BREAKING NEWS - Academy Changes The Oscars + AMC Bans Universal Films - ORC 4/28/20

We began with the COVID changes from the Academy, and we end with the declaration of war between AMC and Universal. My god, is this a Breaking News show if there ever was one. Do we like the changes to the Oscars? Can AMC survive without Universal?! OMG. BREAKING NEWS: CHANGES TO THE OSCARS - Top of Episode ELIGIBILITY ADJUSTMENTS TO COVID: “Films Will Be Allowed To Be Released Digitally Without Playing In Theaters. However…” - 2:15 “They’re Definitely Half Pregnant Here” - 7:26 “[The Academy] Will Expand The Number Of Cities Eligible To Screen In Order To Qualify” - 12:44 “Here’s This Shiny New Toy on Disney+…” - 16:48 “What The Hell Are Theaters Going To Be?” - 18:31 SOUND MIXING/EDITING COMBINED INTO 1 AWARD - 22:!6 ALL ACADEMY MEMBERS INVITED TO CREATE INT’L FEATURE SHORTLIST - 24:14 CHANGES TO WHAT QUALIFIES AS AN ORIGINAL SCORE - 27:29 ELIMINATING DVD SCREENERS - 30:56 THE ROLE PREMIUM VOD IS PLAYING IN THE CHANGING INDUSTRY LANDSCAPE - 33:26 **SOME BREAKING NEWS TO INTERRUPT OUR BREAKING NEWS** AMC Says They Won’t Show ANY Universal Films Anymore - 39:00 So Trolls World Tour Is a MASSIVE Success, Right? - 42:56 The Upcoming Universal Slate + Who Has The Leverage Here? - 46:27 What, When, and How Is “Normal” Coming? - 49:14 Your Homework/PLEASE LEAVE US 5*’S - 51:20 What’s Next From MMO/Words of Wisdom - 52:30 So MMOW got pushed to the end of the week for a darned good reason. The Academy Board Of Governors reconvened their meeting to vote in changes both temporary and permanent to their rulebook as the industry deals with the coronavirus shutdown. But we didn’t expect the reports from Universal about the Trolls: World Tour PVOD numbers. Nor can we even fathom all of the havoc this new feud between AMC and one of the mightiest movie studios will wreak upon Hollywood. This is a loaded episode full of all kinds of industry shattering breaking news. Aaahhh!!! We begin with our instant reactions to the announcements from the Academy’s Board Of Governors. They’ve instituted temporary rules for eligibility amidst the pandemic that we did expect. Heck, we even predicted some of the ancillary changes to their awards program concerning Sound Design, International Film, and Original Score. All of these changes will have ripple effects throughout Oscar Season, and we break it all down with some fresh hot takes and much ranting / raving. But we did not expect to finish the episode and have to get right back behind the microphones to record a new ending of 15 minutes. For now we truly have a feud that could wreak havoc upon this business the likes of which we’ve never seen. Now throughout the show, we made reference to the recent earnings reports regarding Universal’s success of Trolls: World Tour, which to be fair, we were a bit skeptical of at the time of our first recording. But any doubts to the validity of Trolls 2 being a bonafide smash hit fell away after the last bit of breaking news fell upon our heads because AMC released a statement saying they refuse to show any further Universal films. Although we’ll continue to cover these massive stories throughout the weeks to come, you get all our hot takes, instant reactions, and burning questions after one of the crazier days in movie history. So if you appreciate the hustle, do please hit that 5 star rating on Apple Podcasts to help us out. Finally, and as always, we want & NEED to hear your thoughts on all this. We’re at MMandOscar on Twitter, and we are on Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Gmail. You can subscribe / rate / review / like / share / & listen to us on Apple Podcasts, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Google Play, Tune In, Spotify, and just about wherever you might listen. We’re Mike, Mike, & Oscar, and we’re making awards season year round, without the stuffiness. Thanks for listening.