Twitter Users Invited To Vote On 2021 Favorite Films For Upcoming Oscars Ceremony

Next month’s Academy Awards ceremony will have a new social media twist, with Twitter TWTR users being asked to vote on their favorite 2021 film release.

What Happened: According to the Hollywood Reporter, Twitter users can voice their opinions on the best films of the previous year by tweeting the titles with the hashtag #OscarsFanFavorite. The film that generates the largest number of votes by March 3 will be recognized during the Oscars ceremony broadcast scheduled for March 27 on Walt Disney Co.’s DIS ABC television network.

Furthermore, three Twitter users who cast their votes will be selected for an all-expenses-paid trip to Los Angeles with guests and will be given the opportunity to present an Academy Award during the 2023 ceremony.

Related Link: 10 Weirdest Academy Award Achievements Of All Time

Why It Happened: For many years, the films nominated for the major Oscar categories tend to be smaller, limited release titles that are not as popular with audiences as the big blockbuster epics. Film industry observers have theorized the popularity of the Oscars telecast has waned over the years because viewers are mostly unfamiliar with the films that generated the highest level of nominations.

The Academy had considered adding a category in 2019 honoring the most popular film with audiences, but the idea was dropped when many Academy members voiced disapproval.

For this year's Oscar nominees, “Dune” is the sole production among the 10 Best Picture nominees that brought in more than $100 million at the U.S. box office. Last year’s most commercially successful film, “Spider-Man: No Way Home,” only received a Best Visual Effects Award nomination, while other top-grossing films including "Black Widow" and "A Quiet Place Part II" were shut out.

“We’re thrilled to partner with Twitter to help build an engaged and excited digital audience leading up to this year’s ceremony,” said Meryl Johnson, vice president of digital marketing at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “Through these activations, social media users around the world now have more opportunities to engage with the show in real time, find a community and be a part of the experience in ways they’ve never been able to before.”

Next month's Oscar ceremony will be hosted by Regina Hall, Amy Schumer and Wanda Sykes, according to a Hollywood Reporter article. Each woman will host a one-hour segment of the three-hour telecast.

Photo: Composer Lalo Schifrin receiving an Honorary Academy Award in 2018. Photo courtesy of AMPAS.