It was called “skull-splinteringly insensitive” by the Guardian and currently stands as the worst-reviewed movie in the entire franchise. But studio bosses at Paramount are still holding out hope that Michael Bay’s Transformers: Age of Extinction will be named best picture at next February’s Oscars.
The studio’s campaign website lists 12 separate categories, mostly in the technical arena, which it hopes to see Age of Extinction compete in. But most eye-catching by far are the best picture and best director (Bay) bids from a movie that currently rates just 18% on review aggregator rottentomatoes.com.
Age of Extinction, which starred Mark Wahlberg in the lead for the first time in the series and took $1bn at the global box office this summer, has been conspicuous by its absence from lists of prize-winners during the early rounds of the 2014-15 awards season. Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar looks to be the only genre movie in with a chance of a best picture nomination after making the American Film Institute’s (AFI) annual list, a key bellwether for the prize, earlier this week. Bay’s film will however, likely challenge in certain technical categories: previous instalments in the series have received nominations for best sound mixing, best visual effects and best sound editing.
Paramount’s other “for your consideration” pitches for Oscar contention include Noah, Hercules, Men, Women and Children, Interstellar, The Gambler and Selma. Of the above, civil rights drama Selma is the only other film which currently appears to have the best chance of a decent awards season run after also picking up an AFI nod.
