“John Wick 4,” “Fast X” and other action-packed movies coming out this year make compelling storylines, but it may all come down to what makes for good Oscar TV.
“I don’t think there’s a single good argument against professional stuntmen at the Oscars,” director Chad Stahelski told TheWrap. His action-packed film “John Wick: Chapter 4” topped $270 million at the global box office to become Hollywood’s highest-grossing R-rated film since pre-pandemic Sony’s “Bad Boys for Life.”
Even the lights and cameras get a thumbs up from the Academy. So where is the prize for action? That is the question that is increasingly being asked by the people behind the stunts that fill theaters.
If there’s a year to institute Best Action, it could be 2023. In addition to “John Wick 4,” there’s Paramount’s “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part I,” Universal’s “Fast X,” and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. ” from Disney. For an industry that is kept commercially alive by stunt-heavy action-adventure movies, advocates of a Best Action award feel these movies will make their job increasingly hard to ignore.
“You can hardly believe it doesn’t exist,” screenwriter Zack Stentz (“X-Men: First Class,” “Thor”) told TheWrap, “It’s a no-brainer.”
Missing in the best action
Action-packed movies get Oscars, of course, like the latest Best Picture winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” That A24 hit stars Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan, who also won Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor, and both did most of their own stunts.
“We were as involved in capturing the hearts of the public as any other artist involved in the process,” said the stunt rider turned motocross champion. zandara kennedy.
“It feels like action movies are in a place where they’ve moved on to live-action auteurs,” said journalist Brandon Streussnig, who worked with film critic Bilge Elbiri to create this year’s comprehensive film. stunt awards for Vulture. “Directors like Stahelski or actors and producers like Tom Cruise have full freedom to create amazing stunts at the highest level.”
Advocates hope for more direct recognition of all the work that goes into flashy and jaw-dropping stunts, whether or not a star is involved in their execution.
“There is genuine pain involved in productions knowing that every department on the set has the potential to be rewarded by their industry peers, except them,” Streussnig said.
little time for change
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recently established a new Production and Technology branch, which grants membership to a broad category of stunt-related roles, including stunt coordinators, motion directors, and visual effects production managers. Those workers previously belonged to the Academy as members at large. (The new branch only elects one governor to the Academy board, while the other 17 branches elect three governors, not to suggest that he is considered to be of equal status.)
The existence of a branch does not correspond to the creation of a new award category, although members of a branch typically vote for a specialized award, if one exists. Also, there isn’t much time.
The Academy’s Board of Governors meets in late April for its annual review of Oscar rules. Barring that, the next and last chance for inclusion in the 96th Academy Awards would be in August, when a newly elected board convenes, which would include the sole governor of the new branch. That means a narrow window for the specialist lobby to make its case. The Academy did not respond to TheWrap’s requests for comment.
And the Oscar for the longest awards show goes to…
The arguments against a new category have less to do with stunts and more to do with the Oscars, insiders and other experts have told TheWrap. First of all, the Academy doesn’t want to make a long show last even longer. A new award inevitably increases the pressure for other categories, such as Best Casting.
There’s a concern in some circles that the existence of a Best Action category could make for increasingly dangerous on-set stunt work as ambitious types push for the award. Streussnig said several filmmakers raised this concern when approached about the Vulture’s plans to reward movie stunts.
Stunt experts noted that the Screen Actors Guild has given stunts on television and in movies for 15 years without an increase in on-set accidents.
There is also a lack of clarity about who should receive an award for a given trick. “Do you nominate the person who does the stunt, like the guy or the woman who does the top fall?” Stahelski asked. “Is it about the gag, the sequence, or the inventiveness?”
Kennedy believes the award will most likely go to the head of the department, as with other awards. But the complex nature of stunt work still leaves doubts. Unless a very specific sequence is being considered, would the trophy go to the director of vehicle sequences, the director of fight choreography, or the person considered to be in charge of a specific stunt or fight sequence? Streussnig and others, however, believe that experienced professionals can figure this out.
A boost to Oscar ratings?
As with other linear broadcasts, the Academy Awards have seen declining viewership, falling from more than 40 million in 2010 to 18.8 million in 2023. The length of the Oscars is a perennial criticism of why more people aren’t they see them. Stentz argued that a stunt category could increase audience interest: “Nobody gets up to go to the bathroom when they’re doing five of the best stunts of the year.”
There is a constant discussion about whether nominating popular movies increases Oscar ratings. The 1998 broadcast ran for 249 minutes and drew 55.2 million viewers, the second-largest audience for the show, with “Titanic” winning Best Picture. Stentz said a stunt category would allow the show to recognize big blockbuster movies “in a non-condescending way.”
You don’t need a $200 million budget to have a jaw-dropping action sequence: “Everything Everywhere” could have been added to its Oscar collection if there had been an action category. Or the Oscar could have gone to “Top Gun: Maverick” or “Avatar: The Way of Water.” All three were critically acclaimed box office hits, ending up nominated for Best Picture in part for the strength of their action sequences.
Art or trade?
Where the arguments of stunt advocates get muddled is whether award recognition for their work is about art or business. In the end, like many parts of the movie business, it’s a bit of both.
“We solve the toughest problems,” Kennedy declared, “figuring out how to make a scene emotional, exciting, shocking and safe without revealing that the cast will double up.”
Still, getting to the Oscars may be too complicated a problem to solve this year, given the new industry’s only one person representation on the Academy’s board, unless advocates can make a persuasive case that a stunt prize will boost everyone. -important broadcast ratings.
Meanwhile, professional stuntmen will have to make do with the SAG Stunt Ensemble category, or less formal nods like the Vulture Awards.
Kennedy doesn’t think the Academy will change its tune “unless there is a consequence for not doing so.” Until then, he said, the stuntmen “will still take your money, do our job and entertain the spectators.”
