Since a rule change in 2009, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has had the opportunity to nominate 10 films for Best Picture. Only once, in 2010, did that make complete use of the rule.
Now, only six years later, the Academy members are thinking about decreasing the limit back to five, according to an exclusive report from The Hollywood Reporter.
The site reported that a rule change would " be a radical shift for the 6,000-member organization and a tacit acknowledgement that its six-year-old strategy of boosting the number of best picture nominees has failed."
The Academy's board of governors will next meet on March 24 and presumably will talk about a potential rule change, but are not leaking any information out to the press.
"As we do each year, the Academy will meet in the coming months to evaluate not only the telecast, but also the awards season in its entirety," an Academy spokesperson told The Hollywood Reporter.
The Academy decided to increase the field of Best Picture nominations to 10 after "The Dark Night" got snubbed, according to Vulture.
A potential decrease in nominations would no doubt have an effect on the importance of the category, which has been watered down since the change. In recent years, movies that did well at the box office or were snubbed in other categories were nominated for Best Picture to make up for mistakes elsewhere (such as "Selma" just last month, which many said should have been up for more awards).
On the other hand, recently the Academy has used to rule to nominate more indie and smaller budget films for Best Picture. A film such as the 2015 winner "Birdman" may not have even been nominated in the first place if it came out before the rule change.
