At Monday night\u2019s Gotham Awards, Joel Edgerton pushed back on James Cameron\u2019s take that films without theatrical runs shouldn\u2019t be eligible for the Oscars.<\/p>\n
\u201cNone of us should be squabbling with each other over what has a right to be seen or awarded or part of a conversation \u2014 because there are some people that only get their chance because of streamers,\u201d Edgerton, who latest awards buzzy film is Netflix\u2019s \u201cTrain Dreams,\u201d told Variety. \u201cI don\u2019t necessarily think something should be seen as lesser than.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last week on Matt Belloni\u2019s podcast \u201cThe Town,\u201d Cameron blasted<\/a> Netflix\u2019s awards strategy as \u201cfundamentally rotten at the core,\u201d arguing the streamer should only be eligible to compete if a film plays for a month in at least 2,000 theaters.<\/p>\n More from Variety<\/p>\n \u201cA movie should be made as a movie for theatrical,\u201d Cameron said. \u201cThe Academy Awards to me mean nothing if they don\u2019t mean theatrical.\u201d<\/p>\n Since first changing the landscape with \u201cRoma\u201d in 2019, Netflix has earned 10 best picture nominations, but has never taken home the big prize. All met the basic eligibility rules through limited theatrical runs in major cities, but none had a traditional wide release.<\/p>\n Under the Academy\u2019s updated rules<\/a> for 2025, best picture hopefuls must pair a one-week qualifying run with a seven-day expansion in 10 of the top 50 U.S. markets within 45 days of the initial release. Some, like Edgerton, argue that the shift could negatively impact lower-budget entries that lack the resources to book and market extended runs.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the point that James is making is there should be more of a robust fight for the survival of cinema, but at the cost of saying that people whose only chance is to get their movies made on a streamer shouldn\u2019t have a chance to also be seen and heard,\u201d Edgerton explained. \u201cSome people who have had a long history, where it makes it a bit easier for them, they\u2019re willing to fight harder. And I really respect that. James is one of the greats. He\u2019s making movies on a big canvas. He\u2019s always been a pioneer.\u201d<\/p>\n Other longtime industry voices, such as \u201cSentimental Value\u201d star Stellan Skarsg\u00e5rd, sided more with Cameron\u2019s fight to prioritize theatrical releases at the Oscars. \u201cThat\u2019s the only way to make the theater survive,\u201c the actor explained. \u201cThat\u2019s the only way to make cinema survive. And without cinema, you don\u2019t have any Netflix.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet as the industry has anticipated a post-pandemic comeback<\/a>, moviegoers have grown more accustomed to watching news movies from the comforts of their homes. About three-quarters of U.S. adults watched a new movie on streaming instead of in theaters at least once in the past year, according to a recent AP-NORC survey<\/a>. Nearly a third said they did so at least once a month.<\/p>\n \u201cI understand the sentiment behind why [Cameron] would say that,\u201d said \u201cNo Other Choice\u201d director Park Chan-Wook, \u201cbut because of the increasing number of great films that have been made for streaming, I just don\u2019t think that fits in with the reality that we\u2019re living in right now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve died on the hill of cinema a few times over a few issues as a producer, director and an actor,\u201c Edgerton said. \u201cA friend of mine once said to me, \u2018How many of your favorite films did you ever actually watch at the cinema?\u2019 Most of my favorite movies were made in the 70s\u2026 I didn\u2019t get a chance to watch him until I was watching them on a VHS cassette on a shitty TV. And they\u2019re still my favorite films.\u201c<\/p>\n Edgerton concluded, \u201cI would still semi-die on a hill for cinema. But I\u2019m also a pragmatist.\u201d<\/p>\n Best of Variety<\/p>\n Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At Monday night\u2019s Gotham Awards, Joel Edgerton pushed back on James Cameron\u2019s take that films without theatrical runs…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":329151,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[236,88,20380,135937,217],"class_list":{"0":"post-329150","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-celebrities","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-james-cameron","11":"tag-joel-edgerton","12":"tag-netflix"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329150","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=329150"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/329150\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/329151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=329150"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=329150"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=329150"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}