About five months after the lowest-rated Academy Awards telecast (26.5 million), the Academy’s board of governors announced that a new category for outstanding achievement in popular film will be introduced in Oscars, according to reports. Apart from this, a few major changes were approved on Tuesday to the tradition-bound ceremony's format, ahead of the 91st Academy Awards on February 24, 2019.
Adding the new category means films that are popular with the public but not as much with the critics will stand a chance to win an Oscar. Superhero films like Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Mission: Impossible – Fallout, and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again are among those which could now stand a better chance of being recognised. It is, however, not clear if the change will come into effect in time for the next Oscars ceremony.
Reportedly, the Academy's board of governors has also set an earlier date for the 2020 Oscars and is said to shorten the telecast to three hours in an attempt to make the ceremony “more accessible for our viewers worldwide”. Details of the name of the new award category and eligibility haven't been announced yet, but movies nominated in the popular film category will also be eligible for the overall best picture award.