Spider-Man: No Way Home might be taking the internet, pop culture, and the box office by storm, but it won’t be up for any awards at this years’ BAFTAs, even with three famous British actors involved.
Reported first by Deadline, the Marvel blockbuster has missed out on eligibility for the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards due to what seems to be an innocent oversight by distributor Sony.
According to the report, Sony failed to upload No Way Home to the BAFTA’s online streaming service, BAFTA View, by the deadline required to be in contention for this years’ awards. BAFTA members have been communicated this message and attempted to get an exemption for the film but were unable to make an agreement.
“Spider-Man: No Way Home did not meet the eligibility criteria for the EE British Academy Film Awards 2022 and therefore did not qualify for entry. As outlined in our rulebook, all films must be made available to voting members on BAFTA View prior to Round One voting closing to ensure fairness and parity for all titles and the film was not made available by the distributor.”
BAFTA View website
Deadline theorizes Sony’s reluctance to upload it to BAFTA View is due to their desire to keep it truly exclusive to theatres – even if uploading to BAFTA View would still make it private and not open to the broader public. Other Marvel releases from 2021 are all eligible and up for awards, such as Eternals and Black Widow. Whether or not Sony made a mistake or this is part of their strategy is up for speculation.
No Way Home star Tom Holland hasn’t shied away from his belief the film should be up for the big awards in the upcoming awards season, insisting it is worthy of an Academy Award nomination. Spider-Man co-star Benedict Cumberbatch is highly likely to win an award at the BAFTAs, following a seminal performance in The Power of the Dog.
The 75th BAFTA Awards will be held in London on March 13, 2022.
Spider-Man: No Way Home is currently still in theatres and is gunning to enter the top five highest-grossing films of all time.