In addition to a top-to-bottom organization overall, the Golden Globes has added two new categories for its next awards, for cinematic and box office achievement and stand-up comedy performance on television.
The creation for a box office achievement award is clearly a move to attract viewers who have tuned out kudofests in recent decades because they tend to focus on little-seen movies. The category honors artistically outstanding films that have grossed more than $150 million, with at least $100 million coming from the domestic box office, or have commensurate streaming viewership confirmed by a “trusted industry source.” Films released after Nov. 22 may qualify if their projected box office or viewership meets the benchmarks.
The field of contenders is surprisingly wide, with no fewer than 20 films eligible as of November, ranging from horror films (“Scream VI,” “Five Nights at Freddy’s”), Marvel and DC Universe movies (“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” “Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3,” “The Flash”), action spectaculars (“Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One,” “John Wick: Chapter 4”) and kid-friendly titles (including “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and “Elemental”) to the child trafficking thriller “Sound of Freedom.” A total of eight films will be nominated.
Ironically, the new award comes in the year that saw two of the best-reviewed films, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” collectively gross more than $2.39 billion worldwide, so there is a very real chance that those films could pick up nominations in the best picture categories (drama or comedy/musical category) as well as the box office achievement award.
The new stand-up honor seems most likely to benefit Netflix, which released 16 standup specials in the first half of 2023 alone. The top contenders for the streamer are “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” “John Mulaney: Baby J” and “Amy Schumer: Emergency Contact.” Its chief competitor is Max, whose high-profile standup specials included “Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark,” “Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love” and “Marlon Wayans: God Loves Me.” Amazon has also become a player in the comic game, most notably with “Nate Bargatze: Hello World!,” which might get a boost from the comedian’s October hosting gig on “Saturday Night Live.”
While the category is open to programs of 30 minutes or more released on a broad array of platforms (broadcast, basic and premium cable, streaming, pay-per-view), shows hosted by individuals’ social media accounts are not eligible, shutting out the substantial number of comedians who self-release specials on YouTube.
