Sam Worthington in Avatar (WETA / 20th Century Fox)
The Academy is probably hoping that Oscar voters will follow the Producers Guild of America' lead, as their top-ten list features one mega-blockbuster, James Cameron's Avatar (more than $1 billion worldwide), and no less than four blockbusters: J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, Pete Docter's Up, Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds and Neill Blomkamp's District 9. The rationale is that bigger movies are supposed to result in bigger TV ratings.
Cameron's Titanic raked in solid viewership numbers back in 1998, but it's been mostly downhill from there. Last year, the Oscar ceremony got an audience bump that was credited to the presence of teen heartthrobs Robert Pattinson (fresh off of Twilight) and Zac Efron (of High School Musical infamy). If Oscar ceremony organizers are smart, they'll have Pattinson and Efron back this year — and a high-school vampire dance number, just in case.
But will the Academy's list match the Producers'? Early last year, Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight — the year's biggest blockbuster — was one of the Producers Guild nominees, but it failed to get an Oscar nomination for best picture. The much smaller The Reader, a Weinstein Co. release directed by Stephen Daldry, replaced it at Oscar time.
With ten available slots this year, the makers of Avatar needn't worry. But the chances for several of the other blockbusters on the list — District 9, Star Trek, Up — is iffier. The Oscar-savvy Weinstein Co., for instance, is pushing Nine, and the first and last time an animated feature received an Oscar nod was back in early 1992, when Beauty and the Beast sneaked in. Also, actors — not producers — form the largest group of Academy members.
And finally, although she's a walking, talking blockbuster, Oprah Winfrey's name is nowhere to be found among the PGA nominees and has no chance of getting an Oscar nomination because she was billed as one of Precious' executive producers. Only "producers" get to be nominated. (Also, Winfrey's actual participation on the making of the film has been questioned of late.)
