For the upcoming Oscars ceremony, the Academy is making a mindful approach to connect with consumers with their Oscars Fan Favorite poll recognized during the show’s telecast. On Monday, the Academy revealed the top 10 finalists that have received votes from utilizing the hashtag #OscarsFanFavorite or voting on OscarsFanFavorite.com.
The leaderboard includes: Zack Snyder’s “Army of the Dead” (Netflix), Kay Cannon’s “Cinderella” (Amazon Studios), Denis Villeneuve’s “Dune” (Warner Bros), James Wan’s “Malignant” (Warner Bros), Andrew Levitas’ “Minimata” (Samuel Goldwyn Films), Garth Jennings’ “Sing 2” (Illumination/Universal Pictures), Jon Watts’ “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (Sony Pictures), James Gunn’s “The Suicide Squad” (Warner Bros) and Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Tick, Tick … Boom!” (Netflix).
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Filmmakers with robust fandoms are coordinating their efforts to get their favorites recognized, including that of Zack Snyder, whose director’s cut of “Justice League” released in March 2021. Many of his fans have been working tirelessly to get the “Snyder Cut” recognition. Unfortunately, however, the film is not eligible for the award.
The four-hour cut of the original 2017 movie is a re-edited version, and those are not eligible for Academy Awards. The films eligible to receive the Fan Favorite recognition have to be from the 276 eligible films that were in the running for Academy consideration. Snyder’s film was not.
The Academy rules for eligibility for best picture state:
“To be eligible for consideration under rules provisions implemented for the 94th Academy Awards year only, feature films may open in a commercial motion picture theater in at least one of six U.S. metropolitan areas: Los Angeles County; the City of New York; the Bay Area; Chicago, Illinois; Miami, Florida; and Atlanta, Georgia, between March 1, 2021 and Dec. 31, 2021, and complete a minimum qualifying run of seven consecutive days in the same venue. Drive-in theaters open nightly are included as qualifying commercial venues in the above cities. In addition, films intended for theatrical release but initially made available through commercial streaming, VOD service or other broadcast may qualify if the film is made available on the secure Academy Screening Room member site within 60 days of the streaming/VOD release or broadcast. Feature films must have a running time of more than 40 minutes.”
“The Snyder Cut” is the fourth most-streamed film in 2021, and its proven success has launched other director’s cut campaigns, such as for David Ayer’s “Suicide Squad” (2016). Snyder stepped down during post-production of “The Justice League” following the death of his daughter. Joss Whedon was brought on board to finish the film, overseeing reshoots, shortening the runtime and incorporating different tones, humor and beats. “Justice League” (2017) received mixed reviews from critics.
With the Oscars under fire for pre-recording the winners of eight artisan categories and editing them into the live telecast, the anticipation of the big fan-favorite reveal is a bit confusing without being an official category nor getting an Oscar statuette. Announced during nominations, the theme for this year’s telecast is “Movie Lovers Unite,” with the hopes of welcoming more film lovers to the Academy’s world. Its premise is to send the message that even if you love “Drive My Car” or “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” we all love movies.
The Academy and ABC are focused on expanding their audiences and increasing ratings. In 2019, they announced the creation of the best popular film category, but it was scrapped following a public backlash.
In addition to the winning film being recognized during the telecast, three lucky Twitter users will get an all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles to present one of the awards for next year’s ceremony in 2023. Users are allowed to vote up to 20 times per day.
Two of the films on the leaderboard are the two most nominated movies of the year: “The Power of the Dog” with 12 and “Dune” with 10. Many of the other films are theorized to be getting additional votes based on love for the talents involved, not for the movies themselves.
Obviously “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” currently the third highest-grossing domestic film of all time, has a considerable following, especially with stars like Tom Holland and Zendaya involved in the MCU. However, critics gave mixed reviews to films like “Cinderella,” which stars Grammy-nominated pop star Camila Cabello.
Most interesting is “Minamata,” a film about American photographer W. Eugene Smith produced by and starring Johnny Depp. It’s difficult to believe that “Minamata” is one of the most popular films of last year over movies like “Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” and “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” which were both in the top five highest-grossing films of last year. Many speculate the support for the film surrounds the very public divorce between Depp and his former wife and actress Amber Heard in 2017, following allegations of abuse.
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