Oscars’ ‘Fan Favorite’ Awards Backfired in Embarrassing Fashion (Commentary)
thewrap.comjust $1.6 million, mostly overseas); music artist Camilla Cabello’s fans pushed her Prime Video “Cinderella” adaptation to second place; and the militant Zack Snyder army assembled once more to vault their beloved filmmaker’s latest film to the top spot.The awkwardly cut montage of these four films plus “tick, tick… BOOM!” (which landed in fifth place) was buried in the telecast and met with silence in the Dolby Theatre.What makes the move even more embarrassing — and borderline offensive — is the fact that the winningest film of the night was “Dune,” a sci-fi epic that grossed over $400 million worldwide and spawned a sequel that begins production this year.
Was this critically acclaimed blockbuster not a legitimate fan favorite? The Oscars producers were so concerned with finding a way to shoehorn “Spider-Man” into the telecast that they neglected the fact that Academy voters were already highlighting a genuine franchise film in all the major categories.
To add insult to injury, four of the wins for “Dune” were presented before the telecast officially began, and then edited versions of the acceptance speeches were sprinkled throughout the ceremony.
This, in an effort to shorten the telecast and make more room for… a slapdash James Bond tribute, I guess?And did Zack Snyder fan interest suddenly boost the Oscars ratings?
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