After looking at the choices of US-based critics' groups, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and the Screen Actors Guild, you probably thought that less than a dozen movies are up for awards consideration in 2009. Not so. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that no less than 274 features are eligible for the 2009 Best Picture Academy Award. Ten will make the cut.
As per the Academy's press release, "to be eligible for 82nd Academy Awards consideration, feature films must open in a commercial motion picture theater in Los Angeles County by midnight, December 31, and begin a minimum run of seven consecutive days.
"Under Academy rules, a feature-length motion picture must have a running time of more than 40 minutes and must have been exhibited theatrically on 35mm or 70mm film, or in a qualifying digital format.
"Feature films that receive their first public exhibition or distribution in any manner other than as a theatrical motion picture release are not eligible for Academy Awards in any category."
The 2010 Academy Award nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
The 2010 Academy Awards ceremony will take place on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center. In the US, it'll be televised live by ABC.