Why "Deathly Hallows" won't be nominated

On the heels of "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1's" massive opening weekend ($125 million domestic, $330 million global), there's maybe a small group of Potter faithful who believe the highly successful franchise can take advantage of the expanded Best Picture playing field and earn a nomination.

I'd say, keep hoping.  "Hallows'" box office take is impressive, and will continue to be impressive throughout Thanksgiving, when it really only has Disney's "Tangled" to compete with for No. 1, but it can't break the franchise's curse of being woefully ignored by the Academy.



The series has combined for a total of seven Academy Awards nominations, all in technical categories.  2001's "Sorceror's Stone" is the only one with three. The reasons behind the Academy's constant neglect of the films is unclear, but their mass populist appeal and their marketing towards younger demographics certainly hasn't helped in recent years.  2009 was a breakthrough year for Best Picture nominees for many reasons -- animated film "Up" and sci-fi "District 9" were two distinct and welcome anomalies -- but for Potter to make the Top 10, or even score a writing nomination, seems outlandish.

Added to this, the Academy is unlikely award a film that's being billed by both positive and negative reviews as a mere bridge to the final act.  The familiar refrain of "reward the series" wouldn't apply until 2011's release of "Deathly Hallows: Part 2," but even then it would be unlikely for "Part 2" to gain nomination traction without wide support for "Part 1."

To top it all off, the reviews for the film simply aren't universally glowing.  Those who have praised the past films have called it the best in the franchise, while many suggest the film simply doesn't stand on its own merits.  Metacritic's collection of reviews average it out at 67 out of 100, whereas most Best Picture candidates rally from 69 and above.  Yes, 67 is close to 69, but for a franchise that's never had a representative in the Big Categories, "Deathly Hallows" needed to stun the pants off the whole board to have a chance.

Sorry Potter faithful, but your only chance is a massive showing at the Golden Globes to bolster the film up the ladder.