After attempts to launch a "Popular Movie" category at the Oscars fell flat a few years ago, the Academy is looking to drive up interest in the show by getting fans to name their favourite film on social media. Using the #OscarsFanFavorite hashtag, moviegoers are able to choose the title they think is most deserving of being recognised, so Spider-Man: No Way Home is a shoo-in, right?
Not quite.
According to Deadline, Zack Snyder's Justice League would have easily won had it been eligible. #ReleaseTheSnyderCut and #RestoreTheSnyderVerse fans have been voting for the movie on Twitter in their droves, but not a single one of their Tweets will be recognised as the four-hour blockbuster is not on the list of potential candidates.
While Spider-Man: No Way Home was in the lead to begin with, the trade reveals that Prime Video's streaming Cinderella (starring Camila Cabello) has taken the #1 spot and is well ahead of the Marvel Studios movie. The musical is actually another Sony Pictures title, though they offloaded it to Amazon during the pandemic. Johnny Depp fans appear to be as passionate as Cabello's, as Minimata, which scored no nominations, has also been making some headway.
The trade spoke to a couple of Academy members, with one saying "I’m trying to think of a dumber move the Academy has made. Sure, there are thousands, but quite possibly this could be it." Another added, "Wait. Did I read this right? Why is the Academy handing out Oscars voted by fans tweets? What’s next? Best Movie Kiss? I’m starting not to care about the Oscars. Sigh."
Oh, and for those of you wondering, there will be no physical Oscar handed out to the movie that wins this vote. So, it's actually a pretty meaningless stunt to drive up ratings for this year's ceremony.
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