Come on, voters: The Oscars could use a little sequel

For at least some of you, like 10,000 Oscar voters, it’s not too late. You have 33 hours left to enjoy your Oscar sweepstakes, shake up the race and write fantastic new stats in the record books.

And it’s easy. All you have to do is follow the lead of your brothers at the Producers Guild of America (of which many of you are a part anyway), and not one, not two, but four Blockbuster Sequels for the Best Picture Award.

How wonderful would it be to see the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences follow the PGA in awarding nominations to this billion dollar quartet Avatar: the way of water, Top Gun: Maverick, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Glass Onion: A Mystery of Blades (yes, a streamer)?

Overnight, the competition turned from a chess match between excited foodies moving important little images across the board to an all-out heavyweight slugfest, with big studio support and roaring cheers from every corner. It would be like the old days when the Oscars were an issue. People can even watch the show, if only to see if Tom Cruise arrives by parachute or the late Chadwick Boseman appears in a hologram.

This is not pure fantasy. Academy insiders have been whispering for months about the possibility of Oscar voters waking up to the powerhouses of the year. But it’s not a thought they’d voice out loud, partly because it’s not their job to sway the vote, and more so because they know winning the big sequels remains a gamble. Around a quarter of the Academy’s members live abroad, and this large international contingent appears to behave more like BAFTA membership – which has only placed one of the blockbusters, Top Gun: MaverickLong list for the best pictures along with more demanding films like No news from the western front, The Banshees by Inisherin and tar. (The Critics Choice Awards originally went together Everything everywhere at once takes home the big prize On Sunday.)

Nevertheless, one can dream. As far as I know (and there might be a loophole somewhere), only about 10 sequels have ever received a Best Picture nomination. That’s one every 9.4 years, so a stack of four photos will cover the quota for almost half a century. Of course, this will increase the number of sequels nominated by 40% to 14 overnight.

The godfather and lord of the rings Cycles, with two nominated sequels in a three-film run, is probably the most impressive nominated repeats.

The Godfather Part IIwon the Oscar like its predecessor; The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was also a winner and apparently accepted the award for the triptych.

I can only watch four sequels – Joker, Toy Story 3, Mad Max: Fury Roadand The Silence of the Lambs – which received a best picture nomination without a predecessor being so honored. This year, Top Gun: Maverick and glass onion could do it together.

Best of all, the year’s worthy sequels are all very different. A caper, a tribal epic, a military adventure, a 3D space culture war.

There would be a lot to talk about. It is not too late. One can dream.