The ‘Titanic’ director believes Netflix’s model is damaging the prestige of the Academy Awards.
Legendary director James Cameron has launched a blistering critique against Netflix’s Oscar eligibility, declaring that the Academy Awards “mean nothing” if they don’t honour the theatrical experience.
Speaking on The Town podcast, Cameron lambasted Netflix’s potential acquisition of Warner Bros., calling a reported pledge to maintain theatrical releases “sucker bait” designed only to qualify for awards.
Cameron’s stance is unequivocal: a film must be made for and exhibited in theatres to deserve Oscar consideration.
He argued that limited, one-week qualifying runs are “fundamentally rotten to the core,” insisting that a true theatrical commitment means a wide release in thousands of theatres for a month.
Despite ten Best Picture nominations for Netflix since 2019, none have won, a statistic that may underscore the industry divide Cameron now vocally represents.
With his own Avatar: Fire and Ash poised for a major December release, he is championing the big-screen spectacle as an irreplaceable art form.
