The Business
AWARDS SEASON
2019IRISHMAN: NIKO TAVERNISE/NETFLIX.HUGO: PARAMOUNT PICTURES/PHOTOFEST.KING: TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION/PHOTOFEST. FLEISCHMAN: COURTESY OF JEFF THOMPSON.Illustration by Illosausage44
Dear Academy Members,
Last year, the Academy faced widespread crit-
icism after announcing a new Oscar category
for outstanding achievement in popular film.
The category was quickly tabled, with critics
saying the award was a lackluster attempt
to boost telecast ratings and appease some
studios. But I am hoping that after a year of
reflection, Academy members will rally around
the idea. Allow me to explain.
Before the 1980s, Main Street and Academy
tastes were mostly aligned as nearly all winners
of the best picture Oscar were among the top
10 highest-grossing films that year. Preferences
began to diverge in the 1980s, as smaller pres-
tige films would find the Oscar spotlight over
larger box office spectacles. Since 2010, no best
picture Oscar has gone to a top 10 box office hit.
While mainstream moviegoing audiences
broadened their tastes to include superhero,
fantasy and sci-fi themes, the preferences
of Academy members narrowed to sober-
ing, real-life dramas often laced with timely
political and social messages. We need
to recognize that both types of films are
outstanding achievements, each in its own
unique way.
My Plea for a Best
Blockbuster Oscar
Scorsese’s Marvel criticism underscores the need for an honor
that bridges the widening gap between the Academy’s discerning
taste and the mainstream masses’, argues a USC professorSome legendary filmmakers are critical
of this art form. While promoting his latest
film, Netflix’s The Irishman, Martin Scorsese
said Marvel movie storylines are not cinema
because they do not “convey emotional,
psychological experiences to another human
being.” In interviews with French press soon
after, Francis Ford Coppola added fuel to the
discussion by calling Marvel pictures “despi-
cable” because they do not provide learning,
enlightenment or inspiration.
They are wrong. Having conducted
more than 1,000 audience studies for major
entertainment companies, I know block-
busters achieve success by creating a deep
emotional connection across an immense
range of audiences. It’s not just about special
effects, explosions or vast merchandis-
ing opportunities. Anyone paying attention
appreciated that 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War
and this year’s Avengers: Endgame master-
fully wove multiple storylines and characters
together into a seamless, suspenseful nar-
rative of empowerment, fear, bravery, love,
loss and inspiration. In so doing, Endgame
alone made $2.8 billion worldwide — that
equates to roughly 280 million people eagerlypaying $10 each to experience the saga at
the theaters. In comparison, Barry Jenkins’
Moonlight was one of the narrowest appealing
recent best picture winners, drawing about
6.5 million people.
Academy members need to accept that
Avengers and Moonlight represent differ-
ent — yet both highly deserving — categories
of artistry. Unfortunately, when prominent
filmmakers voice opposition to this category
of artistry, they are undermining the achieve-
ments of a vast number of the Academy’s
talented members, from producers, directors
and screenwriters to crafts and production
teams. These films also help keep the industry
afloat, often allowing studios to take subse-
quent risks on funding smaller movies that
then often find their way to Oscar recognition.
Thus, these blockbusters also deserve your
respectful recognition.
The Academy recognized the dichotomy of
tastes between its members and the general
moviegoing audience when it increased the
number of best picture contenders from five
to as many as 10 nominees in 2010, with hopes
that more popular films would be nominated.
But the added slots were quickly filled with
mostly smaller and mid-sized prestige films.
Even when Marvel’s $1.3 billion worldwide hit
Black Panther was nominated for best picture
this year, it lost to Green Book, a film grossing
$322 million worldwide — a quarter of Black
Panther’s box office haul.
The fix is simple. The Academy should
reconsider an Academy Award for outstand-
ing achievement among blockbusters — call
it best blockbuster. With that, the Academy
would verify the top 10 highest-grossing
worldwide box office films and then members
would vote for the one that displays the great-
est unique achievement. Awards might have
gone to Avatar or Wonder Woman. This year,
nominations might include Endgame, Spider-
Man: Far From Home, Chinese sci-fi hit The
Wandering Earth, Joker and the upcoming Star
Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. What a race!
Some are concerned that if a film is
nominated for best blockbuster, then Academy
members might not include it for best picture.
I believe a truly great film would make both
lists. The new category might also net a larger
audience for the Oscars. This year’s viewership
on ABC grew to 29.6 million, likely boosted by
Black Panther’s seven Oscar noms, including
best picture.
While some might question that a block-
buster award would be a grab for TV ratings
and advertising cash, that ignores the issue of
the Academy’s cultural relevance. The 33 per-
cent ratings drop of this year’s Emmy Awards,
partially because of the vast number of
nominated shows that few viewers watch, is an
ominous message for the 2020 Oscar telecast:
Be culturally relevant or die.
I hope many of you agree. If so, reach out to
Academy president David Rubin and the board
to share your views.Thank you,
Gene Del Vecchio
Author of Creating Blockbusters
Faculty, USC Marshall School of BusinessTHE RACE | GENE DEL VECCHIO
1231 Joe Pesci (left) and
Robert De Niro in The
Irishman. 2 Hugo. 3 King
of Comedy, with De Niro
and Sandra Bernhard.