Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences President Sid Ganis announced this afternoon that the Oscar race for Best Picture—a race traditionally between five films, at least since World War II—will double the number of contenders starting with this year's presentation. "Having 10 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," Ganis said.
It also makes room for more commercial picks, as recent Best Picture races have included few box-office hits and thereby hooked fewer viewers into the ceremony's broadcast. In 2008, 2007 and 2006, respectively, the five nominees for the top Oscar grossed a cumulative $70 million. Compare that to earlier this decade, when the five grossed upwards of $130 million. In doubling the field of contenders, you can fit movies like The Dark Knight or Wall-E that resonated both critically and commercially.
In the spirit of this new announcement, we're going to get all revisionist on cinema history. Who might've made the cut in the last five years, if ten films were nominated?
77th Academy Awards Best Picture Nominees:
- The Aviator
- Million Dollar Baby
- Sideways
- Finding Neverland
- Ray
Woulda-beens:
- Closer
- Hotel Rwanda
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- Maria Full of Grace
- Vera Drake
78th Academy Awards Best Picture Nominees:
- Crash
- Brokeback Mountain
- Munich
- Good Night, and Good Luck
- Capote
Woulda-beens:
- Walk the Line
- The Constant Gardner
- Cindarella Man
- A History of Violence
- Junebug
79th Academy Awards Best Picture Nominees:
- The Departed
- Little Miss Sunshine
- The Queen
- Babel
- Letters from Iwo Jima
Woulda-beens:
- Pan's Labyrinth
- Little Children
- Dreamgirls
- Borat
- Notes on a Scandal
80th Academy Awards Best Picture Nominees:
- No Country for Old Men
- Juno
- Atonement
- Michael Clayton
- There Will Be Blood
Woulda-beens:
- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
- Lars and the Real Girl
- Into the Wild
- Away From Her
- Gone Baby Gone
81st Academy Awards Best Picture Nominees:
- Slumdog Millionaire
- Frost/Nixon
- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
- The Reader
- Milk
Would-Beens:
- The Dark Knight
- Doubt
- Wall-E
- Revolutionary Road
- Rachel Getting Married
