Oscars 2022: Is AMC Theatres Hosting Best Picture Showcase This Year?
For some fans, the Academy Awards are exactly what they’ve supposed to be: a celebration of movies. It’s easy to forget that fact in the midst of awards season and all it entails. But at its hearts, the Oscars remains Hollywood’s biggest night, one steeped in nearly a century of tradition. Speaking of, some fans might be wondering if AMC Theatres will host its annual Best Picture Showcase in 2022 for the 94th Academy Awards.
AMC Theatres introduced the Best Picture Showcase in the late-2000s
Since 2007, AMC has hosted an event called Best Picture Showcase. Back then, the Oscars still had only five nominees in that top category. So in the week or so before Oscar night, fans could attend their local AMC theater to watch all five in a single day. As the category’s rules changed, so too did AMC’s approach. For a time, Best Picture featured a sliding scale of up to 10 nominees. And in 2022, the academy expanded it permanently to a full 10 slots.
In response, AMC offered fans some options. If they chose, they could attend one or both of a two-day Best Picture Showcase, each featuring roughly half the nominees. Or they could opt for the full 24-hour marathon covering every single Best Picture nominee. And for more than a decade, AMC had great success with these special events. But in 2021, the theatre chain canceled Best Picture Showcase due to the pandemic. But what’s the plan in 2022?
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But is the popular movie theater chain holding the event for Oscars 2022?
Unfortunately for hardcore movie fans, AMC Theatres is continuing its cancelation of the Best Picture Showcase. Although an explicit reason wasn’t given, the company did release a statement on its website clarifying its plans.
“For the past 15 years, the continued support of our loyal Best Picture Showcase fanbase has helped AMC bring together cinephiles from around the country to celebrate the previous year in movies. In thinking about our plans for 2022, it was quickly obvious that the traditional Best Picture Showcase marathon events are still not feasible in the current environment. Instead, we plan to bring back a collection of this year’s nominees to the big screen for a week-long celebration of theatrical cinema, March 18 – March 27. Stay tuned to this page after the Best Picture nominations have been announced on February 8th for more details!”
At this point, it’s unclear which Best Picture nominees will make that schedule. In the past, AMC has shied away from screening Netflix original movies during this event. And this year, two — Don’t Look Up and The Power of the Dog — are in the Best Picture mix. Fans will no doubt keep a close eye out for further details.
Many films nominated at the 94th Academy Awards are now streaming
Perhaps some movie fans still aren’t comfortable with attending theaters just yet. Given the events of the past two years, such hesitation is completely understandable. And the fact that so many of this year’s Best Picture nominees are streaming makes it easy for fans to create a makeshift Best Picture Showcase within their own homes.
In addition to those two Netflix films, CODA and Nightmare Alley are currently streaming on Apple TV+ and HBO Max/Hulu, respectively. Meanwhile, others — such as Belfast, Dune, King Richard, and West Side Story — are either out now on Blu-ray and digital or will soon be released, just in time for Oscar night.
