The Real Reason The Oscars Expanded The Best Picture Field From 5 To 10 Possible Nominations

As Awards Daily reports, the field has been very changeable. In 1936, the rules were changed to allow 10 nominees, falling back to five in 1944. This was the precedent until 2009, when 10 movies were allowed into the running again. According to Variety, this decision was made for two reasons: to boost the popularity of the event itself and to shine that glorious Oscar spotlight on a wider range of movies.

The best picture Oscar has historically been won by deep, meaningful, often independent fare, and these are certainly movies worthy of such fanfare. With limited spaces for Oscar nominations, though, this has given rise to concerns about elitism and popular movies perhaps being too "mainstream" for the big prize. Awards Daily suggests that the iconic "The Dark Knight" missing out on a nomination — and the discourse and outrage that followed — prompted this change.

Variety adds that the hope was that if mega-hits like "The Dark Knight" and the monstrously successful MCU films are in the running, viewership of the ceremony and ticket sales for the movies concerned will be boosted too. This hasn't always been the case, and it will be fascinating to see where Hollywood goes from here.