Huge box office blockbusters typically don’t fare well when awards season comes around, but there are always exceptions.Titanictook home 11 Oscars, includingBest Picture, while it was on its way to becoming the biggest box office smash of all time, but that movie is more the exception than the rule. Now thatStar Wars: The Force Awakenshas become the biggest domestic movie of all time, with $819.6 million and counting, many were wondering how this blockbuster would fare when the Oscar nominations were announced earlier today. This beloved sci-fi adventure ended up taking in five Oscar nominations, but it was shut out of all the major categories.
Star Wars: The Force Awakensearned nominations in technical categories such as sound editing, sound mixing, visual effects and film editing, along with a nod forJohn Williams' original score. In more recent years, the Academy has given Best Picture nods to big-budget blockbusters likeGravityandAmerican Sniper, but they were both ultimately shut out of all the major awards.USA Todayspoke with film historian Leonard Maltin, who revealed thatStar Wars: The Force Awakens' failure to land any major awards recognition is not terribly surprising.
“That follows Academy tradition. The Academy tends not to honor genre movies in the best picture category. They don’t quite take them seriously enough.”
However, the Academy did give Best Picture nominations to two bona fide box office hits,The MartianandMad Max: Fury Road. When the Academy expanded the Best Picture category from five nominees to a maximum of 10, most saw it as a way to honor more popular movies, which in turn would help boost ratings of the awards telecast. While the inclusion ofThe MartianandMad Max: Fury Roadwill likely boost the ratings a bit, a Best Picture nomination forStar Wars: The Force Awakenswould have given the ratings a much bigger jolt.
It’s worth noting that last year’sOscartelecast had the lowest ratings since 2009, the year before the Academy went to 10 Best Picture nominees. The Academy responded by parting ways with producersCraig ZadanandNeil Meron, and replacing them David Hill andReginald Hudlin.Chris Rockwill serve as the Oscar host this year, with the telecast set for February 28 on ABC.
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hopeearned 11 Oscar nominations after its groundbreaking theatrical release, including a nod for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor (Alec Guinness) and Best Director (George Lucas). It won seven Oscars, including one forJohn Williams' score, but it lost all of the major awards, including Best Picture, whichAnnie Hallwon. What do you think aboutStar Wars: The Force Awakensgetting shut out of all the major Oscar categories?
