Plans for new ‘popular’ film Oscar category are shelved

PLANS by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to hand out a “popular film” Oscar have been put on hold following a widespread backlash.

John Bailey, the Academy president, said that the new category was well-intentioned in its efforts to reflect a changing industry and was misunderstood by its critics.

The Academy will further study plans for the category, citing the fact that implementing a new award three quarters of the way into the year would create challenges for films that have already been released.

The Academy announced the new category for “outstanding achievement in popular film” last month without parameters, spawning immediate questions about the criteria and how it would affect critically and commercially successful films such as Black Panther, which has been cited as a possible best picture contender.

Mr Bailey said he was surprised by the negative reaction to the category and felt that people did not understand its goal, to give recognition to the different kinds of films made today.

“The idea of this award was not about trying to make sure that certain kinds of big mass-market pictures get recognised. To my mind, it’s more about the kind of pictures that are so difficult to get made,” he said.

He cited films that he worked on, like The Big Chill and Ordinary People, as the kind of “middle pictures” that major studios do not make many of and, when they do, are not often recognised by the film industry’s top awards.

He was unsure when the new category would re-emerge, but it could be as soon as 2020.