Best Popular Film Oscar: 10 Most Likely Nominees
Whoever wins, Disney wins.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences made the shock announcement this past week that they will be introducing a new awards category to the Oscars: Best Popular Film.
The move was met with heavily polarised reactions from both the public and the industry, with some viewing it as a patronising, cynical move to increase the Oscars' flagging viewership, while others saw it as an opportunity for the Academy to reward less conventionally "Oscar-worthy" fare.
It's still unknown how movies will be deemed eligible for the award, though it's a pretty safe bet that nominees will require a minimum box office gross. Also, in an attempt to get viewers more invested in the award, it's quite probable the general public will be able to vote on nominees and winners.
However it ends up, these are the 10 movies from 2018 - both released and not - that best fit the bill for Best Popular Film. Crowd-pleasing, (mostly) critically acclaimed and ultra-successful at the box office, they're the populist hits of the year you'll need to consider for Oscar gold in early 2019...