Hollywood Breakdown
The Academy's new "popular" film category faces supercharged backlash
In an effort to boost ratings for the Oscars, the Academy said they'd be making some changes to the awards show--including awarding certain categories during commercial breaks, as well as adding a new category for popular films.
By Matthew Belloni • • 3m ListenThis year's Oscars got the worst ratings in years and the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences is desperately trying to lure more eyeballs to the telecast. So, they've offered up some changes. One is that the ceremony will be no more than 3 hours, which means some categories will be presented during commercial breaks. AMPAS also said they'll be adding a category for best "popular" film, but no one yet knows what exactly "popular" means, or what kind of threshold a film would have to reach to qualify. It's especially rankled people in the year of 'Black Panther,'--a Marvel film many were hopeful would get a Best Picture nomination. Now people are worried it will be relegated to the popular film category.
