Awards season is here, which means it is also time for the annual Golden Raspberry Awards. The Razzies, which aims to (dis)honor the least successful films of the year, has announced nominations for its 44th edition.
The most-nominated film is “Expend4bles,” the fourth entry in the action-packed, but critically underwhelming, “The Expendables” franchise. It received seven nominations. Tied for second place with five noms are “The Exorcist: Believer,” the revival of the classic horror series, and “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey,” a blood-soaked take on everyone’s favorite honey-loving bear. Two big-budget superhero movies, DC’s “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” and Marvel’s “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” both got four nominations.
Last year, Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde” led the competition with eight nominations, going on to bag the prize for worst picture. The group also felt compelled to issue an apology last year after nominating then-11-year-old actor Ryan Kiera Armstrong in the category of worst actress for her performance in the horror remake “Firestarter.” The nod was met with sharp criticism, with original “Firestarter” star Drew Barrymore saying it “makes my blood boil.”
“We believe a public apology is owed Ms. Armstrong, and wish to say we regret any hurt she experienced as a result of our choices,” Razzies founder John Wilson wrote in a statement. “We have never intended to bury anyone’s career. It is why our Redeemer Award was created. We all make mistakes, very much us included. Since our motto is ‘Own Your Bad,’ we realize that we ourselves must also live up to it.”
The Razzies also found itself compelled to issue another act of penance last year, naming a special award to Bruce Willis. With numerous direct-to-video actioners in recent years, the actor had become such a Razzie regular that the awards group created a category of “worst performance by Bruce Willis in a 2021 movie.” After Willis and his family publicly disclosed the actor’s struggles with aphasia, a language disorder that causes brain damage, the Razzies rescinded the category.
Founded in 1981, Razzie nominations are now determined by a select committee before ballots are issued to the membership. Anybody can become a voting member of the Razzies by paying an annual fee of $40 or a lifetime membership of $500. Even with those funds rolling in, though, the organization’s antiquated official website still seems to be formatted for internet users from more than a decade ago.
See the full list of this year’s nominations below.
WORST PICTURE
The Exorcist: Believer
Expend4bles
Meg 2: The Trench
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
WORST ACTOR
Russell Crowe / The Pope’s Exorcist
Vin Diesel / Fast X
Chris Evans / Ghosted
Jason Statham / Meg 2: The Trench
Jon Voight / Mercy
WORST ACTRESS
Ana de Armas / Ghosted
Megan Fox / Johnny & Clyde
Salma Hayek / Magic Mike’s Last Dance
Jennifer Lopez / The Mother
Dame Helen Mirren / Shazam! Fury of the Gods
WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Kim Cattrall / about My Father
Megan Fox / Expend4bles
Bai Ling / Johnny & Clyde
Lucy Liu / Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Mary Stuart Masterson / Five Nights at Freddy’s
WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Michael Douglas / Ant Man & The Wasp: Quantumania
Mel Gibson / Confidential Informant
Bill Murray / Ant Man & The Wasp: Quantumania
Franco Nero (as “The Pope”) The Pope’s Exorcist
Sylvester Stallone / Expend4ables
WORST SCREEN COUPLE
Any 2 “Merciless Mercenaries” / Expend4bles
Any 2 Money-Grubbing Investors Who Donated to the $400 Millionfor Remake Rights to The Exorcist
Ana de Armas & Chris Evans (who flunked Screen Chemistry) / Ghosted
Salma Hayek & Channing Tatum / Magic Mike’s Last Dance
Pooh & Piglet as Blood-Thirsty Slasher/Killers(!) in Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
WORST PREQUEL, REMAKE, RIP-OFF or SEQUEL
Ant Man & The Wasp: Quantumania
The Exorcist: Believer
Expend4bles
Indiana Jones and The Dial of…Still Beating a Dead Horse
Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
WORST DIRECTOR
Rhys Frake-Waterfield / Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey
David Gordon Green / The Exorcist: Believer
Peyton Reed / Ant Man & the Wasp: Quantumania
Scott Waugh / Expend4bles
Ben Wheatley / Meg 2: The Trench
WORST SCREENPLAY
The Exorcist: Believer
Expend4bles
Indiana Jones and the Dial of…Can I go home now?
Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Winnie the Pooh: Blood & Honey
