LOS ANGELES, March 27 (US): For the first time in two years, the Academy Awards roll out the red carpet at Los Angeles’ Dolby Theater for what the Film Academy hopes will be a regular Oscar party. Except for all the things that have changed.
Television broadcasts for the 94th Academy Awards will begin, as usual, at 8 p.m. EST on ABC. But little else about how this year’s Oscars kick off is traditional. An hour before the broadcast begins, Dolby attendees will gather to present eight awards and acceptance speeches that will be edited into a broadcast that producer Will Packer promised would be tight for three hours, the Associated Press (AP) reported.
It’s one of the many shifts, both subtle and tectonic, around this year’s party. Two years into the pandemic — and a socially distant 2021 edition with record-low ratings — the Academy Awards will attempt to reclaim their cult status in pop culture with a revamped television broadcast that is expected to see a streaming service win best picture for the first time.
It won’t be easy. The movie industry largely recovered from the pandemic in 2021, but despite one of the biggest hits in years in “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” the recovery has been choppy. The global film industry sold about half as much tickets last year as it did two years ago, $21.3 billion in 2021 compared to $42.3 billion in 2019, according to the Motion Picture Association. Hollywood has pushed many of its best movies straight into the homes than ever before; Half of the 10 nominees for Best Picture of the Year have aired or very close to release. Even the Film Academy has turned entirely into a streaming platform for voters, rather than DVD projectors.
Then there are the challenges of getting the world’s attention to spend a Hollywood self-congratulatory night two years after the pandemic.
Netflix’s Jane Campion’s gothic western movie The Power of the Dog comes with 12 leading nominations and a good chance of winning first prize. But all this impetus comes from the Sian Heder family drama “CODA”, which, although it boasts only three gestures, is considered a favourite. The win would be a victory for Apple TV+, which acquired the film from the Sundance Film Festival last year and spent significant sums promoting the film for Academy members.
But expect most of the awards that night to go to “Dunes,” the sweeping sci-fi epic of Denis Villeneuve. It is the favorite possibilities feature for cleaning in the technical categories.
After several years without a host, the Academy Awards will turn to the trio of Amy Schumer, Wanda Sykes and Regina Hall to run the broadcast, which also airs on platforms including Hulu Live TV, YouTubeTV and ABC.com with provider authentication. The producers also put together a star-studded lineup of artists including Billie Eilish and Beyoncé to sing the nominated songs, while the cast of “Encanto” will perform Lin-Manuel Miranda’s hit “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.”
It’s going to be an amazing start, as the stars make their way to Dolby at different times. The pre-show will run on ABC’s red carpet from 6:30 to 8 p.m. The first hour of prizes will take place inside the theater between 7-8 p.m. News of these winners will be posted first on social media and later woven into the telecast. To accommodate the shift, the red carpet will also open an hour earlier than usual, at 4 p.m. ET.
The modified approach, which is not very popular with some members of the academy, should result in some complicated red-carpet logistics. The academy, which wanted to give each winner a relentless moment, is urging attendees to take their seats by 7 p.m. Some stars, like Tammy Fay’s Eyes nominee Jessica Chastain, said they wouldn’t give interviews on the red carpet if it meant missing out on awards like the best hair and makeup nominees for Tammy Fay artists.
This is one of the eight pre-show categories that will be distributed during what producers call the “golden hour.” Other features are: Film Editing, Audio, Original Recording, Production Design, Live Action Short, Animation Short and Documentary Short.
Earlier this month, more than 70 Academy Award winners, including James Cameron, Kathleen Kennedy and Guillermo del Toro, warned that the change would turn some nominees into “second-class citizens.”
Behind this change, there is an alarm about the rapid decline in the Academy Awards rates. While dips were common on all major network awards shows, last year’s show drew only about 10 million viewers, down from half of the 23.6 million in the previous year. A decade ago, it was close to 40 million.
To help regain Oscar prominence, some argued in the run-up to this year’s awards that a blockbuster like “Spider-Man: No Way Home” should have been nominated for Best Picture. It is up to visual effects only.
Instead, a wide range of movies are on the hunt, from the much-watched Netflix shocking comedy Don’t Look Up to the popular three-hour Japanese drama Drive My Car.
One thing the producers promised: Tonight’s final award would be Best Picture. Last year’s show concluded awkwardly with an unexpected submission for Best Actor for a Non-Existent Actor Anthony Hopkins.
MI