The Oscars are perpetually concerned with appealing to a bigger and broader audience beyond the small niche of people who not only care about movies, but are deeply interested in which movies win awards. To that end, they’ve implemented countless tweaks to the Academy Awards telecast; making the show shorter, adding more musical numbers or special guest stars. A lot of these changes have alienated their core fanbase of Oscar obsessives but hey — gotta get those ratings.
A few years ago, the Academy announced plans to change that divide between itself and “average moviegoers” with a new category that would have honored “outstanding achievement in popular film,” but ironically, popular reaction to the news was so negative that the Oscars ditched the idea before they had even implemented it. This year, they tweaked the idea slightly, adding an unofficial category determined by the number of tweets on Twitter with the hashtag “#OscarsFanFavorite.”
Any 2021 was theoretically eligible for the prize; when the Academy gave an update on the voting here were the top contenders (in alphabetical order)
- Army of the Dead
- Cinderella
- Dune
- Malignant
- Minamata
- The Power of the Dog
- Sing 2
- Spider-Man: No Way Home
- The Suicide Squad
- tick, tick … boom!
During the Oscars broadcast, the top five of the #OscarsFanFavorite was announced. In ascending order they were tick, tick… Boom!, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Minamata, Cinderella, and — the fan favorite movie of 2021 — Zack Snyder’s Army of the Dead.
Earlier in the night, Zack Snyder’s Justice League won the award for #OscarsCheerMoment over literally every film ever made, and runners-up Spider-Man: No Way Home, Avengers: Endgame, Dreamgirls, and The Matrix. So while Snyder wasn’t actually nominated for any Oscars this year, he still had a pretty good night. Never doubt the power of his fans when it comes to using social media.
You can see all of the (official) winners the 2022 Oscars here.
The Worst Oscar Best Picture Winners
These movies won the Academy Awards for Best Picture over better, more deserving films.
