Over the last couple of weeks, fans the world over have flocked to MTV.com to vote for their favorite franchise for the MTV Movie Awards. Last Sunday, ‘Harry Potter,’ ‘Twilight,’ and ‘Hunger Games’ fans tuned in to see which franchise would bring home the gold (popcorn, that is). The Golden Popcorn has become an important award for blockbusters that don’t get a lot of critical attention, which got us thinking…
THE MTV MOVIE AWARDS vs. THE ACADEMY AWARDS: Which is more important to movie studios?
THE MTV MOVIE AWARDS:
The debate between fans and critics over which award is more important has been on-going for years, but with the huge fandoms surrounding pop culture phenomenons like The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and Twilight, it seems clear that critical praise is not a necessary element to creating a successful franchise. Since their inception in 1992, the MTV Movie Awards have been a great way to measure fan support for movie franchises. Over the past decade, 7 of the Best Movie winners at the MTV Movie Awards have been a part of a successful franchise. The head honchos at Lionsgate & Summit must be paying close attention to the response their films are getting at this show, as it displays exactly how their fans are receiving the film.
Fans are the life or death of a successful franchise. If a movie does not find its audience, it can never be successful. When a movie has a built in fan base like many of the book-to-film adaptations of late, it takes a lot of the pressure off the studio to market the movie. Sure they still spend a buck (or several million) to make sure you see their posters & merchandise, but a built in fan base always helps relieve the tension in the studio’s executive offices.
These award shows are the PERFECT way to measure how well your franchise is reaching its fans. If we look back at the 2008 ceremony, Transformers, having made over $319 million at the box office, took home the award for Best Movie. Fast forward two years andTransformers: Revenge of the Fallen rakes in over $402 million.
This year’s top award went to The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1, however the other major awards seem to be pretty evenly split between Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 and The Hunger Games. While the Best Cast award for Potter may simply be a meaningful sendoff for a beloved franchise, the Best Actress & Best Actor awards for The Hunger Games could be a sign of great things to come for the sequels. When the franchise is just starting out, seeing how they measure up to the powerhouses that came before is vital. It certainly seems like The Hunger Games is doing more than just keeping up, as they took home the most awards for a single film this year.
THE ACADEMY AWARDS:
We all know that The Academy Awards are the epitome of the highest level of achievement in the film world. They are among the most coveted awards in existence. However, there has been a distinct lack of recognition for blockbuster franchises at the Oscars over the past decade or so. There was a huge uproar in 2009 when The Dark Knight failed to be nominated for any of the top prizes including Best Director & Best Picture. While they did manage to pick up two awards that year, Best Sound Mixing & Best Supporting Actor for Heath Ledger’s breathtaking performance, being shut out of the major categories was a hard hit to an otherwise outstanding film. While some may have blamed this obvious oversight on the genre (comic book movie), the same cannot be said for other egregious oversights. The 2012 awards season saw a strong push by Warner Bros. to remedy their own situation and add critical success to the Potter résumé.
The now infamous Potter “For Your Consideration” campaign was seen by millions and showcased the exceptional work that had gone into creating these films. Despite the effort, the Harry Potter franchise walked away from the 2012 ceremony winless, leaving a gaping hole in the awards cabinet at Warner Bros. With a total of 12 nominations over the 10 year span of the franchise, Harry Potter was denied their final chance at Oscar glory. Now, after the impressive success of The Hunger Games at the box office, will Lionsgate be pushing for Oscar glory as well? Only time will tell.
SO, WHICH IS MORE IMPORTANT?
It’s a tough call. When you think about all the influence that awards from both shows can have, it makes it hard to prove if either award was the direct cause of the franchise’s success. While there may be no way to prove definitively, it can surely be said that the studios definitely relish any award, be it from the fans or the critics.
Which do you think is more important to your favorite franchise? Does winning or losing awards affect your opinion of the movie?
Source: Hypable.com
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