The phenomenal ongoing box-office success of Spider-Man: No Way Home has led many to speculate whether it could go where most superhero movies rarely venture and break into the awards race.
As of Jan. 10., however, there’s one major film awards where no amount of campaigning from Sony will have an impact.
BAFTA has revealed that the film did not meet the eligibility criteria for its 2022 film awards and therefore didn’t qualify for entry. The issue lies with BAFTA View, the British Academy’s new online streaming portal, launched in time for 2020/2021 awards seasons and onto which all films are made available for voting members.
Spider-Man: No Way Home was due to land on the the platform on Dec. 30, giving voters just four days before the Jan. 3 round one voting deadline (which was eventually extended by a day due to tech issues). However, the feature didn’t make the date, with BAFTA saying at the time that Sony had cited “potential piracy issues as the film has not yet been released in some territories.” It is still not available on BAFTA View, with just a trailer currently in its place.
On the BAFTA View platform on Jan. 10, it states that: “As outlined in our rulebook, all films must be made available to voting members on BAFTA View prior to round one voting closing to ensure fairness and parity for all titles and the film was not made available by the distributor.”
Spider-Man: No Way Home now has the dubious honor of being the first film to have been rejected by BAFTA for breaking this rule.
The BAFTA film longlists are due to be announced on Wednesday, Jan. 12.
Source: Hollywood
