And the Best Picture Goes to…

The eventual Academy Award for Best Picture could be a film that never saw the inside of a theater, and that has never happened before. Not that we aren’t used to seeing a lot of things that have never happened before in 2020.

Earlier this year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences relaxed eligibility rules for movies to account for the closure of theaters to allow any movie with a planned release in theaters to qualify for Oscar consideration, so many movies that only were available on streaming sites will have their chance at the gold statuette.

In addition to the question of where movies had to be viewed, rules about the eligibility window were altered too. In a normal year, only movies released from January 1 to December 31, 2020 would be considered, but the Academy extended the eligibility period for films to February 28, 2021 instead. Not since nearly the very beginning of the Academy Awards has an eligibility window spanned two calendar years.

In years past, the week before Christmas would find theaters (in major cities, at least) crowded with Oscar-bait movies released just in time to be fresh in the mind of Academy members making nominations. And there were no prestige films presented to Hollywood elite at tony film festivals this year; anything that did happen was virtual.

This year there will be over a year’s worth of streaming content to consider in addition to the few movies that made it to the big screen. This puts Netflix et al at a considerable advantage: Christopher Nolan may have gotten Tenet in the theaters but for the most part, the big names were in our living rooms.

Netflix has top dogs like David Fincher (Mank,) Spike Lee (Da 5 Bloods) and Aaron Sorkin (Trial of the Chicago Seven) among their bevy of filmmakers, and Apple+ has Sofia Coppola (On the Rocks) and Regina King (One Night in Miami.)

Acting categories offer an impressive range of contenders too, with a diverse group of potential nominees that could keep the #OscarsSoWhite hashtag off Twitter this year. Chadwick Boseman, Delroy Lindo, Riz Ahmed and Steven Yeun top many critics’ lists in the actor category, and Viola Davis, Zendaya and Andra Day heading the Best Actress potentials.

Originally scheduled for February 28, 2021, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences postponed the awards ceremony by two months due to the pandemic. The current date is set for April 25, 2021 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. Nominations will be announced March 15th.

Other changes include the number of categories being lowered to 23, (the Sound Editing and Sound Mixing category were combined into one generalized Sound category) and requiring the Best Original Score award to have a 60% minimum of original music and an 80% minimum for films of a continued franchise.

Just in case you were wondering, The Golden Globes will follow suit and expand the eligibility window for movies (but not television shows.) The Hollywood Foreign Press Association said nominations will be announced February 3rd, while it also officially extended its English-and foreign-language motion picture eligibility period to November 30th. The ceremony, hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, will be held February 28, 2021 at the Beverly Hilton.

What movies would you nominate? Let us know in the comments.