UPDATED: Hurt Locker producer in trouble for anti-Avatar Oscar e-mails

UPDATE: The Academy has spoken, and Nicolas Chartier is not welcome at this year’s awards because of his actions. Seems like a fitting punishment for the man, as I don’t think the film itself should suffer because of one dumbass. And it’s actually quite generous of a decision, as Chartier will still receive a statue if HURT LOCKER wins. 

Nicolas Chartier, one of the four producers of THE HURT LOCKER is in some serious shit for a series of e-mails he sent out to Oscar voters that tell them to vote for his movie rather than “a $500 million film.” He actually went so far as to ask them to rank HURT LOCKER #1 and AVATAR #10 on the ballot, which would obviously sink AVATAR’s chances to win Best Picture.

This isn’t just a dick move, it’s a clear violation of the Academy’s rules which state that mailings cannot be sent that “attempt to promote any film or achievement by casting a negative light on a competing film or achievement” which is word for word exactly what Chartier has done here. 

Chartier has since apologized for his actions saying, “My naiveté, ignorance of the rules and plain stupidity as a first-time nominee is not an excuse for this behavior and I strongly regret it.” I would think the man should know better and he’s right that he really doesn’t have an excuse for this.

I’m not even sure why he felt the need to do this in the first place, because in many people’s minds (mine included), HURT LOCKER is the clear frontrunner for Best Picture at the moment as it’s scooped up almost every other similar award to date. Maybe people are predicting a populist Oscars this year with an AVATAR win, but talking to average moviegoers who loved AVATAR, I don’t think you’ll find many of them saying that even though they enjoyed the film, that it’s actually deserving of the Best Picture crown.

But on the other side, I’ve been surprised to read a fairly massive amount of kickback on HURT LOCKER too, with cries that it’s vastly overrated and paints an unrealistic picture of the war. Maybe the Academy will just get fed up with all this and give it to UP. Who can really hate on UP?