Arguably the biggest addition for this year’s Oscar race is the new Fan Favourite category, which allows fans to share their own votes for their Best Picture picks.
With this year’s Academy Awards just weeks away, one film appears to be emerging as a frontrunner, and it’s a surprising one: “Cinderella”, the Camila Cabello-starring musical that debuted on Prime Video last year.
Deadline is reporting that Cabello’s “Cinderella” is currently leading the race in this new category, which allows fans to cast up to 20 votes per day via Twitter.
Introducing #OscarsFanFavorite and #OscarsCheerMoment!
How To Vote:
• Tweet your favorite film of 2021 with #OscarsFanFavorite
• Tweet the movie scene that made you cheer the loudest (ANY movie/year) with #OscarsCheerMoment
• OR vote on https://t.co/dadD2i7Cy0 pic.twitter.com/HJclTiYGni— The Academy (@TheAcademy) February 17, 2022
According to Deadline, “Cinderella” displaced the previous frontrunner, Zach Snyder’s director’s cut of “Justice League” — which isn’t even eligible, given that the original film was released in 2016.
The new category is clearly the Academy’s latest attempt to try to reward crowd-pleasing films that brought in big box-office but few award nominations, such as the 007 flick “No Time to Die” and “Spider-Man: No Way Home”.
However, the way the category has been set up makes it vulnerable to rabid fans with plenty of time to tweet, resulting in “Cinderella” leading the pack for the time being.
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Meanwhile, Deadline spoke with several Academy members who aren’t exactly thrilled with the new category and the way it’s being managed.
“I’m trying to think of a dumber move the Academy has made. Sure, there are thousands, but quite possibly this could be it,” wrote one longtime member, while another added “What’s next? Best Movie Kiss? I’m starting not to care about the Oscars. Sigh.”
The Fan Favourite winner will be revealed during the 94th annual Academy Awards, set to take place on Sunday, March 27