It looks like Sony Pictures Classics has decided to not back
Moon in the Oscar race this season. The film is directed by
Duncan Jones and stars Sam Rockwell. Despite getting good critical praise and nominations / wins at many top film festivals (British Independent Film Awards, Edinburgh International Film Festival, and Athens International Film Festival), it was not included in the studio's awards season screener copies that were sent out to academy voters. This nearly ensures that the film will not be nominated for any Academy Awards. Why isn't the studio standing behind the film? Duncan Jones (the director) would like to know, and he has taken to his Twitter page to find out. Last Wednesday he tweets about the decision to not include the film: "we have more than asked.. we’ve knocked heads. they have chosen the films they are backing & we are not in their plans. They say it costs too much for our little film as they would need to be water-marked copies as our DVD isnt out yet in the US.”
The DVD argument by the studio has not satisfied the protest though, and Hollywood heavy-weights
Neil Gaiman and Jon Favreau have both joined in offering their praise and support for the film. A petition has also been started to get Sam Rockwell a Best Actor nomination (you can sign it HERE). It currently has over 3,000 signatures.
The hope is that solid work gets awarded, but when you have such big-budget films and studios, smaller independent features can only hope for their production studio to promote them. In this case, unless Sony Pictures Classics changes its mind, Moon is destined to be another film passed over for blockbusters like Avatar (nominated for Best Picture Drama Golden Globe).
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