Oscars To Include 10 Best Picture Nominees in 2010

Next year’s 82nd Academy Awards will expand to feature ten nominees in the Best Picture category, according to Academy Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Sid Gannis.

“Having ten Best Picture nominees is going to allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories, but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize,” Gannis says.

The Best Picture Category has not held ten nominees since Casablanca’s 1942 win, after which the category was reduced to five. “The final outcome, of course, will be the same – one Best Picture winner – but the race to the finish line will feature ten, not just five, great movies from 2009,” Gannis says.

Discussions to expand the category were brought up with the current bicoastal screening series of the ten 1939 Best Picture nominees, a year often noted as the best year for movies. Classics in the series include The Wizard of Oz, Of Mice and Men, Wuthering Heights, Dark Victory, Goodbye, Mr. Chips, Love Affair, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Ninotchka, Stagecoach, and winner Gone with the Wind.

The move to include a larger nomination category is one of the most radical changes to the Oscars in many years, a reflection of the public opinion that the award show has strayed from the general audience. Gannis admitted last year’s crowd favorite Dark Knight, which was left off the Best Picture list, was a topic of discussion when deciding to include more nominees.

While popular movies such as Dark Knight would now hold a better chance at recognition from the Academy, the value of a best picture nomination may very well be weakened. With now roughly one out of every thirty films produced claiming a nomination, a Best Picture nominated movie will not hold as much clout as previous nominees. The ratings, however, are sure to increase after the large audience draw the 2009 show had. “Our partners at ABC are very, very happy,” Gannis says.

Next year’s Oscar nominations are to be announced February 2nd, followed by the ceremony on March 7th at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles.