How many movies deserve to be handed a best picture Oscar nomination in any given year? It's a question organisers have been asking since 2009, and yesterday it was announced they have finally settled on a number. Sort of.
The 2012 Academy Awards will see nominations for between five and 10 films, depending on how many meet the voting criteria. Previously, there had been 10 movies on the nominees list, but only for the last two years. Before that the figure was five, going back to 1944.
Movies hoping to make the final cut will now have to achieve a minimum of 5% of the overall vote by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which decides the Oscars each year. The organisation decided on the rule after trawling through votes from previous years; if the rule had been in place between 2001 and 2008 it would have resulted in best picture fields of five, six, seven, eight and nine nominees.
"In studying the data, what stood out was that academy members had regularly shown a strong admiration for more than five movies," said retiring executive director Bruce Davis. "A best picture nomination should be an indication of extraordinary merit. If there are only eight pictures that truly earn that honour in a given year, we shouldn't feel an obligation to round out the number."
The number of nominees will be revealed at the same time as the nominees themselves are announced, on 24 January 2012. The final winner of the best picture gong will continue to be decided by the preferential vote system, which means it must be endorsed by at least 50% of voters.
The decision in 2009 to increase the number of best picture nominees from five to 10 was seen at the time as a ploy to give organisers of the awards broadcast more options when deciding guests. It has seen more mainstream films featuring in the ceremony, but also led to suggestions that some films on the list may be little more than also-rans.
The academy also announced on Tuesday that it was removing the requirement for a vote to be held on whether to hand out an award for best animated film on any given year. The move hints at the continuing success of the form, which in 2010 contributed five of the top 10 films at the worldwide box office, including the No 1 film Toy Story 3.
The 84th Academy Awards will take place on 26 February 2012 at the Kodak theatre in Hollywood.
