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The Oscars’ Bold Bid to Boost Theaters

It’s all being kept quiet for now, but I’m told the Academy is poised to enact a significant rules change, potentially adding a new theatrical distribution requirement for films to be eligible for best picture.

If all goes according to Academy C.E.O. Bill Kramer’s plan, there will be a mandate that best picture nominees films play in 15 or 20 of the top 50 markets in the U.S. to be eligible.
If all goes according to Academy C.E.O. Bill Kramer’s plan, there will be a mandate that best picture nominees films play in 15 or 20 of the top 50 markets in the U.S. to be eligible. Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/AFP
Matthew Belloni
March 31, 2023

For about an hour inside the Dolby Theater last month, it seemed like Netflix might have finally pulled it off. All Quiet on the Western Front had beaten Babylon for best score and Elvis for best cinematography and production design, suggesting to me, and the Netflix folks I was sitting near, that a best picture shocker was at least plausible. Alas, despite spending more than $100 million campaigning over the past 7 or 8 years, co-C.E.O. Ted Sarandos still hasn’t taken home that top trophy. And now, the Academy appears likely to do something that would certainly annoy Ted & Co., and might make it costlier to win that coveted prize.