The Academy Awards will have 10 best-picture nominees instead of the usual five starting next year, improving the odds for films such as “The Dark Knight,” a fan and critic favorite that was snubbed last time. Doubling the field for Hollywood's top prize will make room for more worthy films and potentially give a jolt to the Oscar TV ratings, Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said Wednesday. The academy board of governors decided there were more than five films last year that deserved best-picture consideration, Ganis said. Among those that “were part of the conversation” were the Batman blockbuster “The Dark Knight,” along with fellow superhero flick “Iron Man,” the animated “WALL-E” and the comedy “Tropic Thunder,” Ganis said. All were huge box-office successes but the sort of movies that rarely make the best-picture cut. The kinds of films academy members include in the expanded nominations could have a huge effect on the Oscar ratings, which generally have declined over the last decade. The show tends to draw more TV viewers in years when blockbusters are serious contenders for best picture. The biggest audience ever, 55.2 million viewers, tuned in when “Titanic” won best picture for 1997, according to Nielsen Media Research. The 2003 Oscars, when “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” won, drew 43.5 million viewers, the most in recent years. Had there been 10 nominees for last year's films, “The Dark Knight” easily could have made the cut. That likely would have stoked audience interest in the ceremony and could have made the best-picture category more of a horse race, since “The Dark Knight” was one of the year's most acclaimed films.
