In increasing the number of best picture finalists, the awards group hopes it will be able to recognize box-office blockbusters that typically do not make the shortlist for Hollywood's highest honor.
But several academy members, some of whom said they were blindsided by the announcement, and Oscar campaign strategists said it wasn't clear whether the additional best picture spots would automatically go to box-office hits such as "Star Trek" and "Up" or to substantially less popular (but critically acclaimed) art movies.
Under the academy's voting rules, only the accountants know the tabulations, so no one involved in the rules change knows how close "Doubt," "The Wrestler," "The Dark Knight" and "Iron Man" came to being nominated last year.
Judd Bernard, an academy member and producer of "The Marseille Contract," said he was surprised by Wednesday's news and felt that the rank and file should have been asked about the rules change before it was announced. He was concerned that by trying to include blockbuster titles (the Oscar show with the all-time highest ratings honored "Titanic"), the academy would overvalue box-office returns.
"I do hope that this does not mean that just because a picture makes nine zillion dollars, it will automatically be an academy picture," Bernard said. "Next year's winner will be 'Transformers.' A picture makes a lot of money, but it doesn't mean it's a great movie. If excellence in achievement just meant money, then Bernie Madoff would get an Academy Award."
The change in rules will almost certainly boost the income of Oscar consultants, who can charge $15,000 a month for coordinating a movie's awards campaign and receive bonuses of as much as $20,000 for a nomination in a top category and another $20,000 for a win.
Several consultants, who declined to be identified, said they were concerned that small but cohesive blocs of Oscar voters -- there are about 400 academy members in Britain, who could band together, for example -- might be able to push a little movie into the big category.
Under the system used by the academy to select nominees (which is a different from the procedure to pick winners), the voting members will list their top 10 selections in order of preference.
Douglas Amy, a professor of politics at Mount Holyoke College who is an expert on voting systems, said that a movie can now become a nominee if as few as 525 people list it among their top selections (assuming that most members vote).
