10 Movies That Forced The Oscars To Change Their Rules

In the history of the Oscars, certain movies have forced the Academy to change its rules in terms of who wins the prestigious award, and also who qualifies to be nominated. The Academy Awards were first established in 1929, to recognize different achievements in the movie industry; since its first ceremony, many actors, directors and producers have received recognition from the Academy for their achievements in film. The 96th ceremony is set to take place on March 3, 2025, and there is plenty of speculation over which acclaimed movies could receive 2025 Oscar nominations.

Despite its reputation as the most prestigious award in the movie industry, the Oscars have received criticism and faced controversy. In the 96-year history of the Academy Awards and the Oscars’ quirky records, there has been criticism of the Academy’s rules regarding how certain movies can receive awards and how nominations can be made. Sometimes, certain movies have even caused the Academy to revise its rules regarding awards and categories.

10 Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)

Led to the Merging of the Best Sounds Categories

Released in 2018, Bohemian Rhapsody is a biographical movie that focuses on the life and career of Freddie Mercury, who served as the lead singer of the rock band Queen. The movie follows Mercury as he starts with the band in 1970 to their famous Live Aid performance at Wembley Stadium in 1985. It depicts Mercury’s struggles with his sexuality and his eventual diagnosis with AIDs. Bohemian Rhapsody was successful at the box office, grossing $910 million worldwide and is seen as one of the best music biopics ever made.

The movie received five Oscar nominations in 2019 and won four: Best Actor (Rami Malek), Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. There was criticism for the movie’s wins for Sound Editing and Sound Mixing, however, as viewers struggled with understanding the difference between sound editing and mixing. Following further confusion, after 2021, the two categories were merged together to form the Best Sound award.

9 Lady Be Good (1941)

It Won Best Original Song With A Song Not Written For The Movie

Starring Ann Sothern and Robert Young, Lady Be Good is a musical drama that depicts the struggling marriage between a composer and his wife. They achieve success together, writing songs for Broadway, but their success gets in the way of their relationship to the point where they divorce twice. The movie received a mixed reception from critics, but received praise for its music and dance sequences; at the 14th Academy Awards, Lady Be Good won Best Original Song for the song “The Last Time I Saw Paris”.

The Oscar win for Lady Be Good received controversy when it was revealed that “The Last Time I Saw Paris” was not originally written for the movie. The song’s composer, Jerome Kern, was reportedly upset that he had won an Oscar for a song that was never intended for a movie and petitioned the Academy to change its rules regarding nominations. The Academy accepted Kern’s petition as, after 1941, it was ruled that only songs specifically written for a certain movie could receive an Oscar nomination.

8 Enchanted (2007)

Oscar Loss Led to Further Changes in Best Original Song Nominations

Disney’s 2007 movie Enchanted offered a new twist on fairytale stories, mixing animation with live-action. While rushing to her wedding, a young woman, Giselle, is banished from her animated fairytale land of Andalasia and is transported to live-action New York. While searching for a way home, she meets a divorced lawyer and his young daughter, and finds true love and happiness in unexpected places. Enchanted was released to critical acclaim, grossing more than $340 million at the box office and is regarded as one of Amy Adams’ best movies.

Enchanted received three Academy Award nominations for Best Original Song for “Happy Working Song”, “So Close” and “That’s How You Know”; however, all three songs lost the award to “Falling Slowly” from Once. A similar situation happened the year prior, when Dreamgirls also received three nominations for Best Original Song, but none of its songs won. Following this result, the Academy further changed the rules for the Best Original Song category, declaring that only two songs per movie could be put forward for the award.

7 The Elephant Man (1980)

The Movie’s Success Led To The Creation of The Award for Best Makeup

Directed by David Lynch, The Elephant Man depicts the life of John Merrick, a man born with severe deformities, who works in a freak show in 19th-century England. His life is changed when he meets Frederick Treves, a surgeon who shows him kindness and compassion, during his stay at the London Hospital. The movie was released to high praise, with the role of John Merrick being regarded as one of the best movies of John Hurt’s career.

The Elephant Man was nominated for eight Academy Awards in 1981, including Best Actor for Hurt and Best Picture. However, the Academy received widespread criticism for failing to acknowledge makeup artist Christopher Tucker for his work in recreating Merrick’s physical appearance. In response to the public outcry, in 1982, the Academy created a new award category, Best Makeup, which allowed makeup artists to be recognized for their work in future movies.

6 Chicken Run (2000)

Its Success Led to The Creation of the Best Animated Feature Oscar

Created by Aardman Productions and Dreamworks, Chicken Run is a stop-motion film that follows a group of British chickens who try to find a way to escape their farm after learning that they are being fattened up to be turned into pies. The movie took eighteen months to complete and features voice-over work from actors including Mel Gibson, Miranda Richardson, and Timothy Spall. Chicken Run was a critical success and is the highest-grossing stop-motion animated movie of all time.

The success of the Chicken Run movie led to speculation that it could receive a Best Picture Oscar nomination, but ultimately, it was not successful. At the time of the movie’s release, there had been a campaign for the Academy to recognize animated movies for awards. After the success of Chicken Run, the Academy created the Oscar for Best Animated Feature in 2001, with Dreamworks’ Shrek receiving the first award.

5 The Westerner (1940)

Starring Gary Cooper and Walter Brennan, this 1940 western is set in Texas, where a saloon owner, acting as the self-appointed hanging judge of his small town, encounters Cole Harden, a man who is accused of stealing a horse. Harden manages to con the judge into delaying his death sentence, leading to the two men developing a friendship as they deal with conflicts with homesteaders who threaten the town. Brennan’s performance as Judge Roy Bean led him to win his third Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

His award for The Westerner made Walter Brennan the only actor to win 3 awards in the supporting category. At the time of Brennan’s third win, the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor had only been active for five years. During the early years of the awards, the extras union was allowed to vote for Oscar nominees. According to Cinemasight, the high support from the extras union contributed to Brennan’s third Oscar win. After 1940, the Academy decided to remove the extras union’s right to vote for nominees, moving forward in an effort to make the results more fair.

4 Little Miss Sunshine (2007)

Its Success Led To A Change In The Number of Producers Being Nominated

The 2006 comedy-drama Little Miss Sunshine follows a dysfunctional family going on a road trip to California, to allow the youngest daughter to participate in a beauty pageant. Throughout their journey, each family member faces different setbacks and they each come to realize how much they need each other as a family. The movie was released to critical acclaim, receiving four Academy Award nominations and winning two for Best Supporting Actor (Alan Arkin) and Best Original Screenplay (Michael Arndt).

Little Miss Sunshine received an Oscar nomination for Best Picture, but there was controversy regarding the number of producers nominated. It was originally declared by the Academy in 1999 that a maximum of three producers for each film were eligible for the Best Picture nomination. However, the Academy received heavy backlash for refusing to recognize two of Little Miss Sunshine‘s five producers, Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa. Following the backlash, the Academy changed the rules to allow all recognized film producers to be eligible for an Oscar nomination (via Variety).

3 A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1935 Version)

A Controversial Oscar Win Led To The Removal of Write-In Votes

Considered one of the best adaptations of the famous Shakespeare play, 1935’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream revolves around four young lovers and a troupe of actors who find themselves in a magic forest inhabited by fairies. The fairies decide to cause some mischief, which leads to complications between the lovers. A Midsummer Night’s Dream starred Mickey Rooney, Dick Powell and Olivia de Havilland; the movie received praise for its soundtrack and cinematography, receiving four Oscar nominations in 1936 and winning two for Best Art Direction and Best Cinematography.

Hal Mohr, who worked on the movie’s cinematography, won his award without actually receiving a nomination.

Midsummer Night’s Dream‘s cinematographer Hal Mohr won as a write-in without actually receiving a nomination, as the year prior, the Academy initiated a write-in campaign in which voters could write in their own nominations. There was significant backlash after Mohr’s win as it was felt that write-in campaigns made it easy for voters to manipulate the system. In 1937, the Academy announced that write-in votes would be removed for good.

2 O.J. Made In America (2016)

Led to The Ban of Multi-part Series From Receiving Nominations

Produced and directed by Ezra Edelman, O.J. Made In America chronicles the life and career of disgraced football star O.J. Simpson, who was infamously found not guilty in 1994 for the murders of his former wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ronald Goldman. The documentary series follows the early stages of his career as a rising football star at the University of Southern California to his arrest for armed robbery and kidnapping in 2007. It also explores race relations across America and the impact of celebrity on a human being.

O.J. Made In America was released to high praise, receiving a perfect score of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes and winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature in 2017; it is the longest movie to ever win an Academy Award at eight hours long. However, there was some criticism of the win as O.J. Made In America was broadcast on TV as a five-part miniseries. Following the documentary’s win, the Academy declared that multipart and miniseries documentaries were banned from receiving nominations (via The Hollywood Reporter).

1 The Dark Knight (2008)

An Oscar Snub Led To Changes in The Number of Best Picture Nominations

Directed by Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight was released as the second installment in The Dark Knight trilogy and follows Batman forming an alliance with Harvey Dent and James Gordon to protect Gotham City. His efforts to protect the city are thwarted by the sinister Joker, who strives to push Batman to his limits with his schemes. Since its release in 2008, The Dark Knight has been regarded as one of the greatest superhero movies ever made and Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker has served as inspiration for other movie villains.

The Dark Knight was nominated for eight Academy Awards in 2009, with Heath Ledger posthumously winning Best Supporting Actor for his performance as the Joker. However, despite eight nominations, the movie was not nominated for Best Picture, a decision that was deemed a snub and sparked international public outcry.

The Academy only allowed a maximum of five Best Picture nominees, but after the significant backlash received for failing to recognize The Dark Knight, they decided to increase the maximum to ten nominees. Seen by many as “The Dark Knight Rule”, this implementation saw further successful movies receive nominations across the years and helped the Oscars recognize that their rules regarding nominations needed to change.

Sources: Cinemasight, Variety, Rotten Tomatoes, The Hollywood Reporter