Over the last century, the Oscars have undergone a lot of different changes. When the first Academy Awards were held in May 1929, there were countless differences between how the ceremony proceeded then and how it does now. It was not broadcast in any form, the ceremony only lasted 15 minutes, there were only 12 categories (compared to today’s 23), and the winners were announced months ahead of time. Major categories like Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor were absent; Best Director was split into two categories (one for Comedy Picture and one for Dramatic Picture) and there were other now-abandoned categories like Best Title Writing and Best Unique and Artistic Picture.
As the Academy Awards have grown and shifted over the last 96 Oscar ceremonies, there have been many new categories added to the list, while many more have been abandoned altogether. Amid all of this, there is consistently a desire to add new categories and awards to the Oscars. However, the willingness of the Academy to actually introduce new categories has declined significantly in recent decades.
The last new category to be added to the ceremony was Best Animated Feature, which was implemented in 2001. Over the years, there have been a handful of categories that were proposed and got enough momentum behind them that the Academy actually voted on them, but they ultimately failed to be approved. Here are all the major Oscar categories that were almost implemented in the ceremony, but were ultimately rejected by the Academy:
4 Best Casting
Casting is one of the most important aspects of any film. While it may be ultimately up to the actor to give a compelling performance, it’s the responsibility of the casting director to find the best fit for all the roles in any given film. Poor casting can sink any great movie, and great casting can redeem many lackluster qualities of movies that aren’t so great.
Casting directors are frequently some of the most under-praised creative voices in film, as very few of them manage to garner any sort of mainstream attention. In recent years, the only casting director to have gotten any sort of widespread recognition from general audiences is Sarah Halley Finn, who has worked on every film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as other films like Everything Everywhere All at Once and The Nice Guys.
Why the Award for Best Casting was Rejected
In order to bring more attention and recognition to casting directors, an Oscar for Best Casting was proposed back in the late ‘90s. The award was formally voted on in 1999, and it unfortunately did not have the support it needed to succeed and be implemented into the Oscars. The argument against an Oscar for casting is multifaceted, though it generally breaks down to the uncertainty of whom the award would actually be given, as casting is frequently the result of decisions from studios, directors and producers, in addition to the casting directors.
Additionally, as the Oscars have struggled with viewership, some people believe an award for Best Casting would only serve to make the ceremony even longer and add another award that general audiences wouldn’t be invested in.
3 Best Title Design
The thought of introducing an Oscar for Best Title Design may seem far-fetched at first, but it came quite close to being a reality. There has been a fair amount of conversation in the industry about the importance of title sequences in movies, as they do a lot to introduce the viewer to the world of the film and establish its tone and atmosphere. Back in 1999, the same year that the Board of Governors (the people who handle the logistics of the Oscars) voted to reject the Oscar for Best Casting, they also voted on an award for Best Title Design. It was also rejected.
Why There’s Still No Best Title Design Oscar
Generally speaking, a lot of people view title design as a minor part of the filmmaking process and therefore don’t believe it needs its own Oscar. It’s often viewed, with some validity, as a process that falls under the umbrella of production design. On top of that, there is no organized group of title designers in Hollywood to lobby for the introduction of the award, so it’s difficult to really make a noticeable push for the award. Since its rejection in the late ‘90s, the idea of the Best Title Design Oscar has all but disappeared from the minds of the Academy.
2 Best Stunt Coordination
Of all the potential Oscar categories that have yet to be introduced, it is the one for Best Stunt Coordination that often drums up the most attention, understandably so. Stunt work is an incredibly important aspect of filmmaking, especially in the modern age of blockbuster cinema. The outstanding works of stuntpeople have been crucial since the earliest days of Hollywood.
The Academy has even given some recognition of this fact, as they have given Honorary Oscars to incredible stuntmen on three different occasions – Yakima Canutt in 1966, Hal Needham in 2012, and Jackie Chan in 2016. There has been an extensive, organized push for a Best Stunt Coordination Oscar, which led to it being discussed and voted on every year for two decades straight, from 1991 to 2012. Shockingly, it was rejected every time.
There’s Still a Lot of Desire for a Best Stunt Coordination Oscar
Although there hasn’t been a formal vote on a Best Stunt Coordination award in over a decade, the Academy is seemingly closer to introducing the award now than it has ever been before. The push for such an award has continued to become more prevalent over the last decade, especially thanks to the new light that movies like John Wick and other works from 87North Productions, as well as the stuntmen-turned-directors, David Leitch and Chad Stahelski, have shined on the art of stunts in film.
Specifically, Stahelski recently stated that he and a larger group of stunt coordinators have actively been having meetings with the Academy to get the ball rolling on the introduction of the category. Last summer, he said that they have the necessary support and that it’s just a matter of figuring out the specifics of the award, and with that, he expects that the Oscar for Best Stunt Coordination will be introduced sometime in the next few years.
1 Best Popular Film
Finally, the last potential Oscar category to be discussed is the award for Best Popular Film. This category has come the closest of any on this list to being a part of the ceremony, as it was formally approved and announced back in 2018. The award was intended to be a recognition for the most popular and successful films of the year, though no specific guidelines were provided as to how a film would qualify and what would be necessary for a win. The award was supposed to be presented for the first time at the 2019 Oscars, though now, five years later, it still has not been implemented.
The Best Popular Film Oscar Was Controversial
The reason that the Best Popular Film Oscar was never introduced is because there was such an immense backlash to the announcement of the category. Many people immediately pushed back against the award, as the details of it were too vague, and it was clearly just a misguided attempt at finding a way to give Oscars to the massive blockbuster movies that dominate the box office. About a month after it was announced, the Academy said they were delaying its introduction to further work out the details.
The award was never heard of again, though the Academy did introduce two similar awards (though, notably, they weren’t actual Oscars) a few years later, with the Oscars Fan-Favorite award and the Oscars Cheer Moment award, which were voted on by general audiences through social media and a website the Academy set up. As anyone could have predicted, these awards were dominated by the Zack Snyder fan base, resulting in Snyder’s Army of the Dead winning the Fan-Favorite award and “The Flash Enters the Speed Force” from Zack Snyder’s Justice League winning the Cheer Moment award. The Academy has since abandoned this idea as well.
