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 The decision to create a special category for popular films
sparked an immediate backlash, with one critic saying it smacked
of desperation.
The sweeping changes also include handing out some of the 24
Academy Awards during commercial breaks in the Feb. 24 broadcast
on Walt Disney Co's <DIS.N> ABC network.
"We are committed to producing an entertaining show in three
hours, delivering a more accessible Oscars for our viewers
worldwide," the board of governors at the Academy of Motion
Pictures said in a letter to members.
The U.S. television audience for the almost four-hour Oscar
ceremony in March 2018 was 26.5 million viewers, the smallest in
awards' 90-year history. The telecast is an important showcase
for the film industry, and nominated movies typically attract a
new wave of ticket buyers.
"The accidental implication is here's the award for popular
film, and here's the unpopular films," said Alison Willmore,
critic and culture writer for Buzzfeed News.
The changes are the biggest since the Academy in 2016 pledged to
double its female and minority membership by 2020 in response to
the #OscarsSoWhite criticism of its nominees.
In 2009, it expanded the number of best picture nominees from
five to 10 in a bid to open up the competition.
Yet in recent years, the Oscars have tended to honor art house
fare and performers, like best picture winners "Moonlight" and
"The Shape of Water," for its biggest prizes rather than box
office hits like the "Star Wars" franchise or superhero movies
such as 2017 blockbuster "Wonder Woman."
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Fans of this year's superhero sensation "Black Panther," from
Disney's Marvel Studios, have been arguing that it deserves a best
picture nomination.
Wednesday's letter did not give details of the new category
recognizing "achievement in popular film," saying those would come
later, but critics on Twitter said it seemed to create a second-tier
honor and mocked it as "the Black Panther award."
"This is desperation," wrote Kristopher Tapley, awards editor for
Hollywood trade publication Variety. "Here comes the Academy,
establishing a corner to which voters can banish (Black Panther) and
other films like it with a pat on the head and a "'thanks for
playing.'"
The Academy could have waited to see the impact on the best picture
race from its push to diversify its membership, Willmore said.
"There's a lot of reasons to believe that would have shaken up the
hidebound ideas of what an Oscar movie is," she said.
The Academy said it will trim the duration of the Oscars ceremony by
handing out some awards during commercial breaks. Organizers did not
say which of the 24 awards, which honor everything from acting to
sound editing and short films, would be shifted.
(Reporting by Jill Serjeant and Lisa Richwine; editing by Jonathan
Oatis and Marguerita Choy)
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