Anthony Mackie, Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker
The Hurt Locker producer Nicolas Chartier will be facing some sort of punishment from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences following multiple e-mails he sent out asking Academy members to vote for the Kathryn Bigelow-directed Iraq War drama and not an unnamed "$500 million film" widely known as Avatar as the Best Picture of 2009. The Academy will refrain from announcing the penalty until after the voting deadline ends next Tuesday.
According to an Associated Press report, Chartier's initial e-mail was sent Feb. 19. He later followed suit with other e-mails giving more detailed instructions on how Academy voters should fill in their Best Picture ballots, with The Hurt Locker on top and Avatar at the bottom of the list.
The Hurt Locker distributor Summit Pictures declared in a statement that it was "completely unaware of any e-mails that were sent until we were alerted by the academy earlier this week," while the film's screenwriter Mark Boal told the Los Angeles Times blog 24 Frames, "I knew nothing about it, I think it's incredibly stupid and wrong and I hope he stops."
Chartier later issued a mea culpa, but that may have been a little too late. As mentioned before at Alt Film Guide and elsewhere, in all likelihood nothing will happen to The Hurt Locker. It'll remain in the running. Chartier may lose his tickets for the Oscar ceremony, but that may well be about it — unless the Academy decides not to invite him to join their ranks later in the year.
Ironically, Chartier had to fight to be included among the film's nominated producers — Boal, Bigelow, and Greg Shapiro are the others — as Academy rules prevent a Best Picture nominee from having more than three producers in the Oscar race except under extraordinary circumstances. According to various reports, Chartier put up most of the financing for The Hurt Locker.
20th Century Fox, James Cameron, and others involved the making and distribution of Avatar have thus far kept mum about the issue.
Photo: The Hurt Locker (Jonathan Olley / Summit Entertainment)
This is a good film,I think you will like it.