Oscars Expand Best Picture Short List

LOS ANGELES: The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has doubled the number of films vying for the Best Picture category to ten for next year’s Academy Awards, slated for March 7, 2010 and airing live on ABC.

The Academy’s president, Sid Ganis, noted: “After more than six decades, the Academy is returning to some of its earlier roots, when a wider field competed for the top award of the year. The final outcome, of course, will be the same—one Best Picture winner—but the race to the finish line will feature ten, not just five, great movies from 2009.”

He continued: “Having ten Best Picture nominees is going allow Academy voters to recognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show up in the other Oscar categories but have been squeezed out of the race for the top prize. I can’t wait to see what that list of ten looks like when the nominees are announced in February.”

The nominations for the Oscars will be announced February 2.