Oscars move to honour ‘popular’ movies draws ire

LOS ANGELES: The Oscars will introduce a new award for popular films and the annual ceremony will be limited to three hours from 2020, organisers said on Wednesday, in a bid to stave off slumping audiences for the movies’ most prestigious honours.

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 February 24 broadcast on Walt Disney Co’s ABC network.

The US 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 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 honour 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.”

“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 ANNUAL CEREMONY WILL BE LIMITED TO THREE HOURS TO STAVE OFF SLUMPING AUDIENCES FOR THE MOVIE INDUSTRY’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS HONOURS