Hollywood award season begins amid rising predictability

The annual awards season, leading up to the Oscars, has commenced with major Hollywood studios launching multi-million dollar campaigns to secure accolades. While these awards serve as significant commercial drivers, there is a growing observation that the results have become increasingly predictable as studios focus their spending on specific titles.

Recent shifts in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences include a more international voting body. Following the 2015 “Oscar So White” controversy, an openness policy resulted in 22% of the more than 10,000 voting members being non-Americans. This demographic shift has facilitated more success for non-US films, such as the historic wins for Parasite.

Additionally, the industry is seeing a trend toward “prestige blockbusters,” where fantasy and adventure films are utilizing more sophisticated technical elements and solemn scripts.