After one solid month of listening to everyone in the whole world complaining about it, the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences has decided that the “Best Popular Film” Oscar category may actually be a pretty stupid idea. The Academy initially pitched the idea to the cruel and judgmental public at the beginning of August, vaguely indicating that a future Oscars ceremony would feature “a new category for outstanding achievement in popular film.” Though the Academy had not given a date for when the new category would be implemented, meaning it probably wouldn’t be ready for the next Oscars ceremony, it seemed like the organization was specifically setting itself up for a way to acknowledge films like Black Panther without having to sully the traditional categories with a superhero movie.
That’s all irrelevant, though, because cooler heads at the Academy have prevailed. According to Variety, the organization has issued a statement saying the idea for the “Best Popular Film” category now “merits further study,” and it will therefore not be implemented just yet. The Academy’s board of governors cited the “wide range of reactions” to the proposed change—which is a nice way of saying that everybody thought it was terrible—and they now “recognize the need for further discussion” on the matter.
The Academy also discussed some changes that are less interesting, like the fact that a handful of awards will be handed out during commercial breaks, with “winning moments” then edited and aired later in the normal broadcast, but the categories being skipped haven’t been announced yet. They’ll also change every year, so maybe we’ll get into a situation at some point where Best Picture happens while the rest of us are watching a Pepsi ad, which would be a lot of fun.
The next Oscars ceremony—where no popular films will ever be acknowledged—will be held on February 24, 2019.