‘The Twilight Saga’ Nominated For Critics’ Choice Favorite Film Franchise Award: The End Of Elitism?
The Twilight Saga has been nominated for a Critics’ Choice Movie Award, or more accurately the last installment of the series has.
On Tuesday, the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BCFA) announced its nominees for the 18th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards (CCA), and this year there was a surprise new category.
In an unprecedented move, the CCA — which as the name suggests, invites critics votes only — opened its doors to include ordinary moviegoers.
As well as usual awards entries like “Best Picture,” the BFCA introduced its first ever fan-voted award category for “Favorite Film Franchise.” Critics chose the nominees, but fans will decide who wins.
Along with The Twilight Saga:Breaking Dawn – Part 2, the other nine nominees for this award are:
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Batman, The Dark Knight Rises
James Bond, Skyfall
Toy Story ,Toy Story 3
Indiana Jones, Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull
Lord Of The Rings, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Star Wars, Star Wars 7 (forthcoming)
Star Trek, Star Trek
Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man
In short, a who’s who of staggeringly, popular titles. All will contend for the “Favorite Film Franchise” award.
Considering the revenue these franchises have generated, while invigorating a newly, buoyant Hollywood economy — demonstrated by Thanksgiving’s biggest box office weekend in history — the CCA’s new category is a welcome nod from a prestigious awards body.
After a global opening weekend of $340,9 million and record breaking international box office, Breaking Dawn – Part 2’s triumphant $751,803,203 swan song was fittingly dramatic.
But, as Empire noted in a recent feature, the success of The Twilight Saga is also important. It showed in a way that’s only happened sporadically before (with films like Bridget Jones), that female moviegoer consumer power is a force to be reckoned with.
On to the rest of CCA’s nominations.
Unsurprisingly, Stephen Spielberg’s civil war epic Lincoln scored a record 13 across the board.
Emotive musical Les Miserables received 11 nominations, while Silver Linings Playbook — romantic comedy with a difference — tallied 10.
Ang Lee’s Life of Pi pulled in nine nominations, and Ben Affleck’s acclaimed, Iranian hostage thriller Argo, James Bond’s Skyfall, and cult head-spinner The Master picked up seven nominations each.
Kathryn Bigelow’s Osama Bin Laden hunt Zero Dark Thirty, a winner in previous awards this season, managed only five nominations this time round.
The Critics’ Choice Awards winners will be announced at a January 10 ceremony taking place at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. The show will air live at 8 pm on The CW Television Network.
For those eager to send their favorite franchise to glory, online voting has begun.
