Now that this year's Oscar nominations have been announced, it's time for theaters to start organizing their annual Best Picture showcases. However, AMC, Regal and Cinemark – the country's three largest chains – have released a statement saying that Alfonso Cuaron's ROMA, which this morning had been recognized in 10 Academy Award categories, including the one for Best Picture, will not be included as a part of their lineup.
"For more than a decade, movie-lovers have enjoyed the AMC best picture showcase to catch up on the nominated films that played at AMC throughout the prior year," the company said in a statement. "This year, Academy members nominated a film that was never licensed to AMC to play in our theaters. As such, it is not included in the AMC best picture showcase."
Now, for those of you who're all like, "What? Why not," allow me to explain. For as long as Netflix has been producing and releasing their own original films and series, a number of major movie outlets have been reluctant to give Netflix's contributions to the industry real estate in their theaters. Much of the reason for this is due to the fact that the streaming giant does not adhere to traditional theatrical windows, thereby making it quite difficult for major cinemas to host their films. It's all about that new release shuffle, my friends, which can become a rather complicated dance when you have to reserve screens for movies like Netflix's BIRD BOX and Sony's SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE on the same day – just as an example. Oh, and then there's the division of earnings to contend with, but that's a whole other bag of cats, trust me.
While there will undoubtedly be multiple ways for you to experience ROMA before this year's Oscar ceremony goes live, it's a shame to think that Cuaron's highly-acclaimed drama won't be joining the other nominees as a part of the annual event. Perhaps a compromise will be reached in the future, as Netflix continues to dole out original, money-making features, though we're looking at a lot of red tape here, folks.
How about yourself? Do you enjoy seeing the nominees up on the big screen, once more, or are Digital and Blu-ray releases enough? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
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