From Variety:
Oscar is opening up his playing field in a big way next year.
The Motion Picture Academy announced Wednesday that for the first time in more than 65 years, the field of best picture nominees will be expanded to 10 contenders for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards.
…Having 10 best picture nominees is going allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize, said Acad prexy Sid Ganis in announcing the shift. …I cant wait to see what that list of 10 looks like when the nominees are announced in February.
The last time the Oscar race featured 10 best pic contenders was the 16th annual contest in 1943, when “Casablanca” emerged with the top prize. There were 10 best pic noms for most of the Academy Awards’ first decade. In 1935 there was a bumper crop of 12 nominees.
So that should cover everyone’s favorites, right? Heh.
