also an acknowledgement from them that their six-year-old strategy of boosting the number of best picture nominees has failed, the magazine said.
“They tried it, and it really didn’t do us any good,” said the source.
While no official proposal has been placed before the Academy’s board of governors, but it could happen as soon as March 24, when the governors are next due to meet.
An Academy spokesperson declined to comment on the specifics of the upcoming meeting, saying, “As we do each year, the Academy will meet in the coming months to evaluate not only the telecast, but also the awards season in its entirety.â€
(With inputs from PTI)