History Main / OscarBait

* ''{{Film/Alexander}}'' is a big-budget, nearly three-hour biopic/epic about Alexander the Great, directed by Cretaor/OliverStone, with a stellar cast, with Creator/ColinFarrell in the title role, Creator/AngelinaJolie, Creator/ValKilmer, Creator/JaredLeto, Creator/ChristopherPlumer, Creator/RosarioDawson, Creator/ElliotCowan and Creator/AnthonyHopkins, and soundtrack by {{Music/Vangelis}}. At the time of its production, the film was widely seen by the media and even by [[https://www.businessinsider.com/colin-farrel-reaction-alexander-bad-reviews-2023-1 members of the cast]] as guaranteed Oscar bait that should receive many nominations, but it generated controversy, both due to Stone's presence as director, and its approach to the sexuality of and It received unfavorable reviews and received no Oscar nominations in 2005.

* ''{{Film/Alexander}}'' is a big-budget, nearly three-hour biopic/epic about Alexander the Great, directed by Cretaor/OliverStone, with a stellar cast, with Creator/ColinFarrell in the title role, Creator/AngelinaJolie, Creator/ValKilmer, Creator/JaredLeto, Creator/ChristopherPlumer, Creator/RosarioDawson, Creator/ElliotCowan and Creator/AnthonyHopkins, and soundtrack by Music/Vangelis. At the time of its production, the film was widely seen by the media and even by [[https://www.businessinsider.com/colin-farrel-reaction-alexander-bad-reviews-2023-1 members of the cast]] as guaranteed Oscar bait that should receive many nominations, but it generated controversy, both due to Stone's presence as director, and its approach to the sexuality of and It received unfavorable reviews and received no Oscar nominations in 2005.

* ''{{Film/Alexander}}'' is a big-budget, nearly three-hour biopic/epic about Alexander the Great, directed by Cretaor/OliverStone, with a stellar cast, with Creator/ColinFarrell in the title role, Creator/AngelinaJolie, Creator/ValKilmer, Creator/JaredLeto, Creator/ChristopherPlumer, Creator/RosarioDawson, Creator/ElliotCowan and Creator/AnthonyHopkins, and soundtrack by Creator/Vangelis. At the time of its production, the film was widely seen by the media and even by [[https://www.businessinsider.com/colin-farrel-reaction-alexander-bad-reviews-2023-1 members of the cast]] as guaranteed Oscar bait that should receive many nominations, but it generated controversy, both due to Stone's presence as director, and its approach to the sexuality of and It received unfavorable reviews and received no Oscar nominations in 2005.

* ''Film/{{Valkyrie}}'' is a historical drama directed by Creator/BryanSinger that portrays the failed plot of Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, played by Creator/TomCruise, to assassinate [[UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler Hitler]]. In addition to Cruise, the film boasts an AllStarCast composed of Creator/BillNighy, Creator/TomWilkinson, Creator/KennethBranagh, Creator/EddieIzzard, Creator/CariceVanHouten, Creator/ThomasKretschmann, Creator/TerenceStamp and Creator/TomHollander, among many others. The film came under fire for casting the non-German Cruise in the role of von Stauffenberg, and it did not obtain Oscar nominations.

* ''Film/{{Napoleon|2023}}'' is a near-three-hour-long epic American-British historical biopic film directed by Creator/RidleyScott, written by Creator/DavidScarpa, and starring Creator/JoaquinPhoenix as Napoleon Bonaparte and Creator/VanessaKirby as Josephine Beauharnais. It suffered criticism for its lack of historical accuracy, and its only Oscar nominations were for Best Achievement in Visual Effects, Best Achievement in Production Design and Best Achievement in Costume Design.

This trope is far more common with the Oscars than the top honors in other media. With theatre, "Tony Bait" is less discernable because theatre naturally lends itself to melodrama, while the Emmys and Grammys have the brilliant idea to give awards based on genre. This allows, for example, a sitcom to be judged on its merits as a sitcom though a VerySpecialEpisode is often blatantly gunning for an Emmy. The AwardBaitSong, by the way, is not the Grammy equivalent. That trope refers to the lead single from an Oscar Bait movie soundtrack that's just as thirsty for an Oscar as the movie itself, though they'll hardly complain if they snag a Grammy or four along the way. See also DeathByNewberyMedal for the literary equivalent. Contrast ItsNotSupposedToWinOscars.

** To an extant however, its Oscar campaign is a bit of an UnbuiltTrope. Since the film was already completed before Carr entered the picture, it was not originally intended to be an OscarBait film as we know it today. If anything, it became one out of ''financial'' reasons more than anything else: the film had a then-high budget of $15 Million and was not expected to make its investment back. This was especially a concern since the Vietnam War was still fresh in the public's mind and would most likely have alienated a potential audience from watching a film that tackles the conflict. So Carr hoped that the Oscar campaign would enable positive word-of-mouth to spread to the general public and enable the film to make back a profit. [[CrazyEnoughToWork And it worked]]; ''The Deer Hunter'' made back more than three-times its budget and was among the top 10 highest grossing films of 1978. This is pretty different from many current OscarBait Films which, as described above, tend not to do well at the box office and typically are ''made'' to get nominations & prestige.

** To an extant however, its Oscar campaign is a bit of an UnbuiltTrope. Since the film was already completed before Carr entered the picture, it was not originally intended to be an OscarBait film as we know it today. If anything, it became one out of ''financial'' reasons more than anything else: the film had a then-high budget of $15 Million and was not expected to make its investment back. So Carr hoped that the Oscar campaign would enable positive word-of-mouth to spread to the general public and enable the film to make back a profit. [[CrazyEnoughToWork And it worked]]; ''The Deer Hunter'' made back more than three-times its budget and was among the top 10 highest grossing films of 1978. This is pretty different from many current OscarBait Films which, as described above, tend not to do well at the box office and typically are ''made'' to get nominations & prestige.

** To an extant however, ''[[{{Film/TheDeerHunter}} The Deer Hunter's]]'' Oscar campaign is a bit of an UnbuiltTrope. Since the film was already completed before Carr entered the picture, it was not originally intended to be an OscarBait film as we know it today. If anything, it became one out of ''financial'' reasons more than anything else: the film had a then-high budget of $15 Million and was not expected to make its investment back. So Carr hoped that the Oscar campaign would enable positive word-of-mouth to spread to the general public and enable the film to make back a profit. [[CrazyEnoughToWork And it worked]]; ''The Deer Hunter'' made back more than three-times its budget and was among the top 10 highest grossing films of 1978. This is pretty different from many current OscarBait Films which, as described above, tend not to do well at the box office and typically are ''made'' to get nominations & prestige.

* Don't make it sci-fi, fantasy, or to a lesser extent action; the SciFiGhetto is very much in effect at the Oscars. They usually only get nominated for Visuals, Sound, or Makeup rather than the “Big Five” categories. The only way they get one of those nominations is if they are more cerebral or philosophical, like ''Film/EternalSunshineOfTheSpotlessMind'', ''Film/TheDarkKnight'', ''Film/{{Avatar}}'', ''Film/{{Inception}}'', ''Film/{{Gravity}}'', ''Film/{{Arrival}}'' and ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}''. If you actually want to ''win'' with a sci-fi or fantasy film, it should be based on [[TrueArtIsAncient a highly acclaimed previous work]] (no, not ''Franchise/StarTrek'', older than that) – this was a big reason ''Film/TheLordOfTheRingsTheReturnOfTheKing'' won Best Picture (because it was a big-budget groundbreaking adaptation of a highly acclaimed work of literature). ''Film/MadMaxFuryRoad'' notably bucked both trends - it was neither cerebral nor based on a [[Film/MadMax particularly critically acclaimed work]] - but was nominated for Best Picture regardless.

* ''Film/{{Napoleon|2023}}'' is a epic American-British historical biopic film directed by Creator/RidleyScott and written by Creator/DavidScarpa, and starred by Creator/JoaquinPhoenix as Napoleon Bonaparte and Creator/VanessaKirby as Josephine Beauharnais, almost three hours long; the film suffered criticism for its lack of historical accuracy, and received only nominations for Best Achievement in Visual Effects, Best Achievement in Production Design and Best Achievement in Costume Design [[/folder]]

This trope is far more common with the Oscars than the top honors in other media. With theatre, "Tony Bait" is less discernable because theatre naturally lends itself to melodrama, while the Emmys and Grammys have the brilliant idea to give awards based on genre. This allows, for example, a sitcom to be judged on its merits as a sitcom, though a VerySpecialEpisode is often blatantly gunning for an Emmy. The AwardBaitSong, by the way, is not the Grammy equivalent, as that trope refers to the lead single from an Oscar Bait movie soundtrack that's thirsty for an Oscar just as much as the movie itself (though they'll hardly complain if they snag a Grammy or four along the way). See also DeathByNewberyMedal for the literary equivalent. Contrast ItsNotSupposedToWinOscars.

** To an extant however, ''[[{{Film/TheDeerHunter}} The Deer Hunter's]]'' Oscar campaign is a bit of an UnbuiltTrope. Since the film was already completed before Carr entered the picture, it was not originally intended to be an OscarBait film as we know it today. If anything, it became one out of ''financial'' reasons more than anything else: the film had a then-high budget of $15 Million and was not expected to make its investment back. So Carr hoped that the Oscar campaign would enable positive word-of-mouth to spread to the general public and enable the film to make back a profit. [[CrazyEnoughToWork And it worked]]; ''The Deer Hunter'' made back more than three-times its budget and was among the top 10 highest grossing films of 1978. This is pretty different from many current OscarBait Films which, as described above, tend not to do well at the box office.